Vacheron Constantin has revealed stunning images taken by legendary photographer Steve McCurry at remote locations in Mexico and Japan as part of his global photoshoot to illustrate the Swiss luxury watch brand’s new Overseas collection, the horological embodiment of its “spirit of travel”. 

McCurry is touring twelve little-known and sometimes inaccessible sites across the world to capture images that chime with the fundamental values of the brand.

The third and fourth locations of his ‘Overseas Tour’ were the aqueduct of Padre Tembleque in Mexico, where McCurry worked on the theme of “time for transmission”, and the Tsurunoyu hot spring in Japan, where he focused on “time for rituals”. 

Designed to channel water through the Mexican desert, this ruggedly beautiful Padre Tembleque aqueduct is the architectural proof of complex expertise and in-depth technological knowledge. This monumental work, born out of the encounter of the Roman and Pre-Columbian civilisations built between 1553 and 1570 and stretching from Zempoala to Otumba, spans an incredible 45 km. 

“You fully grasp the visual strength of this aqueduct when you realise that it was built over 500 years ago with absolutely perfect symmetry. I see it as a work with a poetic structure, placed right in the middle of nowhere,” says McCurry.

In Japanese, onsen means “hot spring”, the name given to thermal baths, regarded as poetic, ritual and sacred places. In the province of Akita, the beauty of the Tsurunoyu onsen emanates from the presence of unspoilt yet well mastered natural elements – water, steam and the environment – that never undermine the humble, pared-down simplicity of the establishment. This is a place where no one is entitled to immerse themselves in these hot springs bursting forth from the earth without following a specific ritual paying tribute to the serenity of purification. 

“This was one of the most inspirational locations on my photographic journey. When we arrived there, it had been snowing for three days. Everything was shrouded in a mantle of white, as if in a dream. It was truly fascinating to witness this magical contrast between the coldness of the snow and the warmth of the baths,” he says.