Vacheron Constantin launches The Artisan Residency Programme

This is a new venture for watchmaker Vacheron Constantin, which is celebrating its 270th anniversary this year. In an original move, this new initiative, called The Artisan Residency Programme, honours young talents selected for their skills in traditional arts and craftsmanship. Unlike other watchmakers, this initiative does not focus solely on promoting watchmaking innovation, but rather on bringing together two worlds, culture and art, and honouring artisans as a whole. Selected for their ability to shape materials and express their art in innovative ways, three finalists were chosen by a committee of experts and presented by Vacheron Constantin at an event dedicated to the company's 270th anniversary on 5 June at the Met Cloisters in New York.

For 18 months, Aspen Golann, an artist born in New York who works at the intersection of art and design, Ibrahim Said, an American-Egyptian ceramicist, and Joy Harvey, an Anglo-Italian goldsmith and jeweller, will explore and reinterpret craft techniques and practices in New York and Geneva. At the Met, they will discover the museum's collection and gain a deeper understanding of all the artistic techniques. In Geneva, at the Manufacture, they will be able to immerse themselves in the watchmaking workshops and learn about artistic crafts such as enamelling, guilloché work, engraving and gem-setting.

Designed to highlight three talented individuals who are keen to develop their art, the residency programme will be divided into three phases (research, production and sharing of knowledge) and will give the artisans the time they need to create a unique work of art.

It is the intercultural scope of this programme that is innovative, with calls for applications open to artisans from all over the world. The official press release states: ‘These applications were evaluated by a jury composed of curators, arts administrators, educators, artisans and artists. After a three-round evaluation, three finalists were selected for the quality of their proposal, their artistic merit and their commitment to not only preserving but also advancing their traditional craftsmanship.’

The three finalists will present their work at the Met in October 2026.

This initiative, born out of a collaboration between Vacheron Constantin and the Met in 2023, follows on from other successful projects such as the ‘A Masterpiece on the Wrist’ programme unveiled in 2024, which allowed watch collectors to choose their favourite work of art from the Met and, with the help of Vacheron Constantin's Les Cabinotiers workshop, see it reproduced on the dial of a unique watch.