Vacheron Constantin officially reopens Melbourne boutique, opening up the beautiful heritage-listed space
Borna BošnjakThough their future seemed shaky during the pandemic years, the age of the boutique is fully back in swing. More and more brands are opening their own bricks-and-mortar locations, realising the value in being able to weave their own storytelling in person. The Vacheron Constantin boutique in Melbourne has always been a cozy, almost hole-in-the-wall location outfitted with the kind of plush furnishings you’d expect from the Holy Trinity brand, but underwent a drastic change over the last few months, and Jamie and I had the privilege of checking it out in all its glory for its grand reopening earlier this week.
The downstairs area has been given a bright new look with lots of warm tones matching the lighting set-up. To maximise the space, the display cabinets are actually surprisingly small – none of those huge, glass boxes – which makes the surroundings feel more approachable too, something you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a high-end brand.
But it’s really the new upstairs area that completely throws off the shackles of conforming to what a watch boutique should look like, looking more like some artist’s front sitting room. This homey feeling was in part to having to conform to Melbourne’s strict standards of occupying a heritage-listed building, but I think it really works in Vacheron Constantin’s favour here. The space is dominated by a boomerang-shaped table (which is not coincidental, we’re told), before a wide, wood-clad doorway leads you to a heavy-set armchair and sofa set-up that you can so easily sink into.
And for those who love small, collectible tidbits, there are VC nods galore here. The colourful, framed artwork you see in the image above is actually a collection of all of Vacheron Constantin’s straps, while the marble tables are home to VC-branded, marble-carved tic-tac-toe gamesets. Because of course they are.
Many boutiques, especially high-end ones, still suffer from that overly stuffy, hostile feeling. It’ll make you ask twice whether you’re allowed to sit down, just like you would when visiting those rich, distant cousins of yours (just me?). Vacheron Constantin’s Melbourne boutique side-steps that challenge successfully, and we’d know given how much thought we’d put into our own Discovery Studios to avoid just such situations. So if you’ve got some spare time this coming long weekend in Melbourne, pop down to the boutique and check out the watches – there was a gold 222 sitting in the window, and that’s something you’d hardly want to miss.
Borna and the Time+Tide Team
Watch meme of the week: proper pronunciation
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Step 1: “maysahn”. Step 2: “Jay-Jay LeCoot”. Step 3: profit?
Wristshot of the week: the ultimate modern Speedy
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Black aventurine dial, emerald-set bezel and crown, 321 movement, and all cased in platinum. Produced in single-digit examples, this is pretty much as good as a Speedmaster gets, right?
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: Elliot Brown
As British Watchmakers’ Day is just around the corner, we thought there would be no better time to bring Elliot Brown to the Time+Tide Discovery Studios than now. With a collection largely comprising of military-inspired pieces, we’ve got the Holton, Beachmaster, and Heritage Diver families in stock at our Melbourne and London Studios for you to discover.
You can check out our entire Elliot Brown collection online, before heading into one of our Discovery Studios to pick one up for yourself.
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
Rolex 2025 predictions – everything in this article is 100% guaranteed to happen, we promise
By some dumb luck, we figured out what Rolex is going to be releasing at Watches and Wonders 2025. That’s, of course, if you believe this article that is completely factual and not at all based on a spirited team discussion from one of our meetings. Will the Crown’s acquisition of Bucherer finally push them back into a more traditional take on complications, and is the GMT-Master going to be celebrated? Find out what Russell thought about it here.
Going for Oscar gold: the best watches of the 2025 Academy Awards
Any red carpet event is an opportunity for a spot of watch spotting, especially when it’s one of the most anticipated ones of the year. But Jamie spotted a bit of a theme for this year’s Oscars – and that was gold watches galore. Fitting, given the general look of the ceremony. Check out his guide to the Oscars 2025 wrist winners here.
We asked the stars and drivers at F1 75 the one car and one watch they’d want for life
On the red carpet for F1 75, the launch of the 2025 Formula 1 season (which kicks off next week with the Australian Grand Prix Melbourne!) Russell asked the stars of F1, including Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Toto Wolff, and many more the hard-hitting questions. Whether it was Jackie Stewart telling us about his favourite Rolex or Zak Brown wishing he could go back to the 1974 Brazilian Grand Prix, there was plenty to talk about at the racing event of the year. Watch on YouTube above.