The Singer Heritage V72 Restores a Movement That Never Ran

The Singer Heritage V72 is built around something most heritage watches only reference: an actual vintage movement, not a modern caliber styled to resemble one. Singer Reimagined sources genuine New Old Stock Valjoux 72 chronograph movements — unused components that have sat unassembled for nearly 50 years — and restores them into two new references arriving this November.

What Makes the Singer Heritage V72’s Movement Different

The Valjoux 72 is one of watchmaking’s more consequential chronograph movements, known for its three-register layout and its long association with 20th-century racing chronographs. Because Singer’s stock never ran, it isn’t repairing worn parts — it’s assembling components for the first time, decades after they were manufactured, which is a meaningfully different starting point than restoring a watch that’s actually been worn.

Every movement goes through total disassembly and inspection before Singer’s finishing work begins: frosted bridge finishes, hand-polished chamfers, rhodium-plating, and a blue ALD treatment on the switch component. Assembly falls to a specialist watchmaker, and each finished movement carries an engraved “Restored by Singer” inscription — a signature on work that, in the Valjoux 72’s original production era, would have gone entirely unmarked and unseen.

The Glass-Box Caseback and Two References

Singer built a newly developed glass-box caseback specifically for this collection, going beyond a standard exhibition window to expose structural detail the Valjoux 72 was never designed to show off. The case itself measures 38.8mm across and 13.25mm thick, with a sunray satin finish and mirror-polished chamfers — compact by modern chronograph standards, which keeps the focus on the movement rather than the case size doing the talking.

The two references split along fairly traditional lines: the SR620-1 pairs an 18-carat yellow gold case with a matte black dial and champagne azurage subdials at CHF 45,000, while the SR621 keeps things in stainless steel with a matte stone-gray dial and oyster azurage subdials at CHF 23,000. Both share Singer’s signature toothed golden flange and faceted hour markers, along with rhodium-plated hands filled with orange Super-LumiNova.

Where the Singer Heritage V72 Fits in Watchmaking’s Restoration Trend

Singer Reimagined’s connection to restoration runs deeper than this one collection — the brand shares its name and philosophy with Rob Dickinson’s restored Porsche 911 work, and the Heritage V72 applies that same logic to horology rather than automobiles.

That lineage matters here, because vintage-movement reissues have become common enough in watchmaking that the category needs a real distinction to stand out — historically grounded revivals are having a moment across the industry, but most are new movements built to evoke an old one, not old components finally being assembled for the first time.

That distinction is also what caps how many of these Singer can actually make. The Singer Heritage V72’s scarcity isn’t a marketing decision — it’s a hard limit set by how many usable NOS Valjoux 72 movement sets still exist. Once that supply is gone, this specific version of the story is over in a way that a modern in-house movement, which a brand can simply keep producing, never quite is.

About The Author

Allan Lane

Philadelphia born and bred, Allan Lane is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of digital magazines. He launched his first publication, SportBikes Inc Magazine in 2010, followed by dosage MAGAZINE in 2019. Recently, Allan launched his third online publication, Club For Man. As a journalist, Allan covers fashion, lifestyle, culture, art, and motorcycles.

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