Certina Chronolympic

When it comes to vintage chronographs, "Panda Dials" are a whole different kind of awesome that have been getting lots of attention on the collector market as of late.  The nickname refers to a white dial with black subsidiary registers, and is a simple aesthetic choice which has become entirely sought after in the collector community, with Panda Dial variants often commanding many multiples of their "standard" dial brethren (think "Siffert" Heuer Autavias, "Nina Rindt" Universal Geneve Compaxes, and of course "Paul Newman" Rolex Daytonas).  Of course, a timepiece need not have an association with a famous historical figure to have the same great looks, and in many cases the best values in vintage are those without any celebrity connection that have yet to be "discovered" by the collector community.

Such is the case with this awesome Certina DS-2 Chonolympic chronograph - an absolutely stunning vintage sports watch that hasn't received any notoriety for being worn by a movie star or racing legend (although the black dial version WAS worn by a guy who climbed - and then skied down - Mount Everest), but has all the looks and mechanical muscle to be counted amongst the best. 

Dating from the 1960s, this steel chronograph is sized at a meaty 43.5mm, more substantial than many of its contemporaries and perfectly sized for the modern wrist.  It features an absolutely immaculate Panda Dial with triple subdial layout, featuring registers for 30-minute and 12-hour counters along with sweeping subsidiary seconds.  A dash of orange is visible in the chrono seconds hand and some red on the 30-Minute register.  The white dial is surrounded by a crisp outer tachometer ring.

Powering this gorgeous timepiece is the legendary Calibre 72 manually-winding chronograph movement by Valjoux, a movement as robust as it is iconic - hell, even the original Rolex Daytona had one of these bad boys inside!  We have only come across a few of these Chronolympics, and none have come close to this beautiful example.  If you're looking for big dollar looks on a down to earth budget, your search is over.