Following the introduction of 2015’s Harmony collection (see Vacheron Constantin’s Harmony Collection: Poetry In Chronographic Motion), a line of elegant timers in precious-metal cushion-shaped cases, the Geneva icon turns to refreshing the Overseas, its only “everyday” timepiece, a more rugged sporty watch exuding its own special brand of elegance.
Easily interchangeable straps and bracelets are a key feature of the 2016 Vacheron Constantin Overseas collection
On discovering the reinvigorated Overseas collection at SIHH 2016, one thing I could not stop marveling over is how intelligent it is. Yes, I describe this new line as intelligent. The refresh, which includes five new models (making a total of 12 references), couldn’t have turned out better.
Let’s examine why.
The 2016 Vacheron Constantin Overseas
The strap change system
When I asked Vacheron Constantin CEO Juan-Carlos Torres about his personal relationship to the Overseas, the answer was not what I had expected to hear. “I think it’s not [about] emotion,” he answered in his typically excited way. “It’s perspective . . . Overseas is the emotion of what you do. It’s more a companion.”
And therefore, while I would dearly love to begin my examination of the collection with the new chronograph movement, I am not going to. I will start with the element that is certainly the first thing that a prospective new buyer will notice and that perhaps creates the most feeling of the Overseas being a companion: the strap change system.
Rubber (left), metal, and leather straps are all easily interchangeable on Vacheron Constantin’s 2016 Overseas collection
Strap change systems have been around for a few years. I first noticed them when Jaeger-LeCoultre and Frédérique Constant brought them in about ten years ago. The system usually involves a little lever on the underside of the strap that moves the spring bar to the side, allowing the wearer to change his or her own straps without resorting to the same kind of strap-change tool that watchmakers use.
The 2016 Vacheron Constantin Overseas
If you have ever tried to change your own strap, you will know that it is all too easy to slip with the tool and scratch the you-know-what out of your case (I speak from experience here). So when that new lever system came in, I was all for it. I actually own a watch that has one built in (and I have a set of four changeable straps to go with it), and I can say that it is miles better than trying to use a tool.
Nonetheless, it is still finicky and requires quite a bit of dexterity and slim fingers or strong fingernails. I do find that the older I get (and the worse my eyes become), the harder it becomes to use. And I will also confess having broken a nail over it before (okay, guys, not cool to roll your eyes at that one – it’s actually a problem).
Vacheron Constantin 2016 Overseas Small
To put it bluntly: Vacheron Constantin’s new system eliminates that entirely, something that Torres also noticed. “It’s young, it’s aggressive, and it works – I’m really surprised myself,” he chuckled during our talk.
The new Vacheron Constantin Overseas Ultra-Thin
The straps and bracelets – a metal bracelet and both leather and rubber straps come with each of the each new Overseas models – all just click in and click out easily. It’s a twist-and-turn kind of thing, easy to master and simple to use.
And there are no fingernails involved. Not one.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar
This new strap change system is patent pending, so I’m not going to reveal too much more about it here aside from my hope that the brand brings it in on all of its watch lines once the patent goes through. It’s that good.
“The Overseas is a miracle,” Torres went on to remark. “Sometimes, for example, when I’m working with my cars in my garage, I have to avoid the Overseas bracelet because I can hurt the car with it. Now I can put my rubber bracelet on the watch instead. And when I am with friends in the evening for dinner, I change to my leather strap. I can match the events to my watch.”
The beautifully engineered folding buckle of the Vacheron Constantin 2016 Overseas collection
Additionally, the new deployant clasp also allows the wearer to change the length up to four millimeters . . . while the watch is still on the wrist.
The metal components are beautifully polished and include a half-Maltese cross motif (Vacheron Constantin’s emblem) on the buckle that works like a lock and key. Very cool.
The movements
And when it comes to the movements, I will start off by saying that the entire Vacheron Constantin collection of mechanical watches is now 100 percent certified by the Geneva Seal, a difficult-to-attain certification that is not only extensive in its testing, but also reserved for watchmakers headquartered in the canton of Geneva.
Vacheron Constantin’s products have been certified by the exclusive hallmark since 1901, but this is the first time that the brand has reached certification of 100 percent of the mechanical production.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Ultra-Thin
The Overseas collection is now powered by three new in-house calibers: chronograph Caliber 5200, Caliber 5100 including time and date, and “small model” Caliber 5300. Calibers 1120 and 1120 QP, which are not new, are used in the ultra-flat Overseas models.
Vacheron Constantin 2016 Overseas Small
This is not revolution, but it is an essential and beautiful evolution. Torres concurs: “I don’t care if it’s not the latest technical innovation; it has to be reliable quality. That’s the first thing.”
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph
The 5000 caliber series is notable for a couple of reasons, the first being protection against magnetic fields, which is possible thanks to a soft iron ring around the movement. Because it’s not an iron “core” enveloping the movement like those found in the old days, but rather a ring, these movements can be outfitted with a transparent sapphire crystal case back.
Vacheron Constantin Caliber 5300 from the 2016 Overseas collection “Small Model”
That would not have been possible in the previous versions due to the iron hugging the movement on all sides. Had that been the case here, the wearer would definitely have been sad not to be able to look at the beautifully finished manufacture caliber whenever he or she would like.
“It’s good that you bring that up,” said Torres when I asked about the shape of the iron core; I was concerned that something wasn’t right because I could see the movement. “That’s exactly that I said. Then I was told, ‘Charly, you are living old school. Now the technology allows us to have a small ring doing the same job’.”
View through the display back of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph with the Maltese cross-shaped column wheel visible on the right
The other notable element aside from the very fine finishing is the column wheel shaped like a Maltese cross found in the chronograph Caliber 5200. That is just a super-cool detail that I had to look at again and again.
“A lot of connoisseurs and a lot of collectors were waiting for this chronograph movement as well,” Torres continued when I expressed my pleasure after finally putting down the loupe. “I think this was the one that everyone was kind of waiting to see.”
Vacheron Constantin chronograph Caliber 5200 in the 2016 Overseas collection: note the Maltese cross-shaped column wheel that the bridges magically part to allow a view of
Like the Harmony models’ Calibers 3500, 3300, and 3200, the new Caliber 5200 boasts both a traditional column wheel for controlling the chronograph and a vertical clutch containing a brand-new “friction component” designed to do away with the little “jump” that some chronograph hands exhibit when activated.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph
Both this friction component and the chronograph wheel have been manufactured using LIGA-grown nickel-phosphorus, a completely smooth “new” material that is “grown” in galvanic manner and needs little or no lubrication when used in a watch movement. LIGA nickel-phosphorus is also very advantageous due to the extreme precision of production – that’s of real advantage when it comes to reducing play between gears.
Vacheron Constantin chronograph Caliber 5200 in the 2016 Overseas collection
Unlike the Harmony models, which beat at 18,000 vph/2.5 Hz, the Overseas watches all beat at the modern frequency of 28,800 vph/4 Hz.
The ultra-thin models are obviously more focused on elegance than robustness and therefore make use of a movement that has been in use in this form at Vacheron Constantin since 1982: Caliber 1120.
But they, too, are outfitted with the new strap-changing system – as they should be.
For more information, please visit www.vacheron-constantin.com/overseas.
Quick Facts Overseas Chronograph
Case: 42.5 x 13.7 mm, stainless steel or 5N red gold, including a soft iron ring around the movement for extra anti-magnetic protection
Movement: automatic Caliber 5200 with 52 hours of power reserve, Seal of Geneva
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds; date, chronograph
Price: $28,000 in stainless steel and $49,000 in red gold, comes with three bands (metal, alligator skin, rubber)
Quick Facts Overseas
Case: 41 x 11 mm, stainless steel or 5N red gold, including a soft iron ring around the movement for extra protection against magnetism
Movement: automatic Caliber 5100 with 60 hours of power reserve, Seal of Geneva
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds; date
Price: $19,900 in stainless steel and $35,600 in red gold, comes with three bands (metal, alligator skin, rubber)
Quick Facts Overseas Small Model
Case: 37 x 10.8 mm, stainless steel or 5N red gold with 84 round-cut diamonds on bezel (approx. 1 ct), including a soft iron ring around the movement for extra protection against magnetism
Movement: automatic Caliber 5300 with 60 hours of power reserve, Seal of Geneva
Functions: hours, minutes, subsidiary seconds
Price: $24,900 in stainless steel and $39,500 in red gold ($51,400 with red gold bracelet), comes with three bands (metal, alligator skin, rubber)
Quick Facts Overseas Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar
Case: 41.5 x 8.1 mm, white gold, including a soft iron ring around the movement for extra protection against magnetism
Movement: automatic Caliber 1120 QP, beating at 19,800 vph / 2.75 Hz with 40 hours of power reserve, Seal of Geneva
Functions: hours, minutes; perpetual calendar with date, weekday, month, leap year and moon phases
Remark: comes in a watch winder box and delivered with a corrector stylus
Price: $91,400, comes with three bands (metal, alligator skin, rubber)
Quick Facts Overseas Ultra-Thin
Case: 40 x 7.5 mm, white gold, including a soft iron ring around the movement for extra protection against magnetism
Movement: automatic Caliber 1120, beating at 19,800 vph / 2.75 Hz with 40 hours of power reserve, Seal of Geneva
Functions: hours, minutes
Remark: comes in a watch winder box and delivered with a corrector stylus
Price: $55,700, comes with three bands (metal, alligator skin, rubber)
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[…] At the 2016 SIHH, Vacheron Constantin rolled out its refresh of the whole Overseas collection. I reviewed the new models – a time-only version, a chronograph, a “small model,” an ultra-thin perpetual calendar, and an ultra-thin model – in The New Vacheron Constantin Overseas Reflects Travel, Companionship, And Extremely Easy Strap Interc…. […]
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I hate that they did away with the big date, I really can’t believe that they did this and probably won’t buy it just for that reason. They also did away with the guilloche dial but I guess I am ok with that. The bracelet is also slightly different and liked the old version a little more but not a deal breaker. I do like that they made the three sub-dials on the chronograph all the same size, that is a big improvement.
The new version has a microadjust clasp. No way is the old one better. Not even close.
PS I do love that they went with an in house movement.
Excellent Article.
My favourite is the time date only OS with Blue Dial.
I do not think that the calibre 1120 and 1120 QP were used in any of the Harmony Series, at least as yet. It will be a shame if there is’nt a Harmony with these two calibre’s though,
Thanks, Kunal. Apologies, it was Caliber 1142 in the Harmony Small Model that I was thinking of. I corrected that in this article after you brought it to my attention. Great eye!
Superb article that got me thinking… We all have images of ourselves, usually vastly different from reality. At some point, we start to reconcile that image with reality. How well we do it—how gracefully we do it—determines whether mid-life becomes a crisis.
I travel to Europe (and other time zones) three or four times a year. For a long time the notion of a multi-time zone watch has had real practical appeal to me.
VC’s OS Dual Time almost ended up on my wrist during a trip last month to St. Barths. The blue dial looked so in-place. I could strut along the waterfront and all the people I cared about would look past the thinning hair and the age-appropriate belly and see that I was the MAN. I could then return home, snap on the croc strap and voilà! Man-about-the-beach becomes man-about-town.
Perhaps not. I’m 50. That kick in the jacobs has me obsessing (being half-Swiss helps) about what should be on my wrist given this reality. I wonder: do the Daytonas, Nautili, Royal Oaks and Overseas really magically transform from rugged sports watches to dress watches at the change of a strap? Or is this trend just lipstick on a pig?
So just buy a multi time zoner dress watch then, I hear you scream. A few years ago I bought myself a PP WT (5130G); perfect, except for one thing: I simply cannot bear to wear it for what it is exactly designed for. I may as well let my nephew wear it to play lacrosse in. I don’t care what the watch companies say or how they brand their alloys, if you’re still calling it gold or platinum there is nothing you’ve been able to do to make it as resistant to scratches and dings as steel. I’m a very lucky guy but I’m not “private jet” lucky and so the thought of boarding a commercial airline with kids and hand luggage while wearing a soft-metaled watch…
The quest continues. I thought JLC, maker of the movement in the VC OS DT and the AP RO DT would be it. Their Master Geographic in steel is a real beauty and checks all of the boxes even if, in my humble opinion, it’s a tick thick for its diameter. As the salesman took it out of the case to a chorus of angels, the sun caught its dial. Cradling it in my cotton-gloved hands I was dumbstruck. Weren’t there supposed to be hands? No, not the sub-dial hands—they’re nicely highlighted in a deep, rich blue—the main hands. The US army to should go JLC to design their next generation of camouflage! The hands are literally the same color as the background. What were they thinking?!