Why Vacheron Constantin Created The Overseas Grand Complication

Introduced to the watch world yesterday, the new Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface represents a major technical breakthrough in the brand’s sports watch lineup. For the first time in the beloved Overseas collection, Vacheron Constantin has integrated a minute repeater — one of horology’s most difficult complications — alongside a perpetual calendar, a tourbillon, and a power reserve indicator – all with an open-faced dial. Why would the brand opt to overly complicate the sport watch? Because it can.

Housed in a 44.5mm titanium case, the watch achieves a delicate balance between complexity and elegance, as well as durability. The transparent sapphire crystal allows for viewing of the intricate movement and its open-worked beauty.

At the heart of the watch is the manually wound Caliber 2755 QP, comprising 602 components and measuring only 7.9 mm in thickness. This sophisticated movement combines three of the most challenging complications in haute horlogerie.

The perpetual calendar displays the date, day, month, and leap-year cycle, and requires no correction until the year 2100. A tourbillon regulates the timekeeping by averaging out positional errors caused by the effects of gravity when the watch is in certain positions on the wrist, and the minute repeater strikes the hours, quarters, and minutes on demand.

Ensuring smooth acoustic performance, the minute repeater is governed by a silent centripetal regulator — a proprietary device that ensures precise intervals between chimes by regulating the release of energy through two centrifugal weights. The regulator is mounted beneath a hand-polished gold arc-shaped bridge and is visible through the caseback, revealing both its mechanical function and decorative artistry.

The minute repeater’s integration posed one of the project’s biggest technical challenges. Traditionally, water resistance is incompatible with minute repeaters due to the case-side slide mechanism used to trigger the complication. Vacheron Constantin’s engineers spent more than a year redesigning the Overseas case to accommodate this mechanism without compromising its 30-meter water resistance or altering the refined curvature that defines the model’s silhouette. The caseback was completely reworked to house the repeater’s components while retaining the clean, angular geometry associated with the Overseas line.

Caliber 2755 QP also features a power reserve indicator visible on the reverse of the watch and beats at a leisurely 2.5 Hz (18,000 vibrations per hour), allowing full appreciation of the tourbillon’s rotation. Every element of the movement has been finished to the highest standards. The tourbillon bridge has been skeletonized, beveled, and hand-polished, while the repeater hammers are mirror-polished. The bridges are decorated with Côtes de Genève, the wheels are circular satin-brushed, and various elements are treated with a galvanic NAC coating for a dark anthracite finish that contrasts with the rhodium-plated wheels. Naturally, like all Vacheron Constantin watches, it carries the Hallmark of Geneva Seal.

The dial, with its applied white gold hour markers and blue metallized counters, contributes to the watch’s contemporary and highly technical aesthetic. Its transparency enhances legibility and gives the impression of floating indications, reinforcing the open-face design. The titanium bracelet includes an easy-adjustment system and quick-release mechanism, with additional straps in blue rubber and blue alligator leather supplied for versatility – all the while reminding us that this titanium watch is part of the brand’s sport collection.