HANDS-ON: The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon – all the makings of a modern classic
A tourbillon inside a steel sports watch? On a rubber strap? It’s enough to bring a watch-purist out in a cold sweat. And when such a watch is launched by one of the most venerable companies in the business? Ohhh … But that’s exactly what makes the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon so cool. Yes, cool. Here’s Vacheron Constantin, showing off its haute horlogerie chops in casual, sports-luxe mode. The tourbillon follows a chronograph, a perpetual calendar and a world timer into the Overseas line but its presence in the collection is both strange and wonderful in a way those other complications are not. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a tourbillon in a sports-luxe line (AP, Richard Mille et al.), but Vacheron usually surrounds its tourbillons with elegant refinement and/or high complications. This is by far the house’s most understated tourbillon watch to date – and here, the delicate and beautiful mechanism sits in splendid isolation, surrounded by an ocean of blue dial. And wrapped up in steel. The case Fasten the watch to your wrist and the case shows its star quality. The proportions are great: wide enough (42.5mm) and thin enough (10.39mm) to look and feel strongly present…
The post HANDS-ON: The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon – all the makings of a modern classic appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
The Defy is playing an increasingly important role in Zenith’s lineup — offering a modern alternative to the Pilot’s line that has dominated the discussion for so long. And there’s a lot to like about it — modern style with a hint of retro flavour. And while the Defy spans the spectrum from accessible to ultra high-end, the watch we’re looking at today — the Zenith Defy El Primero 21 — sits neatly in the middle, adding a quintessentially Zenith complication to the sporty 44mm package. That complication is, of course, the chronograph — and not just any chrono, but the mighty El Primero. Only here it’s the El Primero on steroids — the El Primero 21. The party trick here is the fact that the chronograph is packing two escapements, one for the timekeeping, and one for the chronograph. The real kicker is the beat rate for the chronograph escapement — 360,000 vph. This means that the central hand doesn’t make a full rotation every minute, but every second (that’s 1/100th of a second accuracy). It’s a whirling, mad thing to look at, and super cool. It’s also something of an energy hog, as you might expect, which leads…
