I'm such a fan of square, rectangular, cushion shapes - also give me two hander like that over spinning seconds any day of the week. That's such a delight, definitely one of not many.

Pure understated elegance!

Which movement is in there? It has a sigma dial which is always a good sign in that era.

Cal.1015

I didn't even notice the sigmas on the dial. I need to pay closer attention. I fell in love at first sight.

That's top grade JLC-based know how (their 895 ebauche) all wrapped up in a gorgeous bit of VC decoration. VC have brought a great dial and case, proper welded lugs, hand finished case, etc to the party, but that movement will stand the test of time. There's so much real craft in that watch compared to most of what's on sale today that its almost mind-blowing.

I think the sigma marks (Greek s) were meant to show that the dial decorations and hands maybe the dial itself were pure gold (it was a sort of trade association mark by Swiss makers in the 80's I think, part of their fight back after the quartz crisis). I saw in one of your other shots of the dial that it looked like it was grained. That was certainly a hand made dial, but regardless the hands and the markers are definitely gold given the sigma mark.

Welcome to the wonderful world of woefully undervalued Vacheron.

It recently underwent a service back at the factory as well, so it should keep going for a long time..I have seen a picture of the movement and for how "basic" it is, the finishing is obviously top notch.

I didn't realize so much hand-finishing went into these watches, in fact I really couldn't find much about it. They don't seem to put out very many of a particular reference and the details online seem limited. I appreciate the knowledge about the piece.

After you mentioned it, I wanted to clarify (I was aware of sigma dials from researching Rolex 1701s but never pulled the trigger on one) what they meant and saw that yes it was hands and markers are gold. I guess the only way to know more info on the dial would be to look at the back of it? I'm not inclined to do so, just thinking out loud. 😂

Thank you for all this!

This might be my next one if I can work it out with selling a couple watches to make room

Goodness gracious, you need to snap that one up. It looks like the 1001(VC)/2001 (AP) but the very best version of that movement with the Gyromax free-sprung balance (only the very best VC's and AP's seemed to have got them). It's one of the best manual movements ever made, thanks to JLC of course. I do love white gold for it's incredible stealth, as well as the soft warmth to the colour, and the case is beautifully hand-finished. That's the height of AP style - that watch will look fantastic in 50 year's time.

Yeah the Florentine finish of the white gold is in stellar shape. I've got a soft hold on it right now while I work things out. I have to sell 2 or 3 watches to make room from some chunkier pieces.

I did give my guy a go on this thing and have 6 watches going to him for consignment trade 😂😂😂. Your words really pushed me over the edge.

Hey, well done - it does have the look of an original dial from AP without any rust or other deteriation - they were just so classy back in the day, the logo is so perfectly understated - it really ticks all the boxes of a great elegant dress watch. I do love the Florentine work, my white gold VC has that style of decoration. You know you have a real one of a kind piece. The markers look like they may be pieces of onyx.

The better watchmakers can usually deal with this movement (there are certainly some in the UK that can, so I'd hope it isn't different near you), so it doesn't necessarily need an expensive trip back to Geneva unless there is something dreadfully wrong and tricky new parts are needed. I hope it had a clean bill of health before you pushed the button.

It makes me sad to see what AP has turned into now. It wasn't that long ago that they had a full range of dress watches and complications, but they have all been ditched in favour of the RO. Don't get me started on the 11:59 - the Timex Giogio Galli is essentially the same design but done better! Their catalogue up until the 70's is full of quirky pieces, on par with the best of the oddest VC's. Personally I think the AP's and VC's of that era tend to be more interesting in terms of case design than the Patek's, though there are obviously some stunning PP's around too (and usually at silly prices for anything that isn't a basic Calatrava).

The thin Piaget's with exotic dials in semi-precious stones are another terribly dangerous rabbit hole that I need to avoid falling down!

This is the only closeup I have until I receive it. But thank you for all the additional information. Where do you recommend I do research on these models? It seems when I do Google searching, I find limited things on this era. But if you are saying it's more of a rare design, that might explain it. I saw a couple at auction go a little cheaper but I know this has been serviced, I know the guy who serviced it as well, and it came from the friend of said watchmaker. Provenance is good!