Singer has been on a clear path with its Heritage series: find a legendary vintage movement, restore it properly, then finish it to a standard it never received the first time around. Last year that meant the Valjoux 236. Now the brand is back with the Heritage V72, and this time the engine is the Valjoux 72, one of the most storied column-wheel chronograph calibres ever made.
The concept is straightforward but the execution is anything but. Singer sources new-old-stock Valjoux 72 movements, fully restores them, and then applies finishing that goes well beyond what you'd have found in any watch these movements originally powered. Think of it as giving an icon the biography it deserved from the start.
This isn't Singer's first rodeo with the Heritage format, so there's real continuity here. The V72 slots in as the natural successor to the 236-powered piece, carrying the same philosophy into a different, equally beloved calibre.
What's Actually New Here
The Valjoux 72 is the movement. That's the headline. It's a column-wheel controlled, horizontal-clutch chronograph that dates back decades and has powered everything from modest tool watches to serious sports chronographs. Finding genuine new-old-stock examples is genuinely difficult at this point, which makes Singer's sourcing operation a legitimate part of the story, not just marketing copy.
The restoration work is where Singer earns its fee. The movements are disassembled, cleaned, serviced, and then refinished to a level the original factory calibres simply didn't get. We're talking beveled edges, polished surfaces, and anglage work on parts that were just functional before. The architecture of the Valjoux 72 is well known, but Singer is specifically trying to reveal attributes in it that were always there, just hidden under utilitarian finishing.
Singer isn't pretending to improve the Valjoux 72 mechanically. It's arguing that the movement always had visual potential that nobody bothered to unlock. That's a more honest, and more interesting, pitch than claiming to have reinvented anything.
The Case and Dial
Singer keeps the case compact, which is the right call for a movement with this kind of vintage pedigree. Stuffing a Valjoux 72 into an oversized modern case would undermine the whole point. The Heritage V72 stays true to the proportions you'd associate with a proper vintage-era chronograph.
Fratello's coverage flagged a "Midas touch" angle, which points to gold tones playing a role in the palette here, continuing Singer's recent willingness to lean into warmer, richer colorways after the green and black dials of the 236 launch and the terracotta limited run shown at Dubai Watch Week. Singer clearly isn't afraid to push the aesthetic side of this series as it evolves.
Who This Watch Is For
You need to be a specific kind of buyer to make sense of the Heritage V72. Here's what that profile looks like:
- You care about movement history and know what the Valjoux 72 represents in the chronograph canon.
- You want a modern watch with genuine vintage DNA, not just a retro-styled case.
- High-grade hand finishing matters to you, and you'd rather have exceptional work on a proven old movement than a mediocre job on something new.
- You followed the Heritage 236 and want the next chapter in the series.
- Limited production is a feature, not a compromise, in your book.
This is not a watch for someone who needs a brand name on the dial that their dinner party guests will recognize. Singer Reimagined is a specialist proposition, and the Heritage V72 leans further into that niche, not away from it.
How It Sits Against the Heritage 236
The 236-powered Heritage Chronograph was Singer's proof of concept for this restoration-focused approach. It launched in green and black, then got the terracotta run at Dubai. That rollout showed Singer is comfortable managing limited colorway drops rather than one big launch, which keeps the series feeling alive between major announcements.
The Valjoux 72 is arguably the higher-profile movement of the two. More people know it, more collectors have opinions about it, and more famous watches have used it. That raises the stakes slightly. Singer can't coast on novelty here the way it might have with the 236. The execution has to justify the choice, and from what the coverage suggests, Singer has put the finishing work in to back up the ambition.
The Heritage V72 is a confident next step for Singer's restoration program. If the 236 watch convinced you the concept had legs, the V72 should confirm Singer knows exactly what it's doing with this series. Keep an eye on the colorway rollout; if the 236 playbook repeats, there will be more variations to come.
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