The Vacheron Constantin American of 1921 is a cushion-shaped wristwatch whose dial is rotated 45 degrees counter-clockwise, with the crown placed at 1 o’clock so that 12 o’clock lines up with it. It was a revised version of a 1919 cushion watch made for the New York market, which had its crown at 11 o’clock; the 1921 model moved the crown to the upper right. Like its predecessor, it used a conventional pocket-watch movement, the RA 11 lignes Nouveau Amérique calibre made for the United States market from 1916. Production was tiny: the 1921 variant was limited to 12 pieces, sold over about ten years, with the last one sold in 1931. It matters as one of the most original case and dial layouts of the early wristwatch era.

The angled dial is usually explained as a driver’s feature, letting a motorist read the time with both hands on the wheel, although the exact reason for the design is not definitively known. The watch also carries the nickname “The Preacher’s Watch” after Reverend Samuel Parkes Cadman, an American clergyman and early radio broadcaster who owned two of them. According to Vacheron Constantin heritage director Christian Selmoni, legend has it that the slanted dial let Cadman discreetly check the time while preaching. The brand revived the design in its Historiques collection, combining the 1921 case and crown position with the 1919 dial, launching the new manual-wind calibre 4400 in the process. The featured photo shows a modern Historiques American 1921, as no photograph of an original 1921 piece could be sourced.

The American 1921 is regarded by collectors as one of the brand’s most characterful designs. Monochrome called the 2009 reissue a “superb beauty” and one of the most beautiful watches of that year, while noting that its small seconds scale reads at a different angle from the hours, a quirk some readers disliked. Collectors on WatchProSite describe it as a great design and a perennial favourite. For the centenary in 2021, Vacheron Constantin released 40 mm and 36.5 mm white gold versions and a 100-piece platinum edition, all with the calibre 4400 AS and a 65-hour power reserve. The original 1921 series is no longer produced, but the Historiques American 1921 remains in the current collection.