One of my 'grails' arrives!
Discussion
I know the word 'grail' means different thing to different people within the watch world, but my definition is something I have wanted to own for a very long time but could either not afford, could not get or simply could not justify; this watch falls into the latter category as I whilst I have always loved the looks, the movement, the historic connection and so on, I thought it was just an absurd amount of money for a 3 handed watch.
I have been interested in Vacheron Constantin for some time now after owning watches from Patek and Audemars Piguet, I wanted to try the third member of the so-called 'holy-trinity' of watchmaking and to see for myself if it earned its place. The rose gold Dual Time Overseas that came up on Sales Corner caught my eye and voila, I had a VC. It was gorgeous; 150m WR made it a genuine sports watch, second time zone set to Kenyan time and fitted to the rubber strap it was great for bathing the baby and all the other arduous tasks I do these days like walking to the train or looking out of the window.
But something niggled about it, and when Kirk said to me that I seemed to be going 'for all in-house' movements, I realised that was what was bothering me; the JLC ebauche found in my mate's 3 grand JLC Master Geographic (although massively modified as the VC 1222 movement) ticking away inside. I wanted an in-house movement and I wanted this particular watch, the 1921 Historique, the VC I had wanted since it was released back in 2008. There is nothing else like it on the market, it is absolutely unmistakable and that is a rare thing these days and to be prized. I have looked at VC's dress watches and find they look like Pateks or Blancpains; their Overseas range might be taken for Royal Oak at a glance - this was the watch, that to me, represented VC in the modern era - one that harked back to the past!
The cal.4400 hand wound movement is a thing of beauty as you'd expect but reading deeper, it was created for the watch specifically (the first use of it anyway) as their existing in-house calibres were either too small or too large. The watch has a Geneva Seal meaning it has been so much more than most other VCs and indeed most other brands of watch, details here for anyone interested http://www.vacheron-constantin.com/en2/geneva-seal...
Sometimes you just get a 'sod it; I'm having it' moment and this was one for me. It replaces some dearly departed pieces for me; a Radiomir 8 Days and a gold Reverso Grande to name two. My collection gets smaller, but more focused.
A few iPhone snaps
On the wrist
As it was originally conceived - a drivers watch to be worn on the inside of the wrist while you hands were on the wheel!
The manual wind Cal.4400 movement with 65hr power reserve
A thing of beauty (to me)
I have been interested in Vacheron Constantin for some time now after owning watches from Patek and Audemars Piguet, I wanted to try the third member of the so-called 'holy-trinity' of watchmaking and to see for myself if it earned its place. The rose gold Dual Time Overseas that came up on Sales Corner caught my eye and voila, I had a VC. It was gorgeous; 150m WR made it a genuine sports watch, second time zone set to Kenyan time and fitted to the rubber strap it was great for bathing the baby and all the other arduous tasks I do these days like walking to the train or looking out of the window.
But something niggled about it, and when Kirk said to me that I seemed to be going 'for all in-house' movements, I realised that was what was bothering me; the JLC ebauche found in my mate's 3 grand JLC Master Geographic (although massively modified as the VC 1222 movement) ticking away inside. I wanted an in-house movement and I wanted this particular watch, the 1921 Historique, the VC I had wanted since it was released back in 2008. There is nothing else like it on the market, it is absolutely unmistakable and that is a rare thing these days and to be prized. I have looked at VC's dress watches and find they look like Pateks or Blancpains; their Overseas range might be taken for Royal Oak at a glance - this was the watch, that to me, represented VC in the modern era - one that harked back to the past!
The cal.4400 hand wound movement is a thing of beauty as you'd expect but reading deeper, it was created for the watch specifically (the first use of it anyway) as their existing in-house calibres were either too small or too large. The watch has a Geneva Seal meaning it has been so much more than most other VCs and indeed most other brands of watch, details here for anyone interested http://www.vacheron-constantin.com/en2/geneva-seal...
Sometimes you just get a 'sod it; I'm having it' moment and this was one for me. It replaces some dearly departed pieces for me; a Radiomir 8 Days and a gold Reverso Grande to name two. My collection gets smaller, but more focused.
A few iPhone snaps
On the wrist
As it was originally conceived - a drivers watch to be worn on the inside of the wrist while you hands were on the wheel!
The manual wind Cal.4400 movement with 65hr power reserve
A thing of beauty (to me)
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