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Dino944

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Re 222

Gold = Wonder Woman

Steel = Super boring

Both are purely objects of hype or they wouldn’t have taken a 50-year hiatus.
I find it's one of the few recent releases from VC, or any brand that I actually like. Unlike AP or PP, who also made sports watches that weren't huge sellers in the late 70s and early 80s (probably a combination of very few people knowing the brands back then, and that they were always very expensive) VC gave up on the 222 way too soon. I think it's the watch they should have made all along rather than the Phidias and Overseas. The Phidias was bland and ugly. The first generation Overseas time only watches had issues with the GP based movements, and the bracelet links would get jammed and locked up. The second generation, Overseas, jumped on the big watch trend and grew too clunky, had ugly dials, and a flashy VC motif bracelets (sort of the wristwatch equivalent of people wearing a $900 Balenciaga T shirt with the brand name in huge letters across the front). The third generation dials and bezels look a bit better, but I still don't love the watches. The 222 is distinctive, and since it's now offered in steel with its dark blue dial it doesn't suffer from looking washed out like the gold and champagne dial version.

VC has been known for their Historiques line for about 30 years or so, and the 222 is a watch VC fans had been hoping would make it back into the collection for a long time, and not merely in all gold.

Today, most people accuse any sports watch with an integrated bracelet of being too derivative of the RO, the Nautilus, or both. The 222 might be one of the least derivative designs of that genre.

Its' certainly not for everyone, but what is? Some people say the RO is too steam punk, others say the Nautilus looks like it was modeled after a 1950's TV. If the worst things people can say about the 222 is it's a hype watch or boring those are things I could live with. If the Explorer is lights off missionary, I wonder what the 222 is? Is it lights on cosplay? ;)
 

TN001

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I‘m not sure that is accurate. The boutique in WPB told me over Thanksgiving that Fagliano in Hurlingham still does all of their cordovan straps for limited edition Reversos. The non-cordovan straps in that same Reverso style are made in France and, oddly, Switzerland.
So are all the Fagliano straps shell cordovan?
 

Sleeping_dog

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I find it's one of the few recent releases from VC, or any brand that I actually like. Unlike AP or PP, who also made sports watches that weren't huge sellers in the late 70s and early 80s (probably a combination of very few people knowing the brands back then, and that they were always very expensive) VC gave up on the 222 way too soon. I think it's the watch they should have made all along rather than the Phidias and Overseas. The Phidias was bland and ugly. The first generation Overseas time only watches had issues with the GP based movements, and the bracelet links would get jammed and locked up. The second generation, Overseas, jumped on the big watch trend and grew too clunky, had ugly dials, and a flashy VC motif bracelets (sort of the wristwatch equivalent of people wearing a $900 Balenciaga T shirt with the brand name in huge letters across the front). The third generation dials and bezels look a bit better, but I still don't love the watches. The 222 is distinctive, and since it's now offered in steel with its dark blue dial it doesn't suffer from looking washed out like the gold and champagne dial version.

VC has been known for their Historiques line for about 30 years or so, and the 222 is a watch VC fans had been hoping would make it back into the collection for a long time, and not merely in all gold.

Today, most people accuse any sports watch with an integrated bracelet of being too derivative of the RO, the Nautilus, or both. The 222 might be one of the least derivative designs of that genre.

Its' certainly not for everyone, but what is? Some people say the RO is too steam punk, others say the Nautilus looks like it was modeled after a 1950's TV. If the worst things people can say about the 222 is it's a hype watch or boring those are things I could live with. If the Explorer is lights off missionary, I wonder what the 222 is? Is it lights on cosplay? ;)
The first overseas were indeed a disaster, however, I loved the Phidias. While the 222 was superior, the Phidias was contrary to the ‘80 design ethos. Debuting in 89, it was a paradigmatic shift.
 

Dino944

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The first overseas were indeed a disaster, however, I loved the Phidias. While the 222 was superior, the Phidias was contrary to the ‘80 design ethos. Debuting in 89, it was a paradigmatic shift.
Wow, someone who remembers the Phidias! Kudos to you my friend. I think the Phidias really suffered being bland, released too late, and it having an identity crisis.

The 222 was clearly a sports watch intended to compete with the RO, the Laureato, the Nautilus, the SL Jumbo Ingenieur etc. All products of the 70s, that transitioned from the days of wide ties and leisure suits, to the excess of the 80s and sleeker Gordon Gekko-ish suits, shirts, and ties. None of those watches huge sellers when new. Most shrunk to 36mm in the 80s, but held on long enough to make it into the 90s, with casual Fridays, and the the eventual shift toward larger mechanical watches such as the 3713 Doppelchronograph, the Royal Oak Offshore, and Panerais.

The Phidias had an integrated bracelet, but it didn't really look or feel like a sports watch. It also didn't feel like a dress watch. Maybe had it come out in the early 80s when there were lots of ads for thin watches with Swiss quartz movements, it would have been a bigger success. VC tried to broaden its appeal of the Phidias by fitting it with an F.Piguet 1185 movement and giving us a chronograph, and a less known GMT version with world cities listed on the bezel. Neither saved the design, or really generated interest in the model and it was eventually nixed to make room for the much sportier Overseas. Like the 333, the Phidias is largely a footnote in VCs struggle to come up with an enduring design for a sports watch.
 

Mute

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The cloth straps are styled after the Fagliano straps but I’m not sure if they’re actually made by Fagliano themselves.
They're sold as Fagliano straps on the JLC website. I'd assume they have something to do with making them.
 

Ebitdaddy

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Frosted cock

cd35dcb7-f7e1-49c9-a385-078f5285e4d7.jpeg
 

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