Hands-On: Vacheron Constantin’s Green Dial, Pink Gold Overseas
Earlier this year at Watches & Wonders, Vacheron Constantin basically overshadowed everything else they could do by breaking their own record for “world’s most complicated watch” with the Berkley Grand Complication. Despite being a one-off piece, it drew pretty sizable crowds to Vacheron’s booth to see a watch that would likely not be publicly displayed for a long time.
But that wasn’t the end of things for Vacheron at the trade show. And as loathe as I am to wax poetic about a new dial color (with one recent exception), this watch has stuck in my mind over the last few months: the Overseas Dual Time in pink gold with green lacquered sunburst dial. Yes, it’s a new dial color, but its a very attractive one and representative of the truth in the adage, “more options isn’t a bad thing.” So let’s spend a few minutes with it.
The pink gold Overseas is a watch platform that I’m oddly familiar with, though not because of any luck of owning one. One of my first press events for Hodinkee was to cover the Overseas Perpetual Calendar Skeleton in pink gold. Before that, one of my biggest random “man on the street” watch spottings was a guy at a wedding wearing the unskeletonized version. But these are rare watches and I’ve never seen them in the wild again. But they’ve stuck with me because of how captivating and extremely comfortable they are.
From my coverage of the Overseas Perpetual Calendar Skeleton in 2022.
The Overseas Dual Time is another watch I have strong feelings about. Vacheron absolutely knocked it out of the park when they released the Overseas Dual Time “Everest,” and while I never really was anywhere close to buying it, it’s so perfect in my eyes that it’s hard not to feel like it’s “one that got away.”
From James Stacey’s coverage of this beautiful watch.
The new Overseas Dual Time in pink gold, with the green satin-sunburst enamel dial falls into a completely different category than either of the above in many respects. Far too dressy and heavy to be making its way up Everest, yet sporty enough to be a watch you could wear far more often than a skeleton QP, it nicely rounds out Vacheron’s offering for the line. So far, the brand had offered three dials in steel (white, black, and blue) and one pink-gold option with a white dial and only a strap. Now, with the heft of a gold bracelet, it’s the most fully formed option for gold lovers yet.
It’s not an affordable option by any stretch (shocker, it’s 18k pink gold) and will run you $75,500 if you can get your hands on one, but on the wrist, it wears quite well. At 41mm by 12mm thick, it’s not a particularly thick watch, but the heft of the pink gold will obviously weigh you down a bit – but that’s what you’re shooting for if you’re shopping for a watch like this.
A dual-time watch like this is inherently a bit messy on the dial side. Without an AM/PM bezel, you’ve got a lot going on to give you all the time you need. But Vacheron has done a good job cleaning the dial up from the older generation of Overseas Dual Time. And the main attraction that stuck in my mind was the dial, specifically the way the green sunburst pops against the pink gold case. I know that green dials had their moment and even got a bit passé, but I really dig this one.
The other part of the wearability I have to highlight is the versatility of the watch being offered with the full bracelet (which, is a $27,000 up-charge over the white dial model without). Yes, it costs a lot more, but I think that the Overseas might have the most comfortable and versatile integrated bracelet of the “Holy Trinity” brands.
The Overseas not only has a comfortable link structure but a nice deployant that never digs into your wrist. The shape, lines, and facets run cleanly from bracelet to case. But the fact that you can completely change the look and feel of the watch with ease because of the quick release button at the back of the watch is a game-changer.
You can see, in this case I removed one side to show you the automatic Vacheron 5110 DT/2 movement with Poincon de Genève (Geneva Seal) certification. The movement runs at 28,800vph with 60 hours of power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback, while still giving the watch an extra sporty 150m of water resistance. And if you are going to put that water resistance to the test, you can easily switch to the brand’s included rubber strap. Or, if you want to dress up without being loud, there’s a quick-change green leather strap as well.
I’m a Packers fan, a Green Bay-raised Cheesehead, so you don’t have to sell me too hard on the green and gold combination, but this one does particularly well. But it’s not the only green dial option released this year, so I want to touch on one of the other ones that came out.
If you were looking for something simpler, Vacheron covered that as well. The new 41mm Self-Winding Overseas also now comes in that same green and pink gold combo (as does the 35mm version with a diamond-set bezel, which I didn’t photograph).
In the case of the Overseas Self-Winding 41mm, you get a more simplified option. Measuring 41mm in diameter by 10.69mm, the watch still has largely the same specs of 60 hours of power reserve and 150m of water resistance, but a pared-down display features only hours, minutes, seconds, and the date at three o’clock. It’s not that much thinner than the dual time and I’d be happy to see this as an option without the date. But it’s possible that there’s a well-heeled businessman out there looking for a watch like this who needs the date.
At $60,500, it’s actually not that much in the way of savings over the Dual Time. That $15,000 sure hits a lot harder when you’re talking about upgrading from time-only to dual-time in steel. But if you’re comparison shopping these two models in pink gold, I imagine you’re thinking more about use-case and aesthetic over budget. It feels like Vacheron has crept up a tiny bit in price over the past few years, but I think with all the talk of market contraction, they’ve done a good job of not overdoing it like other brands have. Either option will still be good for the kind of customer shopping at the price point. If it was my decision (and my imaginary budget), I’d go Dual Time all the way.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time, ref. 7920V/210R-B965; 41mm diameter by 12mm thick 18k pink gold case, with 150m water resistance. Green lacquered dial with sunburst satin-finished base, circular-finished internal minutes track, and velvet-finished external minutes track. Snailed counters. Red 18K gold dual-time hands. 18K gold applied hour/minute hands and hour markers highlighted with blue SuperLuminova. Hours, minutes, seconds, date, dual time with day/night indicator. Automatic movement operating at 28,800 VPH with 60 hours of power reserve. 18k pink gold bracelet and included quick-change green calfskin leather and rubber straps. Price: $75,500.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding, ref. 4520V/210R-B967; 41mm diameter by 10.69mm thick 18k pink gold case, with 150m water resistance. Green lacquered dial with sunburst satin-finished base. Date at 3 o’clock. 18K gold applied hour/minute hands and hour markers highlighted with blue SuperLuminova. Hours, minutes, seconds, date,. Automatic movement operating at 28,800 VPH with 60 hours of power reserve. 18k pink gold bracelet and included quick-change green calfskin leather and rubber straps. Price: $60,500.
Hodinkee
