The Overseas by Vacheron Constantin has become an iconic sports watch, with an identity forged above all by its bezel that expresses an engineering style of design, with a hexagonal geometry based on a portion of the Maltese cross emblem. The black dial creates a tough and minimalist effect. The other notable feature of Overseas is the interchangeable strap. The watch changes style completely, with a formal look generated by the steel bracelet with links also suggesting a section of the Maltese cross logo, a black-tie look with leather strap, and a sport aesthetic with the rubber strap. No tools are required to change the strap.
Case and dial
The case is moderately sized at 41 mm diameter, and slim at 11 mm thickness. It has a sapphire caseback to reveal details of the movement, but a soft iron ring inside the case provides a degree of anti-magnetic protection. The case has a screw-down crown which contributes to the water resistance of 15 bar, 150 metres. It’s a watch that you can take swimming.
The dial is in gloss black enamel, while the inner bezel flange has a satin finish. The watch is given a technical look by the double scales, one for the minutes and one divided into quarter seconds. Hour and minute hands, and the applied hour indices, have sections of luminescent paint for night-time visibility.
Straps and clasps
The Overseas Automatic has a steel bracelet with triple-blade folding clasp with security buttons and length adjustment system. The watch is supplied with a second folding clasp that can be used with either of the two supplementary straps supplied with the watch, in black alligator and black rubber. The straps are changed simply by using the tab between the lugs that you can see in the last photo below.
Movement
The Vacheron Constantin Overseas is powered by the Calibre 5100 movement, designed and built in-house, with 37 rubies, running at 4 Hertz (28,800 vibrations per hour). It is self-winding, with the Overseas oscillating weight visible through the caseback, and it provides about 60 hours power reserve.
Price and reference
The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Automatic with black dial is reference 4500V110A-B483. It has the Geneva Seal. Its price is €20,500. Read more on the Vacheron Constantin website.
