Love the color and materials, dislike date sub-dial…

After the very sharp, very “Vacheron” looking chronograph and time-only models of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas models that were launched this time last year (see: Vacheron Constantin Overseas:  Dressed in Grey, 04/16/09), 2010 sees the launch of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time.   The watch will be available with a grey croc strap as well as a black rubber one.   The Dual Time uses Vacheron’s automatic caliber 1222 with a soft-iron antimagnetic inner case.  The price on this particular piece is likely to be in the $15,000 – $18,000 range by my estimation.

42 mm steel case, titanium “Maltese cross” inspired bezel (fantastic!), water resistance 150 meters, motif of the three-masted sailing ship “Amerigo Vespucci” engraved on the caseback

(c) The Hour Lounge

(c) The Hour Lounge

(c) The Hour Lounge

My only nit-pick about this watch is its date sub-dial –  it is quite poorly designed.  And in fact this poor design is nothing new  – no fewer than 11 different Vacheron Constantin models use this same sub-dial design.  However on this particular watch it looks even more striking in comparison to the much more minimalistic dual-time sub-dial at the 6 o’clock position.  What do I mean by poor design?  Well, as I’ve highlighted below, you can see that the days 1-31 appear very crowded on the sub-dial – and most oddly the “1″ looks like it almost got squeezed right off the dial!  Makes no sense whatsoever to me.  Sure it is a small detail, but discerning buyers of a watch of this high a caliber have good reason to obsessed with little details such as this.

Lest I end on too sour a note (particularly for those of you not familiar with the brand), I will point out  that Vacheron Constantin is one of the pre-eminent watch makers today, right up there with Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and others — generally speaking, a Vacheron Constantin is second to none!