Where Timeless Craft Meets Modern Mastery: Inside the Vacheron Constantin x Met Artisan Residency
In a rarefied collaboration blending cultural legacy with cutting-edge artistry, Vacheron Constantin and The Metropolitan Museum of Art have unveiled their inaugural Artisan Residency Program—an 18-month initiative designed to reimagine heritage through a contemporary lens. Announced at The Met Cloisters in celebration of the Swiss watchmaker’s 270th anniversary, the program is as ambitious as it is meaningful: a celebration of human touch in an age of automation.
The residency champions three globally acclaimed artisans—Aspen Golann, a U.S.-based furniture designer known for reviving early American woodworking; Ibrahim Said, an Egyptian ceramicist celebrated for his architectural forms; and Joy Harvey, an Italian jeweler whose work bridges traditional goldsmithing with avant-garde design. Together, they form a trifecta of talent, each selected for their commitment to advancing time-honored techniques through exceptional innovation.
The program invites these artists to immerse themselves in the encyclopedic breadth of The Met’s collections in New York—an archive that spans millennia, mediums, and civilizations. But their journey doesn’t stop there. The selected artisans will also travel to Geneva, Switzerland, to train with Vacheron Constantin’s master watchmakers and craftspeople, whose legacy of horological excellence has been uninterrupted since 1755.
This is not just a study in history—it’s a dialogue between disciplines. The artisans are encouraged to extract narrative, symbolism, and technical nuance from both institutions, and reinterpret them in their own mediums. The culmination? Each artisan will create a singular, bespoke work to be unveiled at The Met in October 2026—an exhibition that will serve as a capstone to the program and a meditation on the convergence of past, present, and future.
For Vacheron Constantin, whose reputation is built on Métiers d’Art—the painstaking decorative techniques behind its most intricate timepieces—this partnership reinforces its dedication to nurturing talent beyond its ateliers. For The Met, it is an evolution of its mission to support living artists while anchoring them in the continuum of global art history.
In an era defined by fast fashion, disposable design, and digital reproduction, the Artisan Residency is a bold affirmation of slow craft, of the human hand, and of objects that take time. It reaffirms what both The Met and Vacheron Constantin have long understood: that true luxury lies not in the price tag, but in the process.
As the world continues to chase innovation, this partnership offers a refreshing pivot—toward intentional creation, toward the preservation of artisanal legacies, and toward a future where making things beautifully still matters.
