The Holy Trinity of watch brands: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin.
Far less understood than either of its respected compatriots, Vacheron Constantin has a legacy of producing some of the very finest haute horlogerie complications in history — and some of the loveliest.
Sports watches came later to VC, as pressure from the new “luxury sport watch” category introduced in the early 1970s forced the storied maison to evolve. Its entry came in the form of the 222, whose design language inspired the current Overseas collection. The Overseas models compete with other watches such as the Patek Philippe Nautilus, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, IWC Ingenieur, and Piaget Polo, and often find favor by merit of design, value, and variety of complications.
This particular Overseas, a full set, is one of the finest wristwatches of the last few years — full stop. A skeletonized version of the Perpetual Calendar in pink gold, it’s the type of timepiece that completely halts you in your tracks. And when you have it on-wrist, needless to say, you can hardly believe it’s real!
Housed in a 41.5mm pink gold case measuring just 8.1mm thick with a signed crown, a stylized bezel that pulls from the design of the Maltese cross, and a sapphire crystal, it features an unbelievable skeletonized dial with full perpetual calendar & moonphase functionality — accurate until the year 2100 — complemented by a luminous outer minute track and a matching, luminous handset.
Powered by the automatic, in-house Vacheron Constantin Calibre 1120 QPSQ/1 movement with 40 hours of power reserve and NAC ceramic coating, it comes with three straps: a matching, pink gold bracelet, a dark blue rubber strap, and a dark blue Mississippi alligator leather strap, each of which is designed in the “integrated” style for a seamless look.
Flip over the case to reveal a sapphire caseback, through which can be viewed the 22-carat gold oscillating weight — inspired by the Maltese Cross, a signature of Vacheron’s — of the in-house movement. And if the movement doesn’t blow your socks off, then surely 181 grams of pure gold will!
Truly, there are few contemporary timepieces as exciting as those of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Collection. But don’t take our word for it.
Get this one on your wrist today!
