In this guest posting, Shaun Wainstein tells us about the models of the Heuer Autavia that he knows best . . . yes, Shaun will tell us about the ShaunTavias!!
This is an overview of the late 70’s Autavias that had numerals on the dials. The first part of the review covers the chronology of the “rediscovery” of these Autavia models through the OnTheDash forum, and the second part gives a description about the watches and the configuration of the watches; in particular the watches used by the Kenyan Air Force.
The Story
The story of the 70’s Autavias with numeral dials is a classic story of internet community discovery. Like many other mysterious watches, this unusual Autavia execution was “discovered” by joint effort of many people on the OntheDash forum. Without the internet and a forum like OntheDash, it is possible that “exotic” variants like these numeral dial Autavias (and others) might have remained “undiscovered” and considered fakes or frankens by the wider collector community. This is particularly true for watches which never appeared in any catalog – like the Skipper in the Carrera case or the “exotic” cal 15 Autavia, perhaps a little less so for these Autavias which are not that rare (because of the KAF connection).
Anyway, chronology has to be important for chronograph experts and collectors so here is a chronological review of the “discovery” of these watches. If you can’t be bothered with the story of the forum discussions then skip this section and go directly to the review of the watches.
Forum Discussion
In Feb 2007, we – the OntheDash forum members – start to discuss these numeral dial Autavias, after I see one in Portobello Road market at a well known military watch dealer who has a stand there (I think his name was Peter). Here is my posting; unfortunately some of the linked photos don’t exist any more.
A month later, a numeral dial Autavia is spotted on ebay by Alistair of ATG fame (one of the active contributors in the early days of OnTheDash); here is his posting. The OTD community start to think this version of the Autavia is perhaps not a fake. In his posting of March 2, 2007 Jeff names it the “Shauntavia” (thanks Jeff!) and remembers that this dial version (and a really nice one) was actually in the gallery of fakes!
Over the years there are further discussion of these 70’s Autavias with numerals on the dials, and they are more and more accepted as true “from the factory” Heuers.
In December 2011, OTD regular Stewart Morley starts to investigate a 5100 series Heuer with 82 AF markings. After some twists and turns (via Israel, South Africa) Stewart finds good evidence that the watch is from the Kenyan Airforce, which was renamed 82 Air Force after purging the officers responsible for a failed coup attempt in 1982. Here is Stewart’s posting.
At this stage, the “Shauntavias” with KAF back case markings start to surface. A specialist Rolex dealer based in the UK and the Gulf (posting as BrevetPlus) confirms the watches are from a Kenyan ex-mil source. There is further discussion on the forum, with Stewart M, Paul Gavin and others agreeing that it looks like a good likelihood that these Autavias were produced for the Kenyan Air Force. By now this is pretty much accepted in the OTD world.
Thanks to Jeff using the “Shauntavia” name, I feel duty bound to collect all the executions I can find of these KAF Autavias. I post about the watches at the end of the Autavia 50 years celebration in Dec 2012, displaying some heavily worn versions:
A reasonable large supply of these KAF watches, probably coming from one or two sources, find their way to the market. Some of the most discerning collectors get hold of some superb examples (KAF & non-KAF):
Mick Tock posts about his, here.
Paul Gavin posts these beautiful ones, here.
But probably the coolest post of the lot was Peter Moeller completing his epic quest to collect every variation of every Autavia movement, finishing with the 7740. Here is his posting covering his collection, without the 7740 movement, which he acquired a bit later (I can’t find his post, but I know he found one):
In the last year, a new supply of these KAF Autavias has come on to the market, from a similar source as the first batch. There are probably 30+ KAF Autavias with the numerals on the dials (741, 73663 and Caliber 12 versions) and probably the same number of “standard dial” Caliber 12 versions.
The final confirmation of the Kenya Air Force story was posted in February 2015; a new forum member going by the name of “Ace” posts some photos showing the watch his father received when he was in the Kenyan Air Force. He confirmed that the watches were given to pilots, senior officers and NCOs. So finally, eight years after the first speculation about these watches the story is confirmed.
The Watches
These Autavias with numerals on the dials have been seen in three configurations:
1) the manual 7740 movement, two sub registers
2) the manual 7736 movement, three sub registers
3) the automatic Cal 12 movement, with two sub registers.
All three versions seem to have been supplied to the Kenyan Air Force, but have also been seen from other non-military sources so it is likely Heuer sold them through their normal channels as well. However, the number of non-KAF versions of these watches seems small, so it will have been a minute proportion of the regular Autavias sold by Heuer.
The Kenyan Air Force connection
The main bulk of Heuer’s production of these Autavias seems to have been for the Kenyan Air Force. From the number of watches seen in the market, and the range of Kenya Air Force serial numbers (>300?), it is likely that the watches were given to a wider range of military staff than just pilots, as the KAF was unlikely to have >300 pilots at any time; particularly since, according to the Wikipaedia entry, the KAF had only around 80 serviceable aircraft (including helicopters) at any given time.
The watches come with two types of inscription on the back; a large KAF and then a 2-3 digit number (usually <200), or a small KAF with a three digit number (usually >200). I am not sure exactly where the borderline comes between the large and small fonts, but 200-250 seems a good estimate. Here is a photo of the two inscription types:
In addition to the Autavias, the KAF seems to have bought some 5100 series watches from Heuer some time after 1982 (see the OtD posts by Stewart Morley referenced above). These watches are marked with an inscription of 82 AF before the military number. I have not seen an 82 AF inscription on an Autavia, but it is not impossible. The 82 AF corresponds to the renamed Air Force; renamed after a number of Air Force officers tried an (unsuccessful) coup in 1982.
I have also seen these type of Autavias coming from the same source as the KAF ones with no inscriptions; I think either some watches were not inscribed but were used by the KAF, or perhaps Heuer supplied replacement case backs which were used as replacement but had no inscription. In the posts by “Ace”, who’s father received one of these watches whilst in service of the KAF, he says that his father believed the watches did not have KAF inscriptions, so the practice may have varied by unit. I am convinced that the KAF inscriptions are original, as the number and styles seem consistent, and the engravings are clearly not added later as scratches and wear and tear on the case also appears in the inscription.
It is not so surprising to me that (a) so many of these watches survived today and (b) they are in such bad condition. I would guess that the rarity and value of the watches in Kenya meant that they were not thrown away, which might have been a more common fate in Western European military forces. As to bad quality of surviving examples, the service quality seems, lets say, “enthusiast” level, with lots of mixed hands and disfigured dials!
A bit about KAF aircraft; skip if you don’t care…
The KAF does not have the most glamorous equipment; their main fighter has been the Northrop F-5 lightweight fighter, which was “cheap and manoeuvrable” but not sophisticated even when developed in the 1970s. It is still in service today, and has been used in raids on militants in Somalia in the last few years. The main claim to fame of the F-5 was it’s use in the US Navy’s Top Gun dogfighter training school. The super secret Mig in the legendary 1980s Tom Cruise film “Top Gun” was actually an F-5…(or some shots are with a T-38, effectively a two seat F-5). Here is a photo of the Kenyan F-5s. I love the photo on the left as the planes have the same well worn look as the watches.
The Watches – in Detail
1) The 7740 Version (Autavia Reference 741.603)
The Valjoux 7740 version with two sub registers is probably the most interesting of the “Shauntavias” as it incorporates the 7740 movement, an unusual choice of movement in Heuer watches. This base movement is also used in a manual GMT Autavia, and in some Calculators and Monacos (not least the “Dark Lord” PVD Monaco). Other than the GMT, the only dial choice for the 7740 Autavia seems to be this dial with the numerals hour markers. I can not remember seeing a non-GMT 7740 Autavia in any other dial configuration, but this needs to be checked.
The watch generally has the the reference number 741.603 stamped between the lugs. The range of serial numbers I have seen are around 297xxx to 298xxx. Whilst the majority of the non-GMT 7740 Autavias on the market are KAF supplied watches, Heuer also seems to have sold these through normal dealer channels, with a two or three non-KAF models appearing for sale in an average year (including recycling between collectors).
The watch generally comes with the characteristic thick white hands with a triangular red tip seen on both the GMT and non-GMT 7740 Autavias. These type of hands are unique to the 7740 Autavias and were not used my Heuer in other Autavias or other models.
There seem to be two different back cases on these watches; the ridged back case and also the 11630 style trapezoid cross section case. The two case back types can be seen in the photo of the different inscriptions above.
The KAF 7740 watches are seen mainly with the earlier “large font” KAF inscriptions, but I have seen some 7740’s also with the smaller KAF inscription.
2) The 7736 Version (Autavia Reference 73663)
The Valjoux 7736 movement “Shauntavia” models seem to be equally rare (or equally as common) as the Valjoux 7740 models. The serial numbers on these watches seem to all match the range of the “Villeneuve” Autavia model (more standard dial with dark grey sub registers) which is 200xxx to 201xxx. From what I have seen, the 7736 KAF models have KAF numbers mainly in the lower range (10-150), more so that the 7741 which have a wider spread of numbers. But this is just a judgement from the models I have seen, so not conclusive.
The Valjoux 7736 models seem to come mainly with painted orange hands, similar to the “Villeneuve” Autavia or the later 11630 model. I have also seen the 7736 KAF model with wider white hands, similar to other Heuer Autavia “military” models – typically the 73643 model for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and also the civilian (but military style) all black dial 73363. Given the use of these hands by Heuer in closely related models, I think this style of hands may also have been installed at the Heuer factory.
The photo shows the typical configuration of a KAF 73663, with characteristic heavy fading and patina – this watch was not a safe queen, and all the better for that!
Here is a 7736 model with the later “military” hand style:
And the familiar Valjoux 7736 movement.
3) The Calibre 12 Version (Reference 11630)
The numeral dials also appear in Calibre 12 Autavias. This is not a case of dial switches or put together watches: there is a specific dial for the automatic Calibre 12 Autavias with the text “Automatic” in the usual place for Heuer dials. The dial is a later Autavia style, with a glossy finish and slightly silvered subdials. This glossy dial style is typical of late 11630 and 11063 Autavias in the standard, non-numeral, dial configuration as well. The Reference 11630s with numeral dials have been seen mainly with 376xxx or later serial numbers.
We have only seen these numeral “Shauntavia” style dials in 11630 Autavias; given the later dial style, I do not believe they were ever installed in an 1163 case. The numeral dial version of the 11630 Autavia seems more rare than the 7741 or 7736 version. Certainly for the KAF models with a numeral dial, the vast majority are either the manual versions with the Valjoux 7741 or Valjoux 7736 movement. However, the “vanilla”, Viceroy-style 11630s, with a standard dial, was also issued to the KAF, and there are a large amount (at least 40-60, maybe more) on the market.
The Reference 11630 version with numeral dial comes with either the standard painted hands that appeared in mid-to-late period 11630s, or with the brushed metal hands with a red strip used on 1163 or 11630 Autavias. The typical KAF case inscription on the later 11630s seems more patchy – some of the KAF watches have the inscription, others do not. However it is clear they are all KAF as they came from the same source and show the same wear and tear.
There is also a very rare version of the KAF Autavia in a Reference 11063 case with the numeral dial. I own one issued to the KAF, pictured below; the hour and minute hands are correct, but the main chronograph second hand has clearly been changed and is wrong. The watch has a small font KAF inscription, and came from the same source as the other KAF Autavias. It is definitely KAF issued. I presume it was part of a small late batch supplied by Heuer; it was definitely used (!) so that points to it being part of the KAF’s supplies. The watch has a 395xxx serial number; 11063 serial numbers are a bit less clear to follow as Heuer didn’t put a serial number on the majority of Reference 11063 Autavias.
Are these all of the KAF numeral dial Autavia models? Who knows, but whatever happens I guess we will follow it here on OntheDash!