One other day, one other cool Vacheron Constantin launch. Barely a month on from Watches & Wonders (the place I’ll remind you, Vacheron dropped probably the most sophisticated wristwatch ever made), the long-lasting model, at the moment celebrating its 270th anniversary, has launched one other excessive complication heater — a skeleton dial, perpetual calendar, minute repeater with tourbillon dressed up as a titanium Abroad.
Coming into 2025, it was fairly clear to see that Vacheron was able to make some noise. For one factor, the model was (as I discussed) celebrating its 270th birthday, one thing the advertising people at Vacheron haven’t been shy about, however greater than that, the model has been on a fairly unbelievable run over the previous couple of years. Even with out the duvet of an anniversary 12 months, latest new releases from Vacheron Constantin have more and more been greeted as objects of curiosity, each in a technical and cultural sense, and there’s an actual feeling that somebody at Vacheron HQ clearly is aware of what they’re doing.
The brand new Abroad Grand Complication Openface is an objectively spectacular providing. Measuring in at 44.5mm throughout and 13.1mm thick in grade 5 titanium (a fabric additionally seen in final 12 months’s Abroad tourbillon) this newest Abroad does function barely reworked case proportions, with a narrower bracelet relative to its smaller siblings and what appears to me to be a barely longer lug to lug and thinner bezel, relative to its admittedly bigger case dimension.
The watch can also be water-proof to 30 meters. It’s a formidable quantity of water resistance for a minute repeater watch, whose shifting components (just like the case-side slider) and want for acoustic resonance don’t usually play good with waterproof elements like gaskets and screw-down parts, and makes an attempt to steadiness the acoustic enchantment of chiming watches with the on a regular basis utility of water resistance is one thing we’ve actually solely began to see broadly within the final decade.
Contained in the watch is the Vacheron Constantin Calibre 2755 QP. We’ve seen variations of this motion used earlier than by Vacheron, although largely within the Traditionnelle case. The motion is completed right here with a mix of rhodium-plating and an anthracite grey galvanic therapy, and is seen each by a sapphire caseback and thru a clear sapphire dial.
With its blue tracks and sub-dials, this dial ought to really feel acquainted in premise to anybody acquainted with the Abroad Perpetual Calendar Extremely-Skinny Skeleton, however is ready aside visually by the presence of a giant tourbillon on the six o’clock place and an asymmetrical dial structure, with the timekeeping and calendar shows compressed towards the highest of the dial. A enjoyable contact right here is the adjusted spacing on the twin minute observe, with one layer sitting across the outdoors fringe of the dial and the opposite set barely in and off-center.
Now, is that this the titanium Abroad of my specific goals? Most likely not — I’m much more curious about a typical manufacturing titanium Abroad, extra consistent with 2021’s Everest restricted editions (not that I’m precisely available in the market). But when we are able to’t have that, and plainly (at the very least for now) we are able to’t, a correct old-school Vacheron grand complication masquerading as a titanium sports activities watch is a fairly nice comfort, not that this watch comes throughout as even remotely conciliatory.
Unsurprisingly for a watch of this ilk, the Vacheron Constantin Abroad Grand Complication Openface might be a restricted manufacturing providing from Vacheron (although not a restricted version), with worth accessible on request. Vacheron Constantin
