Vacheron Constantin

Something new for me from VC

 

I've had my eye on this piece for a while through various Internet sightings, but had never seen it in the metal until yesterday at my favorite NorCal/Central Coast AD.

And, given my gratitude to VC for the recent festivities in Geneva, I thought it appropriate that I take the leap and acquire this lovely watch:

Things I like about it:

1. The Overseas is "my" high-end sportwatch -- having considered the RO, various GOs, the BP Fifty Fathoms on the X-71 bracelet, even Omega and Rolex, and dismissed the PP offerings, for me this generation Overseas design is the right combination of design cues for my eye and wrist.
2. The Ti details are great -- especially like the crown guards
3. The grey leather strap -- this surprised me, as in photos it tends to look washed out.  I had expected to ask the AD to put on the rubber strap right away, but think I'll be sticking with the leather.  Since I love the Overseas Maltese Cross bracelet so much, I'm also a bit surprised at how good this one looks on the strap -- may get a bracelet at some point, but for now this looks great
4. The grey dial -- very tasty.  
5. The packaging -- including the VC "passport," the Flash drive with all of the product photos and owners' manual, and the "stacked" presentation box holding all of the items in a cool form factor.
6. The Half-Cross deployant clasp -- very solid, and the half-cross is a classic look
7. The semi-instantaneous jumpinig minutes on the chrono -- more to my taste than the continuous minutes used on many chronos
8. The Cal. 1137 movement -- with VC's treatment of the classic Piguet base. Pusher feel is a lot nicer than on the varous valjoux-based chronos I've been fighting over the years. The flash drive synopsis says that this is a COSC movement, although I didn't see any paperwork on the timing test in my materials and the VC website seems silent on this topic -- can anyone enlighten me?
9. The big date -- at my age, getting to be a requirement
10.  The highly visible hour/minute hands and markers -- with fantastic lume
11. The antimagnetic cage -- probably doesn't come into play too much in real life, but fun to have
12. The size -- a large watch, but the size and color of the dial make it look smaller and it's thin enough to sit very comfortably on the wrist

The only thing that I understand but don't love is the blacked-out chrono hands -- nice for stealth, a little less so for legibility.  OK, one more: I already know that it's automatic and antimagnetic -- no need to print it on the dial.  All in all, a big list of positives and a very short list of reservations!

This is a piece that for me will work great for both office and weekend wear -- and my wife likes it better than my YG bracelet Overseas Dual Time, which she thinks is too flashy (but I love...).

That's it!  Really looking forward to owning this one.

Best,

Gary G