Welcome to Watch Guy Watches, GQ’s monthly curation of high-end timepieces for the true watch nerds among us. This month, Vacheron Constantin delivers a beautiful QP; Lange offers a signature complication in platinum; De Bethune goes digital; and Louis Vuitton expands its travel-watch catalog with five exciting new executions.
Vacheron Constantin appears to be the rare entity that actually sticks to its New Year’s resolution. The brand picked a classic one: get thinner. Boy, has it delivered. The first unveil came at Watches and Wonders this year when the brand released the smash-hit Overseas ultra-thin, engineering a new movement that reduced its time-only watch to an extremely slick 7.35mm. Today, the brand continues to deliver on that concept with a new, much more complicated timepiece.
Ten years ago, Vacheron Constantin released its first standalone perpetual calendar watch within its funky Overseas Collection. Incredibly svelte and equipped with a strap kit of three interchangeable options, it stuck out in the QP market for its sporty overtones. This was a luxury-sport watch before that became the industry’s dominant category. Since that first release in 2016, the brand has iterated extensively on this beloved model, releasing pink gold versions, skeletonized iterations, watches with burgundy and rose gold-tone dials, and others.
But as good-looking as all those watches are, none quite carries the laid-back, versatile sheen of the new “Azure Dial” version. Created in a limited run of just 200 pieces, it celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Overseas collection to splendid effect, with a beautiful, radially brushed surface that glints like a faceted sapphire.
Released in 1996, the Overseas collection inherited the luxury-sport watch mantle from 1975’s Chronomètre Royal and 1977’s 222. Inspired by travel, it’s now a modern-day classic recognizable for its Maltese Cross-inspired bezel, an integrated bracelet likewise inspired by the Cross, and—since 2016—a series of dedicated in-house movements specific to the family that power different complications and designs.
Another signature of the collection is paper-thin designs such as the Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin. Measuring just 8.1mm thick, the new Azure Blue version is powered by the house’s Calibre 1120 QP/1, an automatic movement with 276 components, 36 jewels, and a 40-hour power reserve. At just 4.05mm thick, this micro-mechanical marvel can differentiate between months of 28, 30, and 31 days, and—provided it remains wound—can keep faithful and accurate time through the year 2100. (At which point your child or grandchild will need to make a small manual adjustment.)
