Vacheron Constantin Overseas Ref. 4500V (blue dial)

From the 222 to the Overseas

In 1977 Vacheron Constantin marked its 222nd anniversary with the 222, a steel sports watch with an integrated bracelet designed by the young Jorg Hysek. It arrived in the middle of the quartz crisis, as Swiss brands scrambled to reinvent themselves, and it was Vacheron's reply to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak of 1972 and the Patek Philippe Nautilus of 1976. The 222 left the catalog in the mid-1980s.

In 1996 the brand returned to the category with the Overseas. The design was started a few months before the Vendome luxury group, later Richemont, bought Vacheron Constantin, by a team that included outside designer Dino Modolo and Vacheron's Vincent Kaufmann. It kept a tonneau-shaped case, added a bezel with notches recalling the Maltese cross, and measured 37 mm. A second generation in 2004 grew to 42 mm and became a full collection with chronographs, dual time and perpetual calendars.

How closely the Overseas descends from the 222 is disputed, including inside the company. Some histories call the Overseas a direct descendant of the 222. Vacheron's style director, Christian Selmoni, said in 2020: 'We don't really consider the Overseas an evolution of the 222,' noting that only the barrel-shaped case and the flat bezel are shared, and that eleven years separate the two.

SIHH 2016: the third generation

At the SIHH fair in Geneva in January 2016, Vacheron Constantin relaunched the Overseas as a complete collection: five new models, making 12 references, from a time-and-date watch to an ultra-thin perpetual calendar. The new cases and bracelets were thinner, rounder and closer in spirit to the 1996 original than the muscular second generation had been.

The 4500V was the core time-and-date model: 41 mm, in steel or 18K pink gold, with a sunburst blue or silver-toned dial, white gold hands and hour markers filled with luminous material, and a framed date window at 3 o'clock. Water resistance rose to 150 meters. One launch report noted that it wore more like a 39 or 40 mm watch on a 7.25-inch wrist.

Vacheron priced the steel version at $19,900 and the pink gold version at $35,600. The blue-dial steel watch, 4500V/110A-B128, became the reference most buyers thought of when they heard the name.

A bracelet you can change at dinner

The feature that sold the watch was the strap system. Each new Overseas came with a steel bracelet plus leather and rubber straps, and each one clicks in and out by hand with a twist, no spring-bar tool required. The system was patent pending at launch. The steel bracelet's folding clasp also lets the wearer lengthen it by up to four millimeters while the watch is on the wrist, and its buckle uses a half Maltese cross that works like a lock and key.

CEO Juan-Carlos Torres explained the idea in practical terms: when working on his cars in the garage, he said, he avoided the steel bracelet because it could scratch the car, so he switched to rubber, then changed to leather for dinner with friends. 'I can match the events to my watch,' he said.

Accessory descriptions differ slightly by source and by year: launch coverage described the second strap as leather, while reference databases and later sale listings describe it as alligator or crocodile. A blue-dial example sold at auction in 2026 came with an extra blue crocodile strap.

Caliber 5100

Under the sapphire caseback sits caliber 5100, which Vacheron Constantin designed, developed and made for the 2016 Overseas. It has 172 parts and 37 jewels, beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), and its twin barrels give about 60 hours of power reserve. The winding rotor is 22K gold, decorated with a wind rose as a nod to travel.

Magnetism is handled by a soft iron ring around the movement. Older anti-magnetic watches enclosed the movement in a full iron cage, which made a display back impossible; the ring does the same job and leaves the movement visible. Torres admitted he had assumed the old cage was needed until his engineers told him, 'Charly, you are living old school.'

The 2016 relaunch coincided with another milestone: for the first time, all of Vacheron Constantin's mechanical production was certified with the Hallmark of Geneva, a standard reserved for watchmakers based in the canton. The brand had used the hallmark since 1901.

How to tell a 4500V from its successor

The 4500V was made from 2016 to 2024. Its replacement, the 4520V, keeps the same 41 mm diameter, caliber 5100, 150 m water resistance and three-strap system, but the case is slimmer at 10.69 mm against the 4500V's 11 mm, and the case and bracelet were refined. The successor's blue steel model carries the same dial suffix, B128, so the full reference matters: 4500V/110A-B128 for the original, 4520V/210A-B128 for the new one.

At launch the 4500V was offered with a silver-toned dial as well as blue, and in 18K pink gold on a leather strap as well as steel. The blue dial in steel has long been regarded as the most desirable configuration. A complete set includes the steel bracelet, the second strap, the rubber strap, the folding clasps, the box and the Vacheron Constantin certificate.

In June 2026 a 2022 example in virtually unworn condition, consigned by its original owner with its certificate and an extra crocodile strap, sold at auction in New York for $33,020, well above its estimate of $12,000 to $24,000 and about two-thirds more than the watch's 2016 launch price.

The numbers

Reference

4500V/110A-B128 (steel, blue dial)

Caliber

5100, automatic: 172 parts, 37 jewels, 28,800 vph (4 Hz), about 60 hours, 22K gold rotor, Hallmark of Geneva

Case

Stainless steel, 41 mm, 11 mm thick, sapphire front and back, 150 m

Bracelet and straps

Steel bracelet plus leather (or alligator) and rubber straps, tool-free interchange

Production

2016 to 2024; numbers not disclosed

Successor

4520V/210A-B128, 10.69 mm thick

Timeline

1. 1977

   Vacheron Constantin launches the 222, designed by Jorg Hysek, for its 222nd anniversary.

2. 1996

   The first Overseas is launched at 37 mm.

3. 2004

   The second-generation Overseas grows to 42 mm.

4. Jan 2016

   The third-generation Overseas, including the 4500V and caliber 5100, is unveiled at SIHH in Geneva.

5. Jan 26, 2016

   Launch coverage reports a price of $19,900 in steel and $35,600 in pink gold.

6. 2016

   All of Vacheron Constantin's mechanical production now carries the Hallmark of Geneva.

7. 2020

   Style director Christian Selmoni says the brand does not consider the Overseas an evolution of the 222.

8. Jun 1, 2022

   A blue-dial 4500V is delivered with a certificate dated this day; it later sells at auction in 2026.

9. 2024

   Production of the 4500V ends; the 4520V replaces it.

10. Jun 2026

    The 2022 example sells at auction in New York for $33,020.

The world in 2016

• Jan 28, 2016

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

• Jun 1, 2016

  Switzerland opens the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel.

• Jun 23, 2016

  The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.

• Jul 6, 2016

  Pokemon Go is released and breaks sales and revenue records.

• Jul 26, 2016

  The Swiss Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to circle the Earth.

• Aug 5, 2016

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

• Nov 2, 2016

  The Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908.

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 Overseas Ref. 4500V (blue dial) is number 50 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 (56 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Vacheron's own style director has said the brand does not consider the Overseas an evolution of the famous 222.
• The anti-magnetic protection is a soft iron ring, not a cage, which is why you can see the movement through the back.
• The CEO's case for swappable straps was that a steel bracelet scratches a car you are working on.
• The clasp can be lengthened by up to four millimeters without taking the watch off.
• The 2016 collection launched the year Vacheron reached Hallmark of Geneva certification on all of its mechanical watches.
• The 4500V's replacement uses the same B128 suffix for its blue steel model, so the model number, 4500V or 4520V, is what tells them apart.