The Simplicity, The Elegance, The Grandeur.

Amongst the pieces we came through, there are understated and sophisticated pieces; there are apparent and attention-seeking pieces, then there are pieces which exudes a presence to be one-of-a-kind. Today we offer one of the most captivating re-issue from Vacheron Constantin which we believe to stand alone with its own charm and atmosphere - The infamous ‘222’. 

Recognized as arguably the most historical horological house, Vacheron Constantin carries an exclusivity between heritage aesthetics, design and execution of mechanical movements. I believe the Maison has widely influenced how wristwatches are perceived over the past few generations even before the modern timepieces of the day - certainly the Les Historiques series belong to one of those echelons. When discussing the few models that has pioneered the growth of integrated sports watches, the name of Genta - closely associated with the Royal Oak, Nautilus and Ingenieur have all earned their seats with spotlights across auctions, brand-presses and discussions amongst collectors. The work of the young Jorg Hysek remains under the radar and often overlooked, yet the notable and covetable ‘222’ launched in 1977 has completely branched a new gene for Vacheron Constantin with its association for sports watches, much loved before the release of Overseas Series.

Following the release of historically significant Royal Oak Ref. 5402 MK-I, the ‘222’ made its debut after refining the Ref. 2215 Chronometer Royal from VC, considered as an odd child with soft-edged and octagonal bezel. It is somewhat a mixture of the Royal Oak and Nautilus with a lack of consolidation and simplicity. Jorg Hysek took the initial form of the scalloped corners and developed a thin, mouldable and skin-soft bracelet with engineered brush finish to complement its elongated case. The pure intention is to create a bracelet which slowly tapers to the four corners of the casing and wrapped the wearers’ wrist without emphasising the separation between case, bezel and bracelet construction. Same year followed the release of Oyster-Quartz which was often compared and considered more cost ‘effective’ and ‘efficient’ by early collectors due to their immense price variation from two brands.

The modern re-issue of the ‘222’ features a 3-part construction with an independent exhibition case-back - all sealed within a brushed-stain gold in warm ‘rose’ tonality. The wide hour and minute baton hands are somewhat reminiscent to the Day-Date / Datejust ‘Wideboy’ configurations but ironically presents an elusive character as the Presidential too. The attention to detail, comfort and legibility of this piece presents to me as neither a fully sports nor dress watch, but ‘The Watch’ that seals it all proudly for Vacheron Constantin. The beauty is perhaps the singular expression of the case and materiality where the sheen of gold constantly flickers upon light, shadow and the wrist. The seemingly 37mm case wears slightly larger and comparable to Royal Oaks in a similar manner, quite a treat to any bystanders’ eyes. 

When it comes to a piece in this state, there really isn’t many words to describe the beauty, depth and presence. I’ll let the photographs do the talking and we will leave the piece to speak for its own esteem.