Watches and Wonders is, among other things, a competition to see which brand can produce the most over-the-top display inside its booth. While some brands lean on sailboats, Formula One cars, and celebrity cameos, Vacheron Constantin drew in the crowds with La Quête du Temps, a massive, 6,293-component timekeeping opus that took seven years to build. If you managed to tear yourself away from its magnificent display of 23 watchmaking complications, including a human figure whose arms move to indicate the time, you could find something equally alluring — and far more wearable — in the new Overseas Dual Time Cardinal Points at Watches and Wonders 2026.
A titanium sports watch with an integrated bracelet, a GMT function, and four dial colours inspired by the cardinal points of the compass, the newest Overseas is as practical and utilitarian as La Quête du Temps is frivolous and awe-inspiring. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing — especially if you’re wearing it to forge a new route up Mount Everest, as Cory Richards did with its predecessor, the first titanium Overseas. Richards, a photographer, filmmaker, and explorer, helped the brand launch that watch in 2019 and followed it in 2021 with a pair of “Everest” models (a chronograph and a dual-time model) that he co-developed.
“When I see the dial, I’m brought back to that trip where we tried to climb a new route on the northeast face of Everest in 2019, and I’m right there again,” Richards recalls. “I can feel myself sitting on a ledge chopped out of the ice at 25,000 feet, sitting through the night, shivering. It was one of the most exposed moments of my life, and I was always looking at the watch and seeing the dual time and thinking about what time it was back home.”
Fortunately for those of us who don’t see such adventures in our future, the Overseas Dual Time Cardinal Points works just as well for a business trip to Zurich or Shanghai as it does on the face of a Himalayan peak. Its 41mm-wide, 12mm-thick titanium case makes it easily wearable as a daily driver, while its integrated bracelet adds strength, lightness, and scratch resistance. In addition to the standard hours, minutes, and seconds, this Overseas features a second time zone set by the crown, a day/night indication at 9 o’clock that’s synchronized with home time, and a date at 6 o’clock that’s synchronized with local time.
As with previous titanium versions of the Overseas, the GMT functions are highlighted with pops of safety orange, but here they are complemented by four grained-finish dials in white, green, brown, and blue. If, however, your plans include putting its 150m water-resistance to the test (or you just want to coordinate with your sneakers), each comes with a rubber strap colour-matched to the dial.
Learn more about Vacheron Constantin at Watches & Wonders 2026.
