 |
The
company continued the prosper, finally outgrowing its
Tour de I'lle premises. So a building was acquired
right across the river, fronting the Quai des Moulins.
But as it moved, a new blow struck the industry. American
made watches began flooding its traditional markets in
such numbers that by 1880 the firm's future seemed in
doubt.
At
precisely that time, as if to challenge Fate itself,
the firm took the Maltese cross as its symbol and, at
the death of the last direct heir, dedicated to call
itself "Vacheron & Constantin".
To
complicate matters still further, the company had to
wait out a fashion fad that proscribed the wearing of
watches and jewelry. It proved mercifully short-lived
but did depress watch sales further. As prosperity returned,
the first rumbles of war began to be heard. Like quite
a few others Swiss manufacturers, Vacheron Constantin
received order for military timepieces from various
foreign powers. The U.S. Armed forces, for instance,
used Vacheron et Constantin chronographs during two
world wars. Modern warfare also definitively assured
the triumph of the wristwatch, developed during the
later half of the 19th century.
|
