BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Vacheron Constantin announced yesterday that it has re-released a watch from its history books. This trend of reviving older models plays to a few strengths. For this watch specifically it’s an integrated bracelet watch, and those are still all the rage right now, and it’s a strength for Vacheron Constantin as they are steeped in history. Having been around continuously since 1755 and probably having documents from most of their history, we can expect Vacheron Constantin to have a ball remastering more watches from its archives in the coming year, especially as this is their 270th anniversary year.
For now, though, we focus on the new piece called the Historiques 222. The 222 was the precursor to the Overseas model, which now forms a part of the integrated bracelet sports watches from the “holy trinity” of watch brands, the others being Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak and Patek Philippe’s Nautilus. Those other models were penned by Gérald Genta, along with IWC’s revamped Ingenieur of the time, but Vacheron Constantin brought in Jörg Hysek to make their 222, the name for which marked the brand’s 222nd anniversary.
This new model looks more or less identical to the original, but it isn’t the first time it’s been brought back. In 2023, Vacheron Constantin released the Historiques 222 in 18k gold to the applause of many. However, what fans and collectors really wanted was a stainless steel one, and that’s what we’ve got. It measures 37mm x 7.95mm thick with 50 meters of water resistance making it suitable for some contact with water, although I’d like to have seen a really practical number like 100m or 150m.
A scalloped bezel surrounds the simple blue dial that comes complete with an applied white gold Maltese Cross logo and applied markers and date window. All the markers, and the white gold hands, feature SuperLumiNova so the watch can be read easily at night.
Powering the watch and on display through the caseback is the self-winding calibre 2455/2, an in-house movement made of 194 individual pieces, including a 22k gold rotor featuring 222 on it, along with plenty more high-end finishing. The finishing and the movement’s construction are very important to Vacheron Constantin, especially as they’ve been awarded the Poinçon de Genève, the Geneva Seal, which guarantees that the movement has been built and finished to a very high standard in Geneva.
See our guide for more info on that. As for the practical side of things, the movement beats at 4Hz for 40 hours.
It’s interesting to see Vacheron Constantin re-releasing a historic model. However, I hope we will see something brand new from them that isn’t a super high-end one-off nobody can afford or buy anyway. With that said, I think this could be something else people will struggle to buy as they’re only being sold in Vacheron Constantin’s boutiques. Thankfully the new Historiques 222 is not a limited edition watch. The retail price is $32,000, considerably less than the gold version and yet $7,000 pricier than a three-handed Overseas. Is it worth it? I’ll let you decide.
