BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Singer has been impressing us for years now, it’s an unusual turn for a company that was set up in 2009 as Singer Vehicle Design in Los Angeles, California, to restore and reimagine classic Porsches. And yet the marrying of classic cars and luxury watches isn’t a new idea, the thought of a company doing both, though, is novel. For 2026, Singer Reimagined releases the Heritage 72, bringing to life the classic Valjoux 72 in a new and uniquely Singer design.
The Valjoux calibre 72 has been heralded in many articles as one of the finest chronograph movements ever produced and has been used by loads of brands, including Gallet, Enicar, Breitling, Universal Genève, Heuer and, naturally, Rolex. Produced for 36 years beginning in 1934, the manually wound column-wheel chronograph movement has plenty of life left in it.
Singer has decided to painstakingly disassemble 70 of them, refinish them with a fine matte appearance with polished angles, rhodium plate them, and use a touch of blue to bring them into the 21st century. The 2.5Hz beat rate and 44-hour power reserve are as they were when each movement was made.
On the face of it, the shape of the cases used for Singer’s Heritage 72 models seems a little basic, but that is more representative of the historical look these watches are aiming for. Their dimensions of 38.8mm x 13.25mm (with 50m water resistance) are representative of that too, but I do find myself drawn to the wide and flat crown and those pushers. Stainless steel and 18k yellow gold are both options here.
The dials are something special, too. Singer’s watches often accurately recreate the look of the gauges found in the classic Porsches Singer Vehicle Design is used to working on. A golden centre covers the centre of the dials with partially skeletonised luminescent sword hands protruding from underneath. The tri-compax layout is present to fit with the movement, but the dial is extremely laid back. No racing indications here, just applied markers and a fluted golden outer ring. The steel models get a matte grey backdrop for the dial, while the gold ones get matte black. The applied Singer logo stands proud of the dial surface and looks good.
Sometimes it’s easy to be a bit pessimistic and say “oh look, here comes another vintage style watch”. The Singer is most interesting because it’s from a relatively new company, there are no historical archives to look through and recreate. What we see instead is a person’s dream of how the past looked, and that’s very interesting indeed. The steel model comes on a grey textile strap, is limited to 50 pieces, and costs CHF23,000. Meanwhile, the gold watch comes on a black grained leather strap and is limited to just 20 pieces, with a price of CHF45,000 each.
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