Beautiful Noise: Introducing the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface
It’s a QP! It’s a tourbillon! And the big news is that it’s the first minute repeater in the Overseas collection!
By Rhonda Riche
Editor-At-Large
If tasked with making a watch, I would be sorely tempted to pack it with all the bells and whistles technology would allow. And for those readers who can appreciate a Simpsons reference, it would probably look like Homer’s car.
That’s because, as fun as an ultra-complicated watch would be to design, it also must make sense. For example, Vacheron Constantin’s Overseas collection is generally regarded as its family of “adventure” watches. Even the brand’s website describes them as “the perfect daily companions.”
However, seeing as the new Overseas Grand Complication Openface has packed many complications – including a minute repeater – under its openworked dial, I can’t help but wonder: Is this one too many details for an everyday wearer? Let’s have a look.
The Challenge
For some folks, too much is never enough. The challenge for Vacheron’s watchmakers was to build a case that was robust enough to protect a perpetual calendar, a tourbillon, and the collection’s first-ever minute-repeater from everyday knocks and bumps.
The brand tweaked the proportions of its 44.5mm titanium case to be water-resistant up to 3 bar (approximately 30m). That may not sound like much, but figuring out how to keep moisture out was a massive challenge for the design team because of the sliding mechanism built into the left side of the case to activate the repeater.
At the same time, VC had to adapt the elegant lines of the Overseas to contain the 33.9mm diameter Calibre 2755 QP. This movement incorporates a perpetual calendar with date, day, month, and leap-year cycle indications, which requires no correction before 2100 and adjusts for a non-leap secular year.
All this micro-management required a year and a half of research and development and involved a complete redesign of the caseback to create space for the minute repeater mechanism while maintaining the slender curves characteristic of Overseas watches.
The proportions of this sport chic piece are 44.5mm with a height of 13.1mm. The movement measures only 7.9mm thick and is visible through a highly complex openface sapphire crystal dial.
Lucky Strike
A minute repeater is much more practical in an everyday watch than a perpetual calendar or a tourbillon. The chiming hour, quarter, and minute indicators tell the time in a dark space or surreptitiously under a boardroom table during a meeting.
Naturally, a watch that makes beautiful music will require some sort of mechanical dance. Thus, to govern the cadence of the repeater, the Maison's watchmakers developed a centripetal regulator. This proprietary device allows the hammers to be struck at the precise intervals required to obtain the correct musical sequences.
The regulator itself is completely silent, thanks to two centrifugal weights that act as a motor brake on the axis of rotation, smoothing the flow of energy released by the repeater spring.
In keeping with Vacheron Constantin’s dedication to detail, particular attention has been paid to the aesthetics of this governing device, which is visible through the sapphire caseback. An arc-shaped bar secures the regulator; crafted in 750/1000 gold, its rounded form requires a full day of meticulous hand-polishing. Beneath it, the circular-grained inertia weights are engraved with the initials of Jean-Marc Vacheron, who founded the Maison in 1755.
And in keeping with the Overseas’ sporty aesthetic, all of this beauty is housed in a Grade 5 titanium case with an integrated bracelet. As with other watches in the collection, the bracelet, fitted with a comfort system, comes with two additional straps – one in blue alligator, one in blue rubber – that can be easily swapped out without tools.
Final Thoughts
At the beginning of this piece, I wondered: with a perpetual calendar, tourbillon, and minute repeater under its openworked dial, does the new Overseas Grand Complication Openface have too many details for an everyday wearer?
My answer:
No. For more information about the limited-production Overseas Grand Complication Openface, including pricing and availability, check out the Vacheron Constantin website.