Just when you thought the smart watch was the cleverest thing in wristwear, along comes the Reference 57260, a mechanical masterwork boasting 57 functions.

A private client of Vacheron Constantin, the world's oldest watch company in continuous operation, challenged it to make the most complex timepiece of the 21st century. Vacheron Constantin claims to have achieved it with the Reference 57260, launching it in Geneva overnight.

The Reference 57260 is a double-dialled horological statement the normally conservative brand describes as being "of hitherto unimaginable complication and technical innovation".

The groundbreaking Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 cost more than $10 million and three years to produce.

This is possibly no exaggeration given the pocket-piece is the result of eight years' work by a team of three of the company's master watchmakers. It has 2826 parts in fact, 10 world premieres, 10 patents, has 31 hands, weighs 957 grams and spans 98mm.

The watch follows classic principles of watchmaking as finessed over the centuries since the founding of the brand exactly 260 years ago, but also incorporates advanced 21st century thinking, making it not just an entirely original timepiece but a contemporary machine boasting features never seen before.