The Racing Vanguard, in yellow.

Racing is the Vanguard chronograph dressed for a paddock. The steel case is the same curved barrel as every V 45, but a coloured ring sits inside the bezel carrying the minute scale, the pushers and crown guard are wrapped in the same colour, and the strap is perforated like a driving glove and stitched to match. On this one the colour is yellow, which against the black dial is the highest-contrast combination Franck Muller offers on the Racing.

The dial keeps the Racing layout: numerals outlined in white on black so they read at a glance, a white 30-minute counter at three, white small seconds at nine and a date at six. 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 42 hours of reserve.

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 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.