Vintage Vacheron Constantin Dual-Time 35002 Watch Review

Hi, this is Tim of The 1916 Company. Welcome and thanks for logging on. If you love this watch, email me. Tim also at the1916company.com for purchase pricing and availability questions concerning this watch. And this watch is a little phenomenon from the 1970s, a ladies model that is 30 millimeters in diameter, only 4.7 thick and 34.5 lug to lug with a 16 millimeter space between the lugs. You're looking at reference 35002. Now it is a very small watch, but as hard as it is to believe this little 30 millimeter case that's less than five millimeters thick contains two movements, each one of Vacheron 1052 manual wind micro movement. So what we have here is a true dual time and it features a capability that is all too rare even today with dual time watches. And that is the ability to set the two time zones distinct from each other to the minute without relying on interlinked hour hands. So this watch offers quite a lot of appeal and in excellent shape. We'll throw it on my wrist, which is admittedly too large for this model. As you can see, it's a tiny little thing. If you're really into tiny vintage sizes, it might work, but it does feel like in the modern paradigm, this would be a ladies watch. In profile, you can see that it is super flat and there is really no lower limit on wearing this wrist of any size, no matter how small, possibly even a child could wear this well, but this watch is not child's play. It's on a lovely and super supple bonded leather strap. So you could see there's no stitching. It's bonded for a seamless, smooth look. It is slick in dark brown. You could see in profile cut and lacquered, and then almost velvety on the bottom, wonderfully supple leather turning all the way to the buckle side. Now you can see we have a pin buckle that features no overt Vacheron branding, but does appear to be period. You can see internally, I'll do my best to show you the hallmarks as I always do. Hallmarks right there. And again, on the opposite side, roll into the watch itself. It's fascinating here. We have lugs, which are welded on in a very, very old school sense. We've also got a monoblock case, you know, there's no separate bezel and mid case. It's one completely flat case top. So from mid case to bezel, all one piece, everything loads through the back. Of course, the crowns operate in reverse fashion for winding and setting. You could see this was a kinder, gentler time when it was considered entirely appropriate to hallmark a case externally that is not on the bottom, but on the flanks of the case for the lugs. We've got a lovely dial with baton style hands, matching indices in gold, and then a vertical satination, which is brushed, handsome, metallic, and glows softly rather than gleaming like a sunburst. Inside the case, we have those two 1052 movements, which although not Geneva Hallmark are beautifully decorated. There's actually two movements in here, each one shaped roughly like a lozenge. So these calibers are manual wind with approximately 30 to 35 hours of power reserve, a beat rate that's either 18,000 vibrations per hour or 19,800, based on my understanding. They are 22 joule movements, each one adjusted in five positions, plus for hot, cold, and isochronism. So they are surprisingly refined movements between the adjustment and the decoration. Real money was spent on these, and being 22 joules in spite of featuring manual wind and only two hands, they are quite premium, each featuring Kiff shock protection, which is sort of a boutique-y upscale alternative to Inca block. So there is a lot to love here, and we've even got a little bit of Boscoriale sort of tarnish on the case, particularly around the crown and the lugs, where some of the secondary elements in 18 karat yellow gold, like copper, begin to age a little bit and impart a patina. Probably 30 meters water resistant in its day, though today you don't want to test that theory. Consider it to be non-water resistant, and it is a true vintage watch and a beautiful one. You're unlikely to ever see another. Reach out to team also at the1916company.com for purchase and pricing details.