Vacheron Constantin 222: The Entire Story...

222 years that's how long Vashon constant arm have been making watches they were making watches before there were light bulbs before computers before electric guitars and instant noodles even and that's how long they had been making watches before they came out with their legendary model the 222 it's now 48 years since its release and the 222 has been perfected with the new released steel version and this 18 karat gold reissue from 2022 and in this video we'll be deep diving into this watch exploring the case bracelet and the movement that makes it tick from every angle as we go back in time through 270 years of the Brand's history through all the twists and turns that brought about this masterpiece of watchmaking here is everything you need to know about the Vashon Constantine 222 alongside pect phip and odmar pay Vashon Constantine makes up what the watch industry and its High Council of watch Forum moderators refer to as the Holy Trinity three brands that have been elevated to almost Divine status thanks to their long histories and a knack for developing some of watchmaking trickiest complications ations and of said blessed Trio it's feron Constantine that's been around the longest founded in 1755 when talented watchmaker Jean Mark Vashon opened a workshop in Geneva for making highly complex time pieces vashon's watches attracted some prestigious clientele early on French Aristocrats and the powerful Court of King Louis V 16th gravitated to Jean Mark's watches in the same way today's oligarchs snap up rishard Mills and vason time pieces quickly became day rer for the Parisian Elite 34 years later Jean Mark's Second Son Abraham was at the helm as the start of the French Revolution saw the company face its first major crisis profits collapsed like a punctured sule as vashon's clients were more concerned about not getting their heads chopped off than buying fancy watches different priorities back then but fair enough I suppose it was then Abraham son jacqu Bellamy who took over the company in the early 19th century but it was still struggling to survive without its wealthy French patrons in 1819 needing financial help to stay in business jacqu bartelmy asked Francois Constantine the son of a wealthy grain Merchant to join him as a partner a regular filus fog and a natural born salesman Constantine relished sourcing lucrative new markets in farflung countries from the US to India and Beyond and just as vital to the Brand's success during the 19th century was the appointment of George AUST Leo a local watchmaker's son who designed and constructed Machine Tools exclusively for the company by developing a hand operated Machine Tool facility that enabled consistent production of all watch components Le show was able to make internal watch parts interchangeable and this gave the company a huge advantage over its competitive the company stayed in the hands of both families for several decades before falling into public ownership in 1887 where it remained a watch maker of the highest order producing many Ultra complicated pocket watches Charles constantan became the last member of the two families to head the brand when he was appointed president in 1936 and then just 3 years later World War II broke out and again the company was in need of a savior rival watchmaker Jer Lut briefly acquired a controlling interest and then it was the company sales manager George Kera who became a majority shareholder in the 1940s and then after his death in 1969 he was succeeded by his son jacqu just in time for the Brand's third major crisis this time thanks to the Japanese throwing a quartz crystal into the works quite literally this was the dawn of the quartz crisis caused by the introduction of mass-produced batterypowered watches from Japan not only were these watches cheaper than their mechanical counterparts they were also more accurate and offered cool futuristic looking digital displays and that resonated with customers during the age of space travel and moonlandings within a few years mechanical time pieces and those who made them were in Dire Straits the traditional mechanical watch movement was in trouble the future looked Bleak and going off to attend Swiss watchmaking school now suddenly made about as much sense as tenet countless Brands went the way of the dodo while some big names like Blan pan became dormant others took the if you can't beat and join him approach and signed up for the quartz Revolution as they cleverly span it some even going all in and scrapping their traditional watchmaking tools but it wasn't all doom and gloom for mechanical watchmaking while they lagged behind technologically Swiss watches still spoke of luxury and Heritage and then occasionally they could also conjure up a wildly radical design when they wanted to which is exactly what odmar pay did with its genre defining Royal Oak launched to satisfy the demands from its fashion forward French and Italian Distributors this watch is now considered the first luxury sports watch a watch largely defined by its offbeat case shape texture dial and an integrated bracelet that can't be swapped for a standard strap and notably despite being steel it also came with the Hefty price tag of a precious metal watch genius the Royal Oak was hastily designed in 1971 by the legendary Gerald jenta who was given a last minute homework assignment by AP to come up with an original concept overnight encouraged by the response to genta's renderings odmar Pate officially launched it at the Basel world event the following year around a, units were made initially but soon demand was so high that AP needed to expand its Workshop rival Swiss Brands smelt the opportunity in the air and were quick to jump on this sport Lux bandwagon especially if it meant shifting units in a tough decade and within a few years at least one luxury steel sports model could be found in the collections of everyone from chopar to IWC protect Philip's contrib ution was of course the Nautilus also designed by the prolific Genta and launched in 1976 before becoming every inch as iconic as the Royal Oak and as one of the Holy Trinity Rashon Constantine wasn't going to be left out of the luxury sports watch game even if it jarred slightly with its long-standing reputation for making discreet gold dress watches on its 222nd anniversary feron Constantine unveiled the 222 designed by 24-year-old George Heek who later conceived tag Hoya's distinctive Kiran watches the 222 was robust and refined in equal measure it featured a serrated round screw down bezel on a tono case which bore the maison's MZ Cross logo on the bottom right due to its monoblock case the movement had to be inserted from the dial side and its bracelet was just as distinctive as that of the Royal Oaks boasting large hexagonal Central links this was a masterpiece in itself designed by the renowned gay fres company which not only supplied Rolex but was later purchased by them interestingly it was powered by a modified version of jela's caliber 920 the very same movement used in the first versions of the Nautilus and the Royal Oak who also modified it to suit their very different case shapes while the original jumbo version of the 222 was a modern looking 37 mm and made only in steel later versions came in 34 mm and 24mm cases which were made not only in steel but gold and two-tone and what makes vintage jumbo models so collectible today is that only around 500 to 700 were made before the 222 was discontinued in 1985 yet it's still considered one of the founding fathers of the sport Lux Club arguably the most influential watch category of the last 20 years with luxury sports models enjoying a surge in popularity at the start of the 2020s and vintage 222s selling for six figure sums at auction the time was ripe for this watch to make a glorious comeback and Vashon delivered in spectacular fashion in 2022 when it released the reedition in 18 karat yellow gold and with a different movement more on that in a bit despite a 37-year absence the 222 fitted seamlessly into the Zeitgeist on its return these were the years when the hottest Nautilus and Royal Oaks saw so many price jumps that they made mortgage interest rates look stable choosing to revive the 222 only in yellow gold and keeping production numbers comparatively low almost guaranteed it instant desirability but it wasn't just its scarcity that made it appealing the new generation 222 took the watch to another level of luxury the 222 is placed within the istor series made up of contemporary reinterpretations of iconic models from the Brand's past and it's an esteemed company too sitting alongside the cor of Ash 1955 and the American 1921 with its wonderfully wonky dial quite simply when vacheron brings back an old design it does so with a plum staying faithful to the original while imbuing it with the more robust build quality and finesse of 21st century craftsmanship it's one of the greatest comebacks since I don't know kiwan anyway the case remains a modest 37 mm but at 7.95 MM thick it sits slightly higher on the wrist than its 1977 forbear and like the original there's no secondhand and the plain steel caseback has been replaced with sapphire to showcase the automatic movement an especially neat time is the retention of the multi Cross logo set in a circular recess at the bottom right corner of the case now in white gold this contrasts nicely against the rest of the watch however there is one minor drawback in that the water resistance has gone from an impressive 120 M to a fairly standard 50 m for both the steel and gold models but this is a high-end luxury watch after all and cannonballing would be ill advised anyway one of the biggest changes to the watch is the bracelet which may look the same as the original but has been updated for better fit and comfort nowhere is this more evident than the triple blade concealed clasp which feels more premium than the slightly tinny flip lock version offered before now before we take a closer look at the awesome mechanical movement inside the 222 let me remind you how you can find out about other amazing watches via our watchfinder newsletter to get exclusive access to new arrivals be the the first to hear about all our special offers and promotions and to get first dibs on our giveaways just head down to the link in the description to sign up so the movement inside the 222 has now gone fully inhouse after the first generation model relied on that modified jerl caliber 920 now it's equipped with the caliber 24552 and it boasts a quick set date feature which it lacked before and a decent 40-hour power reserve the eagley will also spot the prestigious Hall of Geneva stamp on the movement a quality seal only found on certain movements from just a handful of Brands this guarantees that the components craftsmanship technical specification and performance of the watch all meet the highest Benchmark for quality and that all the parts were made and assembled in Geneva it's in esteemed company here other Geneva watch makers who submit their watches for this certification are Cartier chopa and Roger duwe while the movement wasn't created especially for this watch having been introduced by Vashon Constantine back in 2007 it has been redesigned slightly to incorporate the 22 karat gold rotor this has been engraved with a stylized 222 to resemble what was once found on the solid steel case back of the original and now 3 years after the revived gold 222 we have the newly released steel version so we have two incredible time pieces and two great options like brothers of Distinction they make for a pretty sturdy pillar to the catalog over at Vashon constant time it's a collection that doesn't leave you wanting well except for maybe a reissue of the two-ton steel and gold that'd be nice well that wraps up our look back at the Vashon constantan 222 and if you want more amazing watches you can check out the selection over at watchfinder tocom where we have been proudly made an official Vashon Constantine certified pre-owned partner so you can purchase Vashon Constantine time pieces that have been carefully inspected and serviced accordingly by a Vashon Constantine accredited watchmaker and comes with a minimum 24mon international warranty take a look and I'll see you next time goodbye