The Holy Trinity of watch brands: Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin.
Far less understood than either of its respected compatriots, Vacheron Constantin has a legacy of producing some of the very finest high horology complications in history - and some of the loveliest.
Sports watches came later to VC, as pressure from the new 'Sports Luxury' category introduced in the early 1970s forced the storied brand to evolve. Their entry came in the form of the Reference 222, from which the design language was inspiration for 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 in the category of 'freshest take on 1970s sport icons', and often finds itself winning its category in terms of design, value, and variety of complications.
This particular Overseas, however, a Reference 5510V, is no ordinary Overseas...
In 2019, photographer, mountaineer, and Vacheron ambassador Cory Richards was seen wearing what appeared to be a one-off Overseas Dual Time during an ascent of Mt. Everest. What later was revealed to be a prototype, this piece was constructed primarily out of titanium and incorporated a few other visible cues that this was like no other Overseas. This very piece later auctioned at Phillips here in New York for over $100,000.
This prototype had many in the watch world speculating about what this could mean for the range, Vacheron, and ultimately had collectors crossing their fingers for a production example. And in 2021, Vacheron Constantin officially announced that there would be 150 units of this piece produced to be sold. Awesome!
But it doesn't end there.... In additional to the 150 units of the Dual Time, Vacheron simultaneously released a chronograph variant of the 'Everest' — also limited to 150 units worldwide — which is what we have here.
Coming in with a 42.5mm case with a sapphire crystal, a signed screw-down crown, screw-down pushers, and a titanium 'Maltese'-style bezel, this piece features an awesome, textured 'grey/blue' dial (as Vacheron calls it) with applied luminous indices and recessed sub registers, a framed date window at 4:30, and a matching handset with orange chronograph hands.
This piece comes fitted to a signed 'grey/blue' Cordura strap with contrast orange stitching and a signed steel deployant clasp, and is powered by Vacheron's Calibre 5200/2 automatic winding chronograph movement wiuth a wildly cool 22k gold rotor with an engraving of Mt. Everest — thankfully visible via a sapphire exhibition caseback.
With an extremely low production run, a great story, and a functional design, this piece — for tool watch fans — might just be the pinnacle for all modern offerings.
And for everyone else, well, it's a robust and rare chronograph hailing from a brand with seemingly endless pedigree.
How can you loose?
