Watch of the Week: Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph With New Panda Dial

With the release of a reverse ‘Panda-dial’ version did Vacheron Constantin’s sportiest watch, the Overseas Chronograph, just got a whole lot…sportier. This watch once again proves what a difference a dial can make! While the Overseas has already twenty years a firm place in Vacheron Constantin collection, the current generation didn’t arrive until 2016. In comparison to previous versions, it made the Overseas more contemporary in its styling, and with the new reverse ‘Panda-dial’ does Vacheron Constantin extend this feeling even further.

Except for the dial, nothing has changed. The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph still sports a 42.5mm stainless steel case and combines a screw-down crown with screw-lock push-pieces for the chronograph function. It is also still powered by caliber 5200, which is, of course, a manufacture caliber, awarded with the Geneva Seal, and fitted with a 22K oscillating weight designed like a compass rose.

While a change of dial seems trivial, when put in historical perspective it is not. This is the first time that Vacheron Constantin offers a reverse ‘Panda-dial’ for the Overseas in its collection, and even when we look at the history of the brand as a whole, the ‘Panda-dial’ is absent. For the Overseas Chronograph it does seem to make the sub-dials more legible, and especially the difference between the subdial for the running seconds, and those for the chronograph counters, more pronounced. Also, the black on white date wheel fits perfectly into the theme.

However, the real difference is being made by the interchangeable bracelet and straps. On the bracelet, it is a sportive steel chronograph, on the alligator strap a watch for a gentleman with a playful side, but on a rubber strap, it becomes a watch like we haven’t seen from Vacheron Constantin before! Because of the reverse ‘Panda-dial’, the Overseas seems to lose all its reservations and becomes a full-blown sports watch. That is the difference that dial can make!

While the new Overseas Chronograph without a doubt claims the stage, Vacheron Constantin also introduced another new version of the Overseas time-only. This watch is now also available with a black dial, which gives it surprisingly a more formal look than its blue and silver dial siblings. Both new varieties of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas are expected in the stored by mid-June of this year. The Chronograph will be priced at $30.300,-, the time only is available for $20.900,-