Christian Selmoni, Vacheron Constantin Heritage & Style Director, Geneva, Switzerland
Roger Michel, Institute for Digital Archaeology Executive Director, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Join Vacheron Constantin Heritage & Style Director Christian Selmoni as he shares some of Vacheron Constantin’s most incredible timepieces and the stories behind them. Institute for Digital Archaeology Executive Director Roger Michel will join Selmoni in exploring the intimate ties between the notion of time and the ingenuity devoted to its measurement through successive eras. The lecture will focus on a variety of timepieces from Vacheron Constantin, all steeped in history.
Zoom Webinar to begin promptly at 1:00pm Eastern Time (US and Canada).
Webinar registration is required.
About Christian Selmoni
Born in 1959 to a Swiss family of watchmakers in the Vallée de Joux, one of the historical birthplaces of watchmaking, Christian Selmoni serves as Style and Heritage Director at Vacheron Constantin.
Christian joined Vacheron Constantin in 1990 as Sales Administration Manager, becoming Purchasing Manager in 1992, and Production & Purchasing Director in 1996, during which time he played a key role in overseeing all aspects of manufacturing and sourcing.
In 2001, he was tasked with incorporating all product-creation aspects of Vacheron Constantin – from concept to final prototypes and product launch – into a unique Product Department, notably responsible for the design and development of the company’s famous 250th anniversary elements.
Christian was appointed Artistic Director at Vacheron Constantin in 2010, with responsibilities including the long-term definition of products and future “product” tendencies for the Maison; its creative aspects as well as the development and consolidation of the Métiers d’Art workshops (artistic crafts such as enamel, engraving, gem-setting and guillochage), together with Les Cabinotiers workshop which includes design and development of made-to-order timepieces.
In 2017, Christian was appointed Style and Heritage Director. Within the Heritage department, his main responsibilities are to enrich and develop the Maison’s heritage, as well as to extract designs and design elements from the past to nurture Vacheron Constantin’s present and future creations. In addition, he consolidates and develops relationship with international press, clients and watch collectors.
About Roger Michel
Roger Michel is the Director of Oxford's (UK) Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA). The IDA, in collaboration with national governments, leading universities, and global NGOs, documents, preserves and protects cultural assets around the world.
The IDA's current exhibition at Oxford's History of Science Museum, "Heartbeat of the City," celebrates the addition of Swiss watchmaking to UNESCO's world intangible heritage list in 2020. It explores man's fascination with the tiny machines that have fundamentally changed his relationship to time through the stories of innovation, courage and artistic achievement that they tell.
Michel has been collecting watches for 40 years and has amassed a private collection of more than 3,000 timepieces, with a focus on watches that are connected to important and memorable moments in history. He is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford Universities and was on the faculty at Boston University for 25 years.