Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 (yellow gold)

222 years, 222 watch

Vacheron Constantin was founded in Geneva on September 17, 1755, and in 1977 it celebrated its 222nd anniversary with a watch named for the number. The 222 arrived in the middle of the quartz crisis, when Swiss makers of mechanical watches were struggling, and it joined a new category: the luxury sports watch in steel with an integrated bracelet. Audemars Piguet had created the genre with Gerald Genta's Royal Oak in 1972, and Patek Philippe followed with the Nautilus in 1976.

Vacheron had been edging toward the idea. In 1963 it made the Turnograph ref. 6782, with a rotating 15-minute bezel and the baton hands and straight hour markers that the 222 would later echo, and in 1975 it released the Chronometre Royal ref. 42001, its first steel watch with an integrated bracelet.

The 222 was designed by Jorg Hysek, born in Berlin and then just 24, the same age Jean-Marc Vacheron had been when he founded the company. 'I wanted to design an elegant sporty timepiece while striking the right balance between these two elements to fit in with Vacheron Constantin's classic and refined universe,' Hysek said. The result did not copy the octagons of the Royal Oak and Nautilus: it had a tonneau-shaped case, a flat base topped by a prominent fluted bezel, a bracelet with large hexagonal center links and a small Maltese cross, the brand's emblem, at 5 o'clock.

The original 'Jumbo'

The first 222 was the 37 mm 'Jumbo,' ref. 44018, a time-and-date watch without a seconds hand. Its monobloc case had to be loaded with the movement from the top and closed with a screw-down bezel, which made it water resistant to 120 meters while keeping the whole watch to about 7 mm thick. Smaller 34 mm and 24 mm versions followed in steel, yellow gold, white gold and two-tone, some gem-set.

Like the Royal Oak and the Nautilus, the 222 used an ultra-thin automatic movement built on Jaeger-LeCoultre's caliber 920, about 3.05 mm thick. Sources name Vacheron's version differently: some call it caliber 1120, others caliber 1121, the version with date. A white gold Jumbo sold at auction in Geneva in 2023 was cataloged with caliber 1121.

How many Jumbos were made is also reported differently. One auction catalog in 2023 cited research showing fewer than 500 in steel, around 150 in yellow gold and fewer than 100 in steel and gold over a seven-year run; another account puts the total at around 500 to 700. Sources also differ on the end date, 1984 or 1985. Vacheron replaced the 222 with the 333, which kept an integrated bracelet but used an octagonal case.

The rarity of the original produced at least one remarkable discovery: a white gold Jumbo made in 1982, which Vacheron's archives confirmed as the only reference 44018 known in white gold. It had been ordered to be gem-set, which is why its caseback is stamped 44518. It sold at auction in Geneva in May 2023 for 571,500 Swiss francs, against an estimate of 100,000 to 200,000 francs.

Back in gold, 2022

In March 2022, a year full of twos, Vacheron Constantin reissued the 222 in its Historiques collection. Collectors expected steel. The brand chose 18K 3N yellow gold, a warmer, more vintage shade, and made it part of the permanent collection rather than a limited edition. Vacheron told one reviewer that a steel version with a gray or blue dial would have been 'too expected' and that gold was what its collectors preferred.

The design is faithful to the 37 mm Jumbo: the fluted bezel, the tonneau case, the Maltese cross at 5 o'clock (now in polished white gold), a matte gold-toned dial with baton hands and straight markers, and the same brushed surfaces with thin polished bevels. The luminous material glows with a green tint as a nod to the tritium on the original dial.

The changes are mostly hidden. The date window moved toward the center so it no longer cuts into the minute track. The bracelet's articulation was reworked to hide the pins, and a triple-blade folding clasp replaced the original stamped double-blade clasp. Vacheron's Christian Selmoni brought an archive original to the launch, and one reviewer who compared them wrote that 'without careful inspection, you could easily mistake the new 222 for an extremely well-preserved original model.'

What changed inside

The biggest change is the movement. Instead of the old Jaeger-LeCoultre-based caliber, the new watch uses Vacheron's in-house caliber 2455/2: 26.2 mm wide, 3.6 mm thick, 194 parts and 27 jewels, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour with about 40 hours of power reserve. It finally adds a quick-set date. The 18K gold rotor carries a fluted pattern that echoes the bezel, and the movement carries the Hallmark of Geneva.

To show that movement, the case gained a sapphire caseback. That made it about a millimeter thicker, at 7.95 mm, and cut the water resistance from 120 to 50 meters. Reviewers describe this as a three-part case with a separate caseback, while Vacheron's own product page still calls it a monobloc tonneau case; the two descriptions do not match.

The full gold watch weighs about 205 grams. The bracelet has no micro-adjustment, there is no seconds hand, and the watch is sold only in Vacheron Constantin boutiques. Annual production was not disclosed, but one magazine told readers not to expect three digits a year.

Price and reception

The watch launched at 62,000 euros, 63,500 Swiss francs and $62,500 in the U.S. One major watch site called it one of the highest-interest releases of the 2022 show. The U.S. list price was later raised to $69,000.

Resale prices have stayed above retail. In April 2024 a 2022 example sold for $75,600 in an online auction run from Dubai. In October 2026 a 2025 example was offered for sale at $79,500.

In 2025, which Vacheron called its anniversary year, the brand added the steel version many had expected in 2022, the Historiques 222 ref. 4200H/222A-B934. The yellow gold 4200H/222J-B935 remains the first modern 222 and the one that reintroduced the design.

The numbers

Reference

4200H/222J-B935 (original Jumbo: ref. 44018)

Caliber

2455/2, automatic: 26.2 x 3.6 mm, 194 parts, 27 jewels, 28,800 vph (4 Hz), about 40 hours, Hallmark of Geneva

Case

18K 3N yellow gold, 37 mm, 7.95 mm thick, sapphire caseback, 50 m

Bracelet

Integrated 18K 3N yellow gold bracelet, triple-blade folding clasp

Production

2022 to present; not limited, boutique only; numbers not disclosed

Original 222

1977 to 1984 or 1985; Jumbo output estimated at about 500 to 700, or fewer than 500 steel, about 150 gold and fewer than 100 two-tone, depending on the source

Timeline

1. Sep 17, 1755

   Jean-Marc Vacheron founds the company in Geneva, at age 24.

2. 1963

   Vacheron Constantin introduces the Turnograph ref. 6782, whose hands and markers the 222 later echoes.

3. 1975

   The Chronometre Royal ref. 42001 becomes Vacheron's first steel watch with an integrated bracelet.

4. 1977

   The 222, designed by Jorg Hysek, launches for the brand's 222nd anniversary in a 37 mm 'Jumbo' size.

5. 1982

   Vacheron makes a single 222 Jumbo in white gold, later confirmed as unique by its archives.

6. 1985

   The 222 is discontinued (some sources say 1984) and replaced by the 333.

7. 1996

   Vacheron launches the Overseas, which shares the 222's barrel-shaped case and flat bezel.

8. Mar 2022

   The Historiques 222 is reissued in 18K 3N yellow gold at Watches and Wonders Geneva.

9. May 2023

   The unique white gold 222 Jumbo sells at auction in Geneva for 571,500 Swiss francs.

10. Apr 30, 2024

    A 2022 Historiques 222 in yellow gold sells for $75,600 in an online auction run from Dubai.

11. 2025

    Vacheron releases a stainless steel Historiques 222.

12. May 2025

    The U.S. list price of the yellow gold 222 is reported at $69,000, up from $62,500 at launch.

13. Oct 2026

    A 2025 yellow gold example is offered for sale at $79,500.

The world in 1977

• Jan 20, 1977

  Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th president of the United States.

• Mar 27, 1977

  Two Boeing 747s collide at Tenerife, killing 583 people in the deadliest accident in aviation history.

• May 25, 1977

  Star Wars is released in the United States.

• Aug 12, 1977

  NASA's Space Shuttle Enterprise makes its first free flight from the back of a Boeing 747.

• Aug 20, 1977

  NASA launches Voyager 2.

• Sep 15, 1977

  Optical fiber carries live telephone traffic for the first time, in Turin, Italy.

• Oct 27, 1977

  The Sex Pistols release 'Never Mind the Bollocks.'

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 (yellow gold) is number 37 of 100 in the watches entries of the FLOAT 100. 54 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (57 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Jorg Hysek was 24 when he designed the 222, the same age Jean-Marc Vacheron was when he founded the company in 1755.
• Vacheron's own style director has said the brand does not consider the Overseas an evolution of the 222.
• The original's movement had to be loaded through the front of the case and sealed by screwing down the bezel.
• The new 222's lume has a green tint to recall the tritium on the 1977 dials.
• A single white gold 222 Jumbo, made in 1982 and meant to be gem-set, sold for 571,500 Swiss francs in 2023.
• The gold reissue weighs about 205 grams.