The rugged and craggy southern coast of Iceland, a few hours' drive east from the capital of Reykjavik, boasts some of the most spectacular waterfalls in Europe. They draw a surprising number of plastic-ponchoed tourists intent on getting doused in spray or bowled over by sub-arctic winds. But they aren't the only attraction. This is also the spot where the Vantajökull glacier calves, in monumental chunks of blue and white ice, into the Jökulsárlón, a lagoon hemmed in on the ocean side by a vast bank of terminal moraine that once marked the glacier's furthest reach.
The lagoon is a place of constant change. The glacier retreats and the icebergs slowly melt and shift shape, often entirely capsizing spectacularly and without warning to reveal dark blue and green ice formed under intense pressure over thousands of years. Eventually, some sizeable chunks of these calves wash out to sea only to be washed back up on the nearby Fellsfjara beach. The washed-up bits of ice (some the size of small cars) are scattered along the black volcanic sand and backlit by the sun, giving the place the outlandish vibe of an outdoor art installation. It's certainly an unlikely destination for a Swiss watch brand like Vacheron Constantin. But for the brand's newest ambassador, artist Zaria Forman, it's an absolute mecca.
Forman, who lives in upstate New York, specialises in giant canvases of ice—glacial ice in particular. The fragile majesty of glaciers got Forman hooked more than fifteen years ago and, since then, she has traveled from Antarctica and Alaska to the arctic island of Svalbard—as well as Iceland—to study and photograph vast panoramas of ice before heading back to her New York studio to capture them in smudgy pastels. From a distance, Forman’s giant works looks almost photographic; up close, the effect is remarkably impressionistic.
Vacheron Constantin commissioned a similarly mesmerising piece—called "Fellsfjara, Iceland No. 3"—from Forman after her field trip to Jökulsárlón. Forman and Vacheron Constantin then returned there together in the spring to photograph her at work for its latest “One of Not Many” ad campaigns. It showcases Forman wearing a new addition to the maison's Overseas collection in pink gold, encrusted, fittingly, with 90 individually-set diamonds.
At 35mm in diameter, the new watch is at the smallest end of the Overseas range. And while diamonds—and 35mm watches—have traditionally put such watches firmly in the niche section for watch wearers, both the diminutive size and the diamond decoration is a knowing nod to the ongoing trend towards smaller and more luxurious watches conceived as much for men as for women. While 39mm was once the new sweet spot for men's watches, certain brands have not stopped there and several hits have popped up in the 35-36mm range of late.
A solid pink gold bracelet on Vacheron Constantin’s new Overseas definitely beefs things up a bit in both looks and weight. The watch also comes with white rubber and white calfskin straps as standard, all three fitted with VC’s proprietary quick-release system so you can switch them out in a second or two. For those less into the diamond settings, the Overseas range also features a diamond free 34.5mm steel version with a blue dial and another pink gold version also in 34.5mm with a blue dial. All of which gives the Overseas range (which now runs from 34.5mm all the way up to 42.5mm in the Overseas Chronograph) a remarkably broad scope of sizes for avid collectors of the veteran brand.
Nick Sullivan is Creative Director at Equire, where he served as Fashion Director from 2004 until 2019. Prior to that, he relocated from London with his young family to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. He has styled and art directed countless fashion and cover stories for both Esquire and Big Black Book (which he helped found in 2006) in exotic,uncomfortable, and occasionally unfeasibly cold locations. He also writes extensively about men’s style, accessories, and watches. He describes his style as elegantly disheveled.
