The Racing Vanguard, in black and white.

Racing is the Vanguard chronograph dressed for a paddock: a ring inside the bezel carrying the minute scale, wrapped pushers and crown guard, numerals outlined so they read at a glance, and a strap perforated like a driving glove. On the orange and yellow versions the colour does the talking. On this one everything that would be coloured is black, the dial is white, and the result is the most legible dial Franck Muller puts in this case: black numerals on white, black-ringed counters, a black date frame.

The FM 7000 inside is Franck Muller’s decorated version of the Valjoux 7750, the automatic chronograph movement most of the industry has relied on for fifty years, with about 42 hours of reserve, a 30-minute counter at three and small seconds at nine. The case is the same curved steel barrel as every V 45, about 44 by 54mm, and the strap runs into it rather than hanging from lugs.

This is a regular Amazon listing from an independent dealer, Luxor Watches on the day we read it, with Amazon’s 30-day return window; it is not a Luxury Stores pre-owned unit. The second button opens the live search for white-dial Vanguard Racings in case this one has sold.

Steel Vanguards have resold for well under new and close to what pre-owned buyers paid, sometimes more, sometimes less; that is a pattern, not a promise, and nothing here is investment advice.