- 11/7/16
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Let's talk about the gen watch. The Overseas 4500V was announced at SIHH 2016 as another generation of their previous Overseas models. This seemed to be a response because VC had the least popular 'luxury sports watch' of the 'holy trinity' - falling behind the Patek Philippe Nautilus and the Royal Oak from Audemars Piguet. This is the only watch of the 3 that was not designed by Gerald Genta in the late 70s, which some people mistake. They updated the bezel to have a six-pointed cross instead of the 8 it had in the previous model to make it look more modernized.
The case measures 41mm and 11mm thick, beating at 28800bph, and the BP rep measures out at 41mm wide and 11.75mm thick - so pretty close - and sporting the Miyota 9015 with a decoration plate on top.
But before I dive into the BP version, let's look at the versions I've had throughout time for kicks and giggles:
1. MW Factory - first to the gate as far as I can tell. They released a decent model but it had the Miyota 8215 series movement with the low-beat movement @ 21600bph. That was a deal killer for me. The case measured 41mm and was 12.5mm thick. I ordered this version on accident. The bracelet (although not gen-like) and dial are beautiful, but the date font is meh. This version also had spelling errors and wrong model numbers on the O ring that held the back crystal on. "VACHEROM" was one of them...
2. MW Factory v2 - This is virtually the same model as far as I could tell when it came to the dimensions, dial, hands, etc - the only change was the movement to the high beat Miyota 9015. I really enjoyed this watch but the date font plagued me. I sold it on M2M. I miss the bracelet though. This also had the spelling error on the back crystal ring "VACHEROM".
3. MP Factory - Some time had passed, many of us who wanted this (admittedly a small audience at the time) thought none of the factories would re-visit this. However, I had personally asked Angus to ask some factories to produce a quality rep and about 4 months later this version popped up. The case was a bit smaller, but the diameter was still 41mm. The movement decoration was updated, the lume and hour markers were all updated. The Date font was updated too, but it was not gen-like. They updated almost everything with this case - the case is smaller from top to bottom, it's a bit slimmer and the bracelet got a major overhaul. It's been updated to be more gen-like but the polished sections are smaller so the shine is less. That is what the gen is like too, but I really grew to love that extra bit of polishing. I ordered it immediately though because I thought this was going to be as good as it got.
4. BP Factory - I was checking all the TDs randomly and saw this pop up and thought to myself 'oh just another re-listing of the MP version'. But then... the date font... oh my the date font. It matches the gen almost exactly. BP is known to having more attention to detail than MP factory so boy was I excited. I immediately placed an order and here we are! I would call this the 'ultimate rep' of what's out so far.
Case dimensions: 41mm x 11.75mm
Movement: Miyota 9015 with deco plate
Major differences from gen:
- The dial is a sunburst on the 'enhanced' photos from VC, but all of the real life pics show the dial has a more subtle deep blue and just a smidgen of a sunburst. I personally feel the rep dial has more of a pronounced sunburst than the gen, but I took pics of both shady and sunlight so you can see the difference.
- The bracelet looks like it has quick release, but I haven't been able to duplicate it with ease (and I don't want to try too hard)
- The ring within the dial that is 'polished by diamonds' to capture light in the most beautiful way. I am betting the rep factory didn't duplicate this and I've heard it's difficult to capture on a camera how the dial catches light.
This is a fantastic rep that I hope breathes life into bring Vacheron back on the map for the rep companies. I give this rep a 9/10 for me.
Here it is comparing to some other popular case sizes:
And I was lucky enough to acquire a genuine dial. Legend installed it for me, and it was NOT an easy project as the dial had to be thinned. I don't recommend taking on a VC franken build for the faint of heart.
The build is as follows: BP Overseas watch, case thinned, movement serviced, gen dial installed, prof 2xAR.
Compared to the XF ultra-thin overseas:
The case measures 41mm and 11mm thick, beating at 28800bph, and the BP rep measures out at 41mm wide and 11.75mm thick - so pretty close - and sporting the Miyota 9015 with a decoration plate on top.
But before I dive into the BP version, let's look at the versions I've had throughout time for kicks and giggles:
1. MW Factory - first to the gate as far as I can tell. They released a decent model but it had the Miyota 8215 series movement with the low-beat movement @ 21600bph. That was a deal killer for me. The case measured 41mm and was 12.5mm thick. I ordered this version on accident. The bracelet (although not gen-like) and dial are beautiful, but the date font is meh. This version also had spelling errors and wrong model numbers on the O ring that held the back crystal on. "VACHEROM" was one of them...
2. MW Factory v2 - This is virtually the same model as far as I could tell when it came to the dimensions, dial, hands, etc - the only change was the movement to the high beat Miyota 9015. I really enjoyed this watch but the date font plagued me. I sold it on M2M. I miss the bracelet though. This also had the spelling error on the back crystal ring "VACHEROM".
3. MP Factory - Some time had passed, many of us who wanted this (admittedly a small audience at the time) thought none of the factories would re-visit this. However, I had personally asked Angus to ask some factories to produce a quality rep and about 4 months later this version popped up. The case was a bit smaller, but the diameter was still 41mm. The movement decoration was updated, the lume and hour markers were all updated. The Date font was updated too, but it was not gen-like. They updated almost everything with this case - the case is smaller from top to bottom, it's a bit slimmer and the bracelet got a major overhaul. It's been updated to be more gen-like but the polished sections are smaller so the shine is less. That is what the gen is like too, but I really grew to love that extra bit of polishing. I ordered it immediately though because I thought this was going to be as good as it got.
4. BP Factory - I was checking all the TDs randomly and saw this pop up and thought to myself 'oh just another re-listing of the MP version'. But then... the date font... oh my the date font. It matches the gen almost exactly. BP is known to having more attention to detail than MP factory so boy was I excited. I immediately placed an order and here we are! I would call this the 'ultimate rep' of what's out so far.
Case dimensions: 41mm x 11.75mm
Movement: Miyota 9015 with deco plate
Major differences from gen:
- The dial is a sunburst on the 'enhanced' photos from VC, but all of the real life pics show the dial has a more subtle deep blue and just a smidgen of a sunburst. I personally feel the rep dial has more of a pronounced sunburst than the gen, but I took pics of both shady and sunlight so you can see the difference.
- The bracelet looks like it has quick release, but I haven't been able to duplicate it with ease (and I don't want to try too hard)
- The ring within the dial that is 'polished by diamonds' to capture light in the most beautiful way. I am betting the rep factory didn't duplicate this and I've heard it's difficult to capture on a camera how the dial catches light.
This is a fantastic rep that I hope breathes life into bring Vacheron back on the map for the rep companies. I give this rep a 9/10 for me.
Here it is comparing to some other popular case sizes:
And I was lucky enough to acquire a genuine dial. Legend installed it for me, and it was NOT an easy project as the dial had to be thinned. I don't recommend taking on a VC franken build for the faint of heart.
The build is as follows: BP Overseas watch, case thinned, movement serviced, gen dial installed, prof 2xAR.
Compared to the XF ultra-thin overseas:
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