Vacheron Constantin's New 'Panda' Chronograph Elevates the Everyday Watch

Welcome to Dialed In, Esquire's weekly column bringing you horological happenings and the most essential news from the watch world since March 2020.

For Vacheron Constantin, 2022 was the year of the 222, a faithful recreation of an epic and rather sexy gold watch created in 1977 to celebrate the 222nd anniversary of the venerable maison's founding. It was suffused with the sporty sex appeal of that decade and the watch world went nuts for it. As well as being rare and a thing of great beauty, it precisely nailed the zeitgeist as taste pivots from rugged to dressy, from bigger to smaller, and from daily beaters to more precious wristwatches.

Vacheron has made much of its long heritage in recent years, from sterling work in its Historiques collections that recall watches of the deep past to certifying and servicing actual vintage watches from its own back catalog. As such, it was amongst the first of the major houses to recognize—and to desire to be part of—the vibrant vintage collector's market.

But it's not all about the past. And despite the trend to dressier watches, no one is going to abandon the sports watch any time soon. Vacheron Constantin strives to modernize and innovate for the contemporary market with just as much enthusiasm as it applies to preserving and maintaining its unrivaled heritage. New to the lineup last week—case in point—is a new offering from its much-liked Overseas collection, a range that owes much of its aesthetic DNA to the original 222 itself. The house introduced its first chronograph complications to the Overseas back in 1999, and then updated them in 2016.

The latest chronograph version is a steel 42.5mm "panda" with triple sub-dials jumping out of a silver-toned, sun-ray dial with polished hour markers in white gold. The most striking thing visually here is the complete lack of color accents normally associated with chronographs—just the silvery steel and white gold against the black of the sub-dials and chapter ring. Inside, the movement is an automatic, in-house Calibre 5200 with 52 hours of power reserve, powered by a 22 karat gold oscillating weight—all of which is displayed through a sapphire crystal case back. Three straps come standard—there's leather, rubber, and a steel bracelet—and can be switched out without tools in seconds.

The Overseas collection is conceived primarily as an everyday, sporty watch that nonetheless oozes the high-watchmaking spirit of the house. To our minds, it wears its lofty heritage lightly. You certainly couldn't, at this kind of price, call it a daily beater. But its unfussy luxury—and those quick-change straps—makes it a flexible option for whatever life throws at you.

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