I was looking at this piece and a Patek 2526 in yellow gold as well during the time of purchase and bought this VC over the Patek. Not only was it about 4 times cheaper but I actually liked the look of this VC better. One of the consistency issues back then with VC was they would make 25 to 30 dial varations of a watch then change the dial layout up where as the 2526 stayed pretty consistent. Certainly Tick Talk could expand on that much better than I ever could though.....