Introducing the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon Squelette
By: Aurelio Icasiano III | Posted: April 01, 2022
The Overseas is one of the icons in the Vacheron Constantin stable. As a sport watch, it’s a bit more subtle and refined: qualities that it shares with most other watches from the maison. The collection is meant to convey the spirit of travel, and it’s easily identified through its tonneau-shaped case and its unusual bezel.
The Overseas collection has gone through quite a few redesigns in the past, but this new release— the Overseas Tourbillon Squelette—takes a different approach. It doesn’t really alter the outward design cues of the Overseas. Rather, it’s a skeletonized take on the Overseas Tourbillon.
In basic terms, not only can you see the movement when you look at the crystal case back, you can see it from the front as well. This and the tourbillon—one of the most difficult complications to produce—make the piece a bit of a statement in the sport watch category.
What is the Deal?
To understand what makes the Overseas Tourbillon Squelette so interesting, we’ll need a bit of a background on the tourbillon itself.
Back when pocket watches were the height of timekeeping technology, watchmakers had a problem with how gravity affected a watch’s movement. The spring and the balance wheel—parts that were constantly moving—were the most affected by it, since the friction and oil wouldn’t be equally distributed when the watch stayed in one position for too long. (Such as upright, in a vest pocket, in the case of pocket watches.)
The balance wheel would wear out much more quickly in some parts and the spring contended with the downward pull of gravity. Either of these would have led to inaccuracy.
Abraham-Louis Breguet—one of the most famous watchmakers in history and the founder of watchmaking house Breguet—thought of a solution. He believed that if the balance wheel and spring were rotated constantly, it would even out the effects of staying in one position for a long time.
Breguet then created a cage for the balance wheel, spring, and escapement, and this cage constantly rotated 360 degrees. This allowed the mechanism to even out the wear across the parts and made the watch more accurate: essentially defying gravity. At least, to some extent. This complication was later named the tourbillon.
Tourbillon is the French word for “whirlwind,” and this describes the motion of the complication accurately. As the balance wheel and spring oscillate, the cage also rotates, creating the image of a pulsing whirlwind.
Today, watchmaking technology has become so advanced that the Tourbillon isn’t exactly necessary for accuracy. Still, the tourbillon is considered one of the most difficult complications to produce, and it’s precisely this difficulty (and the corresponding rarity) that makes owning one such an appealing prospect. Also, it’s a historic complication that solved a real-world problem, and not many watchmakers today can produce one.
But this isn’t the only thing that makes the Overseas Tourbillon Squelette special. Vacheron Constantin decided to make a redesigned, openworked movement to go with the tourbillon. Openworking is a decorative technique used by watchmakers where they take out as much as they can from the watch (most notably, the dial) to expose the movement underneath.
The Overseas Tourbillon Squelette barely has any dial to speak of, essentially just hour markers that seem to hang off of the minutes track. While it does expose the hand-finished movement to a good degree—you can basically see through to the other side—it also acts as a frame to highlight the tourbillon, allowing it to be the centerpiece of the whole thing.
The tourbillon has Vacheron Constantin’s signature Maltese cross, creating a sort of kinetic sculpture out of it. And as a neat little touch, the small seconds are tracked by the tourbillon carriage as well, indicated by a tiny colored screw on the Maltese cross.
The Overseas Tourbillon Squelette comes in two editions: one in 18K 5N pink gold and the other in Grade 5 titanium. Each model is a bit largish at 42.5 mm, but not overly so for a sport watch. Both versions run on the Calibre 2169SQ—essentially, a redesigned version of Calibre 2160 which has been openworked to expose as much of the movement as possible.
What Do We Think?
In the case of the Overseas Tourbillon Squelette, not only is the tourbillon interesting to have and immensely fun to stare at: it’s thematically appropriate as well. Coming from a collection that’s meant to travel with you, this watch might see long periods of time at rest: on a plane, a train, or even the backseat.
For a watchmaking house that’s always had restraint and has mostly sticked to the conservative end of the spectrum, the Overseas Tourbillon Squelette is a demonstration of their mechanical creativity. Of the way they think out of the box.
In a sense, this is how Vacheron Constantin goes to town. They don’t exactly paint the town red, not really. They carve, sculpt, and chip away at every part of the town until it’s more intricate, more imaginative, and more sophisticated than the town it was before.Then they throw in a tourbillon in the middle of the town square.
While the Overseas collection has been enjoying a spike in popularity over the last year or so, it was previously seen as something of an under-the-radar pick. The release of the Overseas Tourbillon Squelette, though, might just convince some people to make the jump.
Specifications
| Brand: | Vacheron Constantin |
| Model Name(s): | Overseas Tourbillon Squelette |
| Reference: | (Pink gold) 6000V/110R-B934 (Titanium) 6000V/110T-B935 |
| Dial: | Openworked |
| Diameter: | 42.5 mm |
| Case Material: | 6000V/110R-B934: 18K 5N pink gold 6000V/110T-B935: Grade 5 Titanium |
| Movement: | Calibre 2160 SQ, automatic, Hallmark of Geneva. |
| Water Resistance: | 50m |
| Bracelet Material: | (Pink Gold) 18K 5N pink gold bracelet (Titanium) Grade 5 Titanium Half Maltese cross-shaped polished and satin-brushed links, secured by triple-blade folding clasp with push-pieces and comfort-adjustment system. Additional straps: Black / blue calfskin leather with white stitches |
| Limited Edition: | N/A |
Our coverage of the various Watches and Wonders continues into the week of 30 March-5 April 2022. To keep yourself informed of the latest releases at the event on our website.
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