Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph Ref. 5500V

From the 222 to the Overseas

The Overseas grew out of the 1970s quartz crisis. After Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak of 1972 created a new category of steel sports watch with an integrated bracelet, followed by Patek Philippe's Nautilus, Vacheron Constantin answered in 1977 with the '222,' named for the firm's 222nd anniversary and designed by Jorg Hysek, then 23. It had a barrel-shaped case, a notched bezel and a small Maltese cross at 5 o'clock, and it was discontinued in the mid-1980s.

The company returned to the idea in 1996 with the Overseas, a direct descendant of the 222. Its design team included the outside designer Dino Modolo and Vacheron Constantin's Vincent Kaufmann. The first Overseas was 37 mm and water resistant to 150 meters. A chronograph followed in 1999, built on a Frédéric Piguet 1185 movement with an added big date.

A second generation in 2004 grew to 42 mm, added a bracelet with a half-Maltese-cross link and an anti-magnetic soft iron shield, and kept a bought-in chronograph base, the VC 1137. In 2007 a 100-piece U.S. limited edition chronograph became the first Overseas offered on leather and rubber straps.

The 2016 reset

In 2016 Vacheron Constantin rebuilt the whole line. The new design, again by Vincent Kaufmann, made the case more barrel-shaped and cut the Maltese-cross bezel from eight notches to six, spread to the rim. The engraved case backs were replaced with sapphire, every model carried the Hallmark of Geneva, and the bracelets and straps could be swapped without tools. By late 2016 the third generation comprised six models and 18 references, including the time-only 4500V, an ultra-thin, a world time, and the 5500V chronograph.

The chronograph was the biggest of the sporty models at 42.5 mm across and 13.7 mm thick. Steel versions came with a deep, translucent lacquered blue dial or a silver dial; one reviewer also handled a chestnut-brown dial. The old big date at 12 o'clock gave way to a small date window between 4 and 5 o'clock. The dial's outer scale was marked in quarter seconds, matched to a movement that can time events to an eighth of a second.

The steel model came in a box with three options: a steel bracelet, an alligator strap and a rubber strap. A push-button release between the lugs lets the owner change them in seconds. The pink gold version, with a silver dial, came with only the rubber and alligator straps.

Calibre 5200, the first in-house automatic chronograph

The real news was inside. Calibre 5200 is Vacheron Constantin's first in-house automatic chronograph, and one review reported that it took five years to develop. It replaced the outsourced VC 1137. Its 263 parts include a column wheel shaped like a Maltese cross that controls starting and stopping, and a vertical clutch, which keeps the chronograph hand from jumping when it starts.

The caliber is 30.6 mm across and 6.6 mm thick, runs at 28,800 vibrations an hour, and uses twin barrels for a power reserve one reviewer puts at 52 hours (others say 'over 50'). A soft iron ring protects it from magnetism without hiding it, so the display back shows the movement and a gold rotor decorated with a wind rose. Sources differ on the gold: one says 21k, others 22k.

Sources also differ on how the movement relates to the time-only Calibre 5100 in the 4500V. One reviewer says the 5200 is built on the 5100, which explains its compact chronograph parts. Another says the two were developed together but the 5200 is a fully integrated chronograph, not a 5100 with a module added. Reviewers agreed on one practical point: at launch, the Royal Oak Chronograph still used the Frédéric Piguet 1185, so the Overseas had the in-house movement and its rival did not.

Prices, variants and an Everest at auction

At launch the steel 5500V cost US$28,900 and the pink gold version US$49,000. In Europe the steel model was 31,100 euros. One reviewer placed it in the middle of its class, with the Royal Oak Chronograph about 17 percent cheaper and the Nautilus Travel Time about twice the price.

By September 2023 the steel blue-dial 5500V/110A-B148 listed at $35,600. It has since been discontinued. A market tracker estimated its pre-owned value at $28,881 on September 30, 2026. That is an estimate, not a sale.

The rarest 5500V variant is the titanium Overseas Chronograph 'Everest,' Ref. 5500V/000T-B923, made in 150 pieces with a blue-gray dial inspired by the mountain. Example number 121, sold new with a receipt dated June 6, 2022, brought $60,960 at auction in New York in June 2023.

How to identify a 5500V/110A-B148

The reference 5500V/110A-B148 is the steel model with the blue lacquered dial. Check for a six-notch Maltese-cross bezel, Maltese-cross notches in the screw-down crown and angled pushers, a date window between 4 and 5 o'clock, a quarter-second outer scale and bracelet links each shaped like an arm of the Maltese cross.

Through the sapphire back you should see the column wheel with its Maltese cross and the wind-rose rotor. A complete steel set at launch included the bracelet, the alligator and rubber straps and an extra folding buckle.

Do not confuse it with its successor. The 5520V, introduced in 2024, keeps the 42.5 mm diameter and Calibre 5200 but is thinner, about 12.7 mm, with a redesigned bracelet that tapers more toward the clasp. The current blue-dial steel reference is 5520V/210A-B148.

Its place in the sports-watch trio

One reviewer wrote at launch that 'there is no apparent competition to a sporty, all purpose luxury chronograph,' and called the 5500V 'king of the hill.' Another was more cautious, noting that dislodging the entrenched Royal Oak and Nautilus would take something exceptional. Reviewers praised the finishing, including bracelet angles so sharp that one said they could only have been polished by hand.

Its larger achievement was for the company. The 5500V gave Vacheron Constantin its own automatic chronograph after Overseas chronographs had been built on an outside base since 1999, and it made the Overseas a full rival to the other two steel sports watches of the trio. In 2025 the brand reissued the 222 itself in steel for its 270th anniversary, completing the circle back to the watch that started the line.

The numbers

Reference

5500V/110A-B148 (steel, blue dial); other 5500V versions include pink gold with silver dial and the titanium 'Everest' 5500V/000T-B923

Caliber

5200, in-house, self-winding, column wheel, vertical clutch, 263 parts, 30.6 mm, 6.6 mm thick, 28,800 vph, twin barrels, about 52 hours

Case

42.5 mm, 13.7 mm thick, stainless steel, screw-down crown and pushers, sapphire display back, 150 m water resistance

Functions

Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, 30-minute and 12-hour chronograph

Production years

2016 to 2024; succeeded by Ref. 5520V

Production numbers

Not published for the regular reference; the titanium 'Everest' was limited to 150 pieces

Timeline

1. 1755

   Jean-Marc Vacheron sets up as a watchmaker in Geneva.

2. 1880

   Vacheron & Constantin adopts the Maltese cross as its emblem; it later shapes the Overseas bezel and column wheel.

3. 1977

   Vacheron Constantin introduces the Ref. 222, designed by 23-year-old Jorg Hysek.

4. 1996

   The first Overseas launches, 37 mm and water resistant to 150 m.

5. 1999

   An Overseas chronograph arrives, based on the Frédéric Piguet 1185 with a big date.

6. 2004

   The second-generation Overseas grows to 42 mm, with the VC 1137 chronograph caliber.

7. 2007

   A 100-piece U.S. limited edition becomes the first Overseas chronograph on leather and rubber straps.

8. 2016

   The third-generation Overseas launches with the 5500V and the new in-house Calibre 5200.

9. Aug 2016

   The steel 5500V is reported at US$28,900, the pink gold at US$49,000.

10. Jun 6, 2022

    A titanium 'Everest' 5500V/000T-B923, number 121 of 150, is sold new.

11. Jun 2023

    That Everest sells for $60,960 at auction in New York.

12. Sep 2023

    The steel 5500V/110A-B148 lists at $35,600.

13. 2024

    The 5500V is replaced by the thinner Ref. 5520V.

14. Jan 2025

    Vacheron Constantin reissues the 222 in steel for its 270th anniversary.

15. Sep 30, 2026

    A market tracker estimates a pre-owned 5500V/110A-B148 at $28,881.

The world in 2016

• Jan 28, 2016

  The World Health Organization announces an outbreak of the Zika virus.

• Mar 21, 2016

  Barack Obama becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.

• Jun 23, 2016

  The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union.

• Jul 5, 2016

  NASA's Juno spacecraft enters orbit around Jupiter.

• Jul 6, 2016

  Pokémon Go is released and breaks sales and revenue records.

• Aug 5, 2016

  The Summer Olympics open in Rio de Janeiro, the first in South America.

• Nov 8, 2016

  Donald Trump is elected the 45th president of the United States.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph Ref. 5500V is number 54 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 (60 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Overseas bezel's notches echo the arms of the Maltese cross, and so do the notches on the crown and pushers.
• The 2016 redesign cut the bezel from eight notches to six.
• The chronograph can time to an eighth of a second, and the production dial is marked in quarter seconds; prototypes shown before launch were marked in fifths.
• The column wheel of Calibre 5200 is topped with a Maltese cross.
• The 222 that started the line was named for Vacheron Constantin's 222nd anniversary in 1977.
• Before 2007, the Overseas had only ever been sold on a metal bracelet.