Incoming: 1970s Vacheron Constantin 7379 Stainless Steel

[karasus]

A vintage watch I picked up from a recent auction, from one of the holy trinity. A Vacheron Constantin with a sunburst champagne dial, ebony and white gold indicators, ebony hands and a rare stainless steel case. Stainless steel is quite common today but before 1976 and the introduction of the original Royal Oak very few high end watches were made in SS.

The maltese cross is made out of white gold and not printed like most modern watches, and I picked a red strap to match the white of the cross. Red and white are the colours of Malta and I feel should go well with the white dial of the watch. Its got that vintage Ferrari feel with the red on.

The watch is powered by a K1072/1 movement with poincon de Geneve mark, the K1072/1 was one of the best movements made by Vacheron during the times they were an independent manufacturer, and its an in house design that evolved during the 1960s. It does not have hacking seconds or quickset date, setting the watch is a bit tricky but to be expected for a watch over 40 years. Winding is quite smooth with solid click sounds, setting time one can feel the smooth turning of the hands without any issues.

The watch is definitely on the dressier side but even at 34mm due to the shape of the lugs and total length of 40mm it fits very nicely. The plexiglass crystal gives off a nice refraction making the watch readable even at 45 degrees.