Paul Gavin is one of our regular contributors to OnTheDash, and most of us consider Paul to be our very best photographer.  Paul displays his beautiful photographs on his website HeuerWorld.com, and you can read more about Paul over there.

Recently, during a rainy weekend in the south of England, Paul spent some time producing some “art photos”, different in style from his usual more realistic photos.  Paul posted links to these photos in a message on our discussion forum, and he has given us permission to give these art photos a more permanent home here.  Accordingly, this page shows the six art photos that Paul posted on our forum (five Heuers and one Zenith), as well as two other photos that I especially admire (both manual-wind Carreras).

In another message on our forum, Paul explained the creative process:

These are actual pictures of my watches. Let me explain this using cooking as an analogy. The raw ingredients are a nice picture of a watch plus either one or more other images mixed and blended together in Photoshop to produce the final offering. There is no recipe and just like in cooking, you taste as you go along but in my case its my visual perception and preconceived idea that determines if it needs some more or less of this or that until I think it meets my expectation. Even though I may use the same ingredients and repeat the process it will never be the same as I do not save anything until I am happy with the end result. It may take up to 10, 20, 50 or more steps to produce an image and I don’t record these so it’s a spontaneous process. Photoshop is an amazing tool but like any media you need to (a) know how it works and (b) have a good idea of what you want to create in order to achieve some degree of success.

Special thanks to Paul for allowing us to show these great photographs, and for all his other contributions to our community.

Heuer Autavia, Reference 3646, first execution screw-back case (circa 1962)

Heuer Autavia GMT, Reference 1163GMT, early execution (circa 1970)

Heuer Autavia, Reference 1163T ("Siffert"), early execution (circa 1970)

Heuer Silverstone, Reference 110.313R (red) (circa 1974)

Heuer Autavia Diver 100, Reference 11063P (decompression bezel) (circa 1984)

Zenith El Primero, Reference A386 (tri-color) (circa 1970)

Heuer Carrera, Reference 2447SN (circa 1970)

Heuer Carrera 45 Dato, Reference 3147N (circa 1968)

Folklore has it that during a pre-delivery test run on the autostrada in January 1975, this 1974 Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘Periscopa Speciale’ (chassis number 1120056) achieved a speed of 202 miles per hour (326 kph), making it the first production road car to break the 200 MPH mark.  While today’s consensus dismisses the 200 MPH claim, this Countach can stake a legitimate claim of being the fastest road car in the world, at that time.

The car had been specially ordered by Albert Silvera, a wealthy car collector living in Haiti who was a VIP customer of both Lamborghini and Ferrari.  One of the items that Silvera specified for his Countach was a pair of Heuer Rally Master dash-mounted timepieces, consisting of a matching 8-day Master Time clock and a 12-hour Monte Carlo stopwatch.

This is a brief overview of the Silvera Countach, with a focus on the Heuer timepieces that were factory-installed, upon Mr/ Silvera’s request.

The Basics. The LP400 was the first production model of the Lamborghini Countach, and was first sold in April 1974.  Powered by a 4.0 liter 12-cylinder engine, the LP400 is sometimes called the “narrow body” Countach, as later models added scoops, scallops and spoilers.

Albert Silvera’s Countach — with chassis number 1120056 and engine number 1120056 — was the 28th Countach produced, being built in November  and December 1974, and completed on January 23, 1975.  A total of approximately 158 LP400s were built over the period from 1974 through 1977, making Silvera’s one of the earlier models in the series.

Albert Silvera. To understand this particular car, it is important to understand the man who ordered the car.  Albert  Silvera is usually described as a wealthy hotelier, diplomat and sports car fanatic, with the words “playboy” and “jet-setter” usually found somewhere in the description.  Silvera owned the exotic El Rancho Hotel near Port Au Prince in Haiti, a celebrity destination during the 1960s and 1970s to the likes of Liz Taylor & Richard Burton, as well as Mick Jagger.  Silvera special-ordered most of his Italian cars directly from Enzo Ferrari or Ferruccio Lamborghini, with each of these cars built to one-off specification and including a variety of special appointments.

Silvera was the Director of Tourism of Haiti and, with his status as a diplomat, he was able to bring his cars into the United States, without being required to modify them to meet increasingly stringent federal emissions and safety standards.  Records show that Silvera had his Countach in Haiti, South Florida and Paris, as he had homes in each of these locations.

Scroll down to the bottom of this posting for additional information about Albert Silvera.

Special Finishes. Silvera selected a special exterior paint for his Countach, referenced in factory papers as “Rosso Speciale”.  The special worksheet for the car notes that the interior color was originally to be “nero” (black), but this is crossed out and “Tab” (short for “Tobacco”) is entered, to accommodate Silvera’s wishes for a special leather interior.  The carpeting and the dashboard materials were supplied to Lamborghini by Ferrari SpA, as Silvera was also a VIP customer of the Ferrari factory and was able to request that these materials be provided to the rival Lamborghini factory.

And a Very Special Engine. Silvera’s special Countach was sent to Dallara Automobili SrL, where the engine was blueprinted, balanced and tuned by means of high-lift camshafts, bigger intakes, bigger main jets for the carburetors, free flow headers and an open exhaust system.  These modifications increased the standard 375 bhp LP400 engine’s output by 60-70 bhp.  Dallara was world-renowned as a chassis, development and performance engineer.  Dallara first made his mark with the launch of Lamborghini’s benchmark Miura, and he went on to be responsible for the world-championship winning Lancia Stratos.  Back in 1975, Dallara was the man that Lamborghini retained to produce a factory “hot rod” whenever VIP clients such as Albert Silvera and Walter Wolf wanted performance upgrades.

The Price of Being Special. With all the custom work and finishes specified by Silvera, the price of his Countach jumped from the standard price of $43,000 to a final price of $60,000.  Ironically, Silvera owned the car for only 14 months, at which time he sold 1120056 to make room for his next specially-ordered Countach.

What’s That OnTheDash? Looking through the driver’s window, we see that there is a pair of Heuer timepieces mounted on the dashboard.  While we are accustomed to seeing Heuers mounted on the dashboards of rally and race cars, it is very unusual to see them on the dashboard of a road car.

The Heuer Rally Master pair consists of a Master Time 8-day clock (on the left) and a Monte Carlo 12-hour stopwatch (on the right), both attached to a dedicated back-plate (also made by Heuer).

The Master Time is a simple time-of-day clock with a rotating bezel that can be used to mark a specific time.  The Monte Carlo displays hours by Arabic numerals seen through a “window” at six o’clock, minutes by a wider hand with an arrow on the end, and seconds by a narrower hand.  The hour disc and both hands return to zero, when the button at two o’clock is pressed.  Each timepiece is attached to the back-plate by three small screws; the back-plate is attached to the dashboard by four larger bolts, one at each corner of the back-plate.

A Special Rally Master Pair. Silvera’s Countach included many special elements, so it is fitting that the Rally Master pair that he chose for the car also includes a special feature. While most Monte Carlos have a plain rotating bezel, with a triangle to mark a specific time, the Monte Carlo included in Silvera’s Countach has a rotating Tachymeter bezel. This bezel shows speed over a measured distance (for example, a car covering one mile in 27 seconds has traveled at 133 miles per hour over the mile; a car covering one mile is 18 seconds has averaged 200 MPH for that mile).

While we can question the usefulness of any rotating bezel for actually computing speeds, the Tachymeter bezel was a symbol of the motorsports-watch connection in the 1960s and 70s, with Tachymeter bezels being features of many popular chronographs — the Heuer Autavia, Rolex Daytona and Omega Speedmaster, among others.

The Perfect Way to Trim Out the World’s Fastest Road Car. Albert Silvera was a fascinating man, who ordered up what would be among the world’s fastest road cars.  His Countach is one of the most celebrated Lamborghinis in the history of the marque.  The Heuer Rally Master pair was the perfect finishing touch on this supercar.

Other Interesting Installations.  We are always looking for interesting installations of Heuer dashboard timers on vintage road, racing or rally cars, as well as boats and airplanes.  If you know of an interesting car, boat or plane with Heuers OnTheDash, please write to me at OnTheDash@bellsouth.net.

Thanks; Additional Resources

Special thanks to Joe Sackey, for answering a couple of my questions about the car and for allowing me to use his article about the car and his photos.

You can view additional photos of the ex-Silvera Countach here.

Joe Sackey’s Description of Lamborghini Countach LP400 ex-Silvera (Chassis 11200056)

The following is from the website of Joe Sackey Classics, LLC, copyright 2012; used with permission.

1974 Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘Periscopa Speciale’, chassis number 1120056, engine number 1120056, built November & December 1974, completed January the 23rd 1975. Delivered to Albert Silvera*, Lamborghini VIP client and world-renowned collector of sportscars, on January the 27th 1975.

*Silvera is best described as a wealthy hotelier, diplomat, sports car fanatic and old-time playboy (and not necessarily in that order!). He owned the exotic El Rancho Hotel near Port Au Prince in Haiti, jet-set destination during the 1960s and 1970s to the likes of Liz Taylor & Richard Burton, Mick Jagger & Jerry Hall etc. He was also Haiti’s Director of Tourism. He special-ordered most of his Italian cars directly from Enzo Ferrari or Ferruccio Lamborghini, all built to one-off specification with special appointments. His diplomatic status allowed him to import his one-off Ferrari and Lamborghini Supercars into the USA in the 1970s without modifying them, running
them as he did on Haiti diplomatic plates. In the 1970s, Ferrari specialists Cresswell-Baumgarten in Fort Lauderdale were responsible for the maintenance of the entire Silvera car collection at both his Miami mansion and his Port Au Prince hotel.

Rosso Dino (orange) paint, special Tabacco (brown) leather, ‘Motore Potenziato’ (tuned engine) carried out for Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini SpA by Dallara Automobili SrL (Giampaolo Dallara**). The completed car was sent to Dallara Automobili SrL where the engine was blueprinted, balanced, and tuned by means of high-lift camshafts, bigger intakes, bigger main jets for the carburetors, free flow headers, and an open exhaust system. All this increased the standard 375 bhp LP400 engine’s output by 60-70 bhp, an 18- 20% power increase.

**Dallara is world-renowned as a chassis, development and performance engineer of unparalleled accomplishment. He first made his mark with the launch of Lamborghini’s
benchmark Miura, then went on to be responsible for the world-championship winning Lancia Stratos. His racing chassis have won half-a-dozen Indy 500, and his cars are dominant at every level from Formula 1 to Le Mans. Abarth, Audi, Chrysler, De Tomaso, Fiat, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia, Nissan and Toyota have all benefited immensely from the chassis genius’ work. However, back in 1975, the engineering icon was the man that Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini SpA automatically retained to produce a factory “hot rod” whenever VIP clients such as Albert Silvera and Walter Wolf demanded one.

Heuer Monte Carlo rally clocks fitted.

The Certificato di Garanzia (warranty certificate) dated January the 27th 1975 notes the car’s color as “Rosso Speciale” instead of the Rosso Dino noted on the worksheet, and is signed by Albert M. Silvera, Port Au Prince, Haiti.

The Lavori Speciali (special worksheet) notes that 1120056 is the 28th Countach. Colore interno (interior color) is originally noted as nero, but this is crossed out and “Tab” (short for Tabacco) is entered, obviously to accommodate Silvera’s wishes for a special leather interior. The carpeting and the dashboard material was supplied by Ferrari SpA with whom Silvera had a close working relationship and where he was considered a VIP customer.

The aforementioned special work increased the car’s base $43,000 price to $60,000, an increase of $17,000 or 28%.

The car’s file notes that on February the 3rd 1975, it was shipped to Paris, to Silvera’s home, in care of a Signor Gallerani.

August 1975 – Flown via Miami, Florida, to the El Rancho Hotel, Port Au Prince, Haiti, Silvera’s home.

On November the 18th 1975, two free maintenance coupons were returned to Sant Agata for the 1,000 and 5,000 km services carried out in Paris by Garage Thepenier SA.

Exclusively featured cover car of a major Countach article in the December 1975 issue of Car & Driver magazine. As noted in the article, 1120056′s special build includes 2 noteworthy features:

1. A factory-installed “small brass plaque inside that guarantees the car was built especially for him” (Silvera).

2. An engine tuned by Giampaolo Dallara to “60-70 bhp over production”, bringing the base Countach price cost of $43,000 to $60,000.

The magazine also notes a “pre-delivery test run on the autostrada where some brave pilot stopped the clocks at 326 kilometers per hour (202 mph)”. The writer of the piece, noted journalist Don Sherman states that this information is supplied by the Lamborghini factory. This publication suggests that 1120056 is the first-ever production road car to break the 200 mph barrier, and was clearly the fastest production road car in 1975.

Featured in the book ‘Lamborghini Countach & Urraco 1974 – 1980′ by Brooklands books.

April 5th 1976 – Albert Silvera sells 1120056 to make way for his next special-order Countach, chassis number 1120222. The sale is witnessed at the Embassy of the United States of America in Port Au Prince, Haiti. The new owner of 1120056 is Gary Doll, of Cape Coral Florida.

In September 1978, Doll writes to Lamborghini requesting requesting build information on 1120056.

On October 3rd 1978, Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini SpA writes back to Gary Doll acknowledging his ownership of 1120056. The hand-typed letter signed by Remo Vecchi states amongst other things that: “This car was actually built for our good customer Mr Albert Silvera…” It goes on to state: “Versus the regular Countach, this car has had an engine trimmed to give more HP’s…” confirming its status as a genuine factory performance special. Finally, the letter also confirms “For the interior, we had used a special leather of high quality”. The letter is stamped as having been received by Doll on October 10th 1978.

1980s – Sold to a New York based enthusiast.

2000 – Sold to California.

April 4th 2001 – Third Party EPA & DOT releases granted, officially making 1120056 USA legal.

Featured in a major Countach article in Octane magazine.

Featured in a major Countach article in Sports Car International magazine.

2003 – Engine rebuilt by ex-Lamborghini factory development engineer Claudio Zampolli at 31,000 km (19,262 miles).

2008 – Shown at Quail Lodge motor-sports event.

Featured in the book ’50 years with Car & Driver’ by Filipacchi Publishing.

November 2009 – Ing Giampaolo Dallara contacted and he confirms tuning Silvera’s 1975 Countach. In correspondence dated November 24th 2009, Dallara states: “We improved the power with different camshafts, bigger diameter intakes, different carburetor settings, and bigger diameter exhaust (headers). The engine was a little noisier and more ‘peaky’, but more powerful”.

1120056 remains the only pure design ‘slim-body’ LP400 which received Ing Dallara’s special engine tuning (the others were the later ‘S-bodied’ LP400 of Silvera, Wolf et al, modified with spats, spoilers, wide wheels & wings).

December 2009 – Serviced by Ing Claudio Zampolli at 33, 219 km (20,641 miles).

ALBERT SILVERA, THE MAN

Who was the late Albert Silvera?

Timothy Benford: “Albert Silvera was one of the wealthiest, and most influential people in Haiti. Easily a millionaire by any standards. He had a penchant for beautiful and expensive cars…. You have to understand who Albert Silvera was and that he was someone who was used to getting his own way. He had been Haiti’s Ambassador-at-large for as long as anyone could remember. No matter who was in power in Haiti since the 1940s, Silvera used his wealth to charm his way into their circle… During the German occupation of Paris in World War II, Silvera spent almost a year in the City of Lights on a “diplomatic” mission and had a Wehrmacht chauffeur and a Mercedes at his constant disposal…. he had been a “spy-agent” working with Wild Bill Donovan and the OSS (predecessor to the CIA)”

Larry Edsall: “Albert Silvera a Haitian diplomat and well-known car collector not only wanted a new Ferrari 275 GTB, but he wanted to receive his car personally from Il Commendatore…. Silvera, the owner of the acclaimed El Rancho Hotel in Port Au Prince, ordered his 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB through Luigi Chinetti Motors of Greenwich Connecticut. But, this was no ordinary 275 GTB…. Silvera not only wanted the long-nose car with the optional six-Weber carburetor intake-manifold setup, but he specified his to be painted electric blue (‘Blu Silvera’), and that it have a Rosso leather interior!… Silvera had Scaglietti add headrests and armrests, removable seat cushions, and a removable dash cover, snap exhaust setup, Borrani wire wheels, brightwork on the fender and sail panel vents, velocity trumpets, and a special rear bumper indented to display the (diplomatic) license plate…. Silvera won his audience with Enzo. When he went to pick up his car, he was wise to take along several young women. Ferrari’s sales manager immediately brought Il Commendatore out for personal introductions all round”

Claudio Zampolli: “Whilst I was working at the Lamborghini factory, whenever Albert Silvera arrived, he was in the company of a woman so breathtaking in beauty that the entire plant stopped work just to stare…. Ferruccio Lamborghini would have the main gate call him to announce Silvera’s arrival. As the client walked in to the delivery area to collect his new special order Lamborghini, Commendatore would already be there, polishing away at it. I guess Silvera was good for business!”

Tim Stanford: “I worked with Al Roberts at Cressman-Baumgarten and we were responsible for looking after Silvera’s car collection. I remember the orange LP400 very well, one of the first Countachs in the USA. All of Silvera’s cars were one-off specials from Ferrari or Lamborghini. Ferrari named the special colors after him, such as Silvera Blue etc. I remember he always reminded us he had diplomatic immunity so speeding tickets were not a problem. None of the cars needed to be modified to conform to USA regulations and they were all maintained in European specification just as they were built. I remember the special plaque in the LP400 noting its build just for him and the Heuer rally clocks”.

Al Roberts: “At my time with Cressman-Baumgarten I remember the ‘orange Lamborghini’ very well. It was brand new, and we kept it that way. We looked after Silvera’s Miami car collection, but he also flew us to Haiti to service the cars there such as the Miura SV Jota etc. The ‘orange Countach’ stayed in Miami though, and he used it when he was in Florida. The interior was brown, a leather trim color he really liked as a couple of the Ferraris including a 275 GTB I remember were special trimmed that way. I remember the orange Countach was tuned by Dallara for the Lamborgihini factory and it was very fast. Silvera was an accomplished driver though, but not hard or abusive. Our job was to make sure everything operated absolutely perfectly. He was an old-time playboy who dressed in sharp white linen suits”

Elisabeth Silvera Ducasse: “My mother Gladys was involved in specifying the colors of my father’s unique cars, and she even sketched some of the bodywork changes he wanted so they could be carried out”

Our friend, Mark Moss has been writing a “History of Heuer”, which is being published on Calibre11.com. This page will provide a series of links to the installments of Mark’s articles.

History of Heuer, Part I — The 1920s

History of Heuer, Part II — The 1930s and 1940s

History of Heuer, Part III — The 1950s

“Leap Day” (February 29^th) is a special day that only occurs every four years.  Watch guys who own perpetual calendars marvel as the “29″ arrives at midnight; 24 hours, they are even more impressed when the date moves to “1″.  This year, I marked Leap Day by playing hooky from work — traveling to New York City to take care of a couple of non-work related matters.  I mean, in most years (or 75% of them, to be precise), 28 days are enough for February, so I decided to end February 2012 on the 28^th and declare the 29^th to be a free day . . . off the calendar.

During the course of the day, I saw a “Watch You Wearing” message on our discussion forum, so I decided to take some wrist shots, all along the way.  [I usually don't take wrist-shots, but maybe I will make an exception every February 29th.]

I began the day wearing the Chronomatic Autavia.  You see, I was carrying exactly 13 watches for the day, and the Chronomatic was the one that I decided to wear on my wrist, rather than packing it in the watch roll in the backpack.  I was confident that the other 12 would be secure, even as I went through airport security, but it still seemed more appropriate to let this special Heuer travel on my wrist.

A Visit to the Hublot Boutique

My first watch-related stop of the day was – believe it or not – the Hublot Boutique, on Madison Avenue at 62^nd Street.  The occasion for this visit was to see my friend, Rachel Branch, previously Senior Director of Public Relations and Education at TAG Heuer, and newly appointed as the Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Hublot of America, Inc.  Gabriel Rodriguez, Director of the Boutique, was kind enough to show me several of the watches, and we selected the Big Bang Red Magic for the wrist-shot.  I enjoyed wearing this chrono for a few minutes; it looks absolutely enormous compared with most of the vintage Heuers, but was very comfortable on the wrist.  The black / red theme is very well done, a bit more restrained than many of the models that we associate with the Hublot brand.  Think of it as Hublot’s homage to the Heuer Viceroy Autavia!

Of course, if today will be the day of the wrist-shot, why not go for broke.  Why only take photos of my wrist when there are other wrists to be shot?  That said, here’s the photo of Rachel wearing her Big Bang Red Gold Ceramic chronograph, along with my Big Bang Red Magic.  [That's right, Red Gold is a new gold alloy containing five percent platinum.]  I’ve got to say that for someone who had been on the job for exactly two months, Rachel has an excellent command of the watches (and a new-found familiarity with the periodic table of elements) and she does wear this Hublot well!

I showed the folks at the Hublot Boutique my roll of old Heuers, and in the process made the switch from the Chronomatic Autavia to one of my all-time favorite Heuers, an early three-register, black-on-black  Carrera Reference 2447N.  This is an early model, with the polygon shaped case-back; later ones used a slotted case-back.

A Visit to the World Headquarters of Hodinkee

From Hublot, I headed south, to Greenwich Village, specifically to the world headquarters of my absolute favorite watch publication, the Hodinkee blog.  I am working on a project with Hodinkee that will be released soon, but as Ben [Editor of Hodinkee] and I were working on this project, I managed to find some time to try on a few of Ben’s favorite watches.

JLC Grande Reverso Ultra Thin Tribute to 1931

First up was the JLC Grande Reverso Ultra Thin Tribute to 1931 U.S. Edition, offered last year as a limited production watch.  I had read the Hodinkee story about this watch, and received messages from Ben saying that for someone who might want only one Reverso, this should be “The One”.  Still, I will admit that I was skeptical about this watch.  As a something of a purist, I thought that I would have wanted my Reverso to be heftier.  It seemed to me that the thickness of the original Reversos was one of its most attractive features.  Despite these misgivings, I can now confirm that the Ultra Thin Reverso is an awesome watch on the wrist.  The shape and dimensions look just right, and the watch is beautiful . . . maybe the first that I have seen with faux patina.  The Ultra Thin Reverso is the one that Jay-Z selected for his recent concerts at Carnegie Hall; if I’m ever onstage there, I’ll make the same choice!!

LeCoultre Polaris

Another of Ben’s watches that got some Leap Day wrist time was an interesting vintage dive watch, a LeCoultre Polaris, from 1968.  I had read about these watches on Hodinkee, but these are very rare watches and I had never seen one in the metal.  For a 1968 watch, the Polaris is nothing short of huge, at 42mm; it is built like a tank, but has beautiful lines (at least for a tank).  The watch has an inner-rotating bezel (for minutes) and an alarm . . . thus the two extra crowns.   There are 16 holes in the back of the compressor case, to increase the audibility of the alarm under water.  So how’s that for mixing complications – diver, plus alarm, plus inner rotating bezel, with a date as well.   The design is timeless, and it looks as current today as it must have in 1968.  A fun watch to wear!!

Zenith El Primero Striking Tenth Chronograph

Next on my wrist was another of Ben’s favorites, the  Zenith El Primero Striking Tenth Chronograph.  This is another watch that I had read about on Hodinkeee, and always wondered, “Why did Ben make such a big deal out of this watch?”  Vintage El Primero enthusiasts will quickly recognize that this chronograph was modeled after one of their all-time favorites — the one with the tri-color recorders.  But playing with the Striking Tenth chronograph for a few minutes showed me that this is more than just a re-issue of an old favorite.

This chronograph is completely different from anything in the current or historic world of chronographs.  The red sweeping hand (which is the chrono seconds hand on a “normal” chronograph) moves at six times the pace of a normal chorno second hand, so that it makes a revolution once every 6 seconds, rather than once every 60 seconds.  The inner bezel is marked in 1/10 seconds, and the chronograph seconds register is at 3 o’clock.  [For those wondering about the name "Striking Tenth", Hodinkee offers the following explanation:  "The silicon clutch wheel has 100 teeth on it, which translates into 100 beats per the ten second rotation, or ten strikes per second - which provided Zenith with a little naming inspiration for this model."]

Watching this chronograph start and run is a sight to behold.  Push to start the chronograph, and the second hand (or maybe we should say the 1/10 second hand) jumps away from its resting position.  And it seems to fly around the dial.  Stop the chronograph, and you see how easy it is to read the 1/10 seconds around the inner bezel.  Historically, this is one of the few chronographs to deliver the full bang of the El Primero movement.  But forget about history and technology.  This watch is fun to wear and even more fun when you are timing things (to 1/10 of a second)!  [Sorry -- the wrist shown below isn't mine, but you get the idea.]

Comparing the Carreras

As I mentioned, I am working with Ben on a project relating to vintage Heuer Autavias, and so we spent a lot of time chatting about and inspecting these watches.  We did take a break from the Autavia action, however, to compare a couple of black-on-black three register Carreras, shown below (mine on the left and Ben’s on the right).  I expect that Ben will be writing about his special Carrera, so I won’t go into any details.  Let’s just say that Ben made a fantastic buy on eBay, and he now has one of the coolest, oldest Carreras on the planet.

Final Stop — Alltiques, in Chinatown

After visiting with Ben for a while, we headed to one of his favorite place to chase the vintage watches, Alltiques, a small booth in a jewelry exchange located in Chinatown (70 Bowery, NYC 10013).  As with most of these types of places, it’s all about the owner / proprietor, and John Criscitiello is no exception.  John knows and loves his watches, and he has an impressive variety of vintage watches on display (and in his safe).  They range from the least expensive “no name” watches to some high-end Rolexes and rare Cartier models, with lots of watches in between.  The common Seiko chronograph from the 1970s (est. $200) is in the same roll as the Patent Pending double red Sea-Dweller (est. over $100,000).  John collects and sells the watches that he enjoys, and looking though his watches was entertaining and educational.  Most of John’s watches are in “as found” condition, meaning no polishing or refinishing.  Being out of the “high rent district”, and a true enthusiast, John’s prices seemed reasonable.  After you finish at the usual places on 57th Street, jump down to Alltiques, and you will see some interesting watches.

My Last Wrist-Shot of Leap Day

My very last wrist-shot of February 29, 2012 was taken, not in New York City, but back home in Atlanta, shortly before the clock struck midnight.  There I was, in the same spot where I had put on the Chronomatic Autavia 19 hours earlier, but now putting a new strap on my oldest Autavia.  You see, I didn’t buy any watches during my Leap Day in NYC, but I found a great new source for straps.  You’ll be reading more about these straps soon, so stay tuned.

Leap Day 2016!!

Leap Day 2012 was good fun, from beginning to end (well, at least I got past the 4:40 AM wake-up for the 7:40 AM flight).  While I have always shied away from the wrist shots, and only rarely taken a day away from work to play hooky, I have decided that Leap Day is the perfect occasion to break both rules.  And what better way to get the wrist shots and play hooky than with my good friends at Hublot and Hodinkee.

So I’m already looking forward to February 29, 2016, and will be planning to visit NYC.  See you there!!

The following is from a discussion forum posting by Paul Gavin; sincere thanks to Paul for allowing us to post his words and photos here.

Inspired by some posts on TZUK I got it into my head that I needed a suitable watch storage case. I started with 3 small aluminium cases bought off ebay that carried 12 watches each but then I found a really cool bigger case so as one does, I replaced the 3 smaller ones with one big one. So here is a quick guide to making a watch storage case.

Find a case. This one is 34cm x 62cm x 10cm deep (all outside dimensions)

Measure the inside and buy polyethylene foam. The base of this case is 50mm deep so I bought 20mm and 30mm thick pieces. The thicker the foam the harder it is to cut. I find 30mm is the maximum. The top of this case came with foam.

The tricky bit is the layout of the watch holders. I made a jig out of mat board with a cut out of 21mm x 80mm for each watch separated by a 34mm gap on the horizontal plane and 21mm vertical gap. There is a 20mm boarder all round the outside. The gap between the watches (34mm) is important to maintain separation especially with large watches with crowns and pushers on both sides but this is the variable when setting out.

I pinned the jig to the foam and started the laborious job of cutting out the watch holders using a hobby knife with a new, deep blade for the long cuts and a shallow blade for the short cuts.

As the jig is smaller than the foam I moved it along but only after finishing all the cuts first.

The cut outs for the watch holders are 21 x 80mm from 30mm deep foam. I trim this down to 21 x 75 x 16mm to allow for the bracelet or strap. This is variable depending on your wrist size (in the case of bracelets). Fit the foam to the case and the watches to the holders – job done. The only thing missing is the chain and wrist cuff but that would give the game away.

Here is an example of the smaller case

regards

Paul

www.heuerworld.com

If you have ever been mad at yourself for selling a watch at a price that turned out to be a shade too low, consider the case of Morry Barmak, owner of “Collector Studio”, a gallery of motorsports art and memorabilia located in Toronto, Canada.  Morry recently had the good fortune of selling Steve McQueen’s Le Mans racing suit for $155,000, and then watching his buyer “flip” it for $984,000, three and one-half months later.

Sold, at $155,000.  Barmak spent a good ten years of his life trying to buy the racing suit worn by Steve McQueen in the filming of the movie Le Mans, and was finally successful, bringing it to his gallery in 2010.  Barmak spent the next year marketing the racing suit, in part trying to earn an honest profit on the sale of the racing suit and also to promote his gallery.  Says Barmak [by e-mail], “ I spent a year using it to get my gallery publicity – magazines, blogs, word of mouth, etc. Also within that time period I offered it to every significant car collector that I know, and that pool runs deep.”  In August 2011, Morry was finally successful in selling the racing suit, for $155,000 (a price which we must assume yielded some profit for his efforts).

And Sold Again, at $984,000.  It must have come as a bit of a surprise to Barmak when, a few weeks later, he read a press release indicating that this very same racing would be sold as part of an “Icons of Hollywood” auction, to be held December 15, 16 and 17, 2011, by the Profiles in History auction house.

It must have been even more surprising for Barmak when, on December 16, 2011, the hammer went down on a winning bid of $800,000 (or $984,000, including the 23 percent buyer’s premium).  Talk about “leaving money on the table”!  How about selling the racing suit to a buyer for $155,000, and then seeing the next buyer pay $984,000 for the same item.  That’s $829,000 “left on the table”.

Lessons Learned? As watch collectors, many of us must have had the experience of either selling a watch, and then seeing our buyer “flip” it for a large profit, or selling a watch, and then seeing prices for the same model increase considerably over the ensuing period.  So what are the lessons, from the “flip” of the McQueen racing suit?  I’m sure that every reader will have his or her own thoughts on the subject, but let me share a couple of reactions.

From Toronto to Hollywood.  On an analytical level, there is clear lesson here about different “markets” or different collectors communities.  You may know all the players in the motorsports memorabilia market, but then you learn — the hard way — that there is an entirely different market for movie memorabilia or even a group of collectors that focuses only on movie-worn costumes.  As someone who does not follow the movie costume market, how do you compare the value for McQueen’s racing suit to a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch (which recently sold for over $5.6 million, with fees) or the only remaining pair of screen-used ruby slippers for The Wizard of Oz (which went unsold, against an opening bid of $2 million).  These are very specialized markets and sub-markets, and it’s silly to think that any novice owning such a unique asset can estimate its value.  Here, we saw Barmak’s buyer achieve some arbitrage — he bought low in the motorsports memorabilia market and sold high in the Hollywood costume collectors market.

Auctions, Egos, Alcohol and Oligarchs.  There is also a lesson about one of my favorite subjects — the inherent power and unpredictability of auctions, whether live or online.  The auction house, Profiles in History, had set a starting price of $200,000 for McQueen’s racing suit, with an estimate at $200,000 to $300,000.  So obviously this was an auction with (at least) two bidders who wanted to take home the same prize, with money being the least of their worries.  It’s likely that it was some special combination of egos, alcohol and even oligarchs that took McQueen’s racing suit to over three times the mid-point of the estimated range.  There’s a lot of money in the world right now, and $984,000 may be a small price to these two collectors.  [To read more about the strange things that can happen at auctions, read some of our reports on the Bonhams auction of the Haslinger collection, held in December 2010.]

If You Had All the Money You Could Have Made.  Looking beyond the issues of arbitrage and auctions, to the world of collecting vintage watches, maybe the lesson from the two sales of McQueen racing suit is that we should not make ourselves crazy thinking about all the money we could have made, but didn’t.  I once heard someone say that if he had all the money he didn’t make, then he wouldn’t need to make another dime (or something to that effect).  This is probably true for most of us.  We should approach our collecting and our investing with reasonable financial objectives, and realize that if any of us could see prices in the future, even if we could see them tomorrow, we wouldn’t be working for a living.  (And if you really want to make yourself crazy, don’t focus on the Heuers that you have sold too cheap, think about all the ones that you should have bought!)

The world of vintage Heuers has seen rising prices over the last 10 years.  Without a doubt, most of the vintage Heuers that have been sold – whether the common Autavias or the rarest Monacos — have been sold “too cheap”.  Still, this is a high class problem.  Imagine how we would feel in a declining market, if we were to hear that the $3,000 Viceroys were now selling at $800 or the “McQueen Monacos” had dropped from $12,000 to $4,000.  Personally, I’m fine leaving a little money on the table, in a rising market.  It’s far better than watching money disappear from our bank accounts, in a falling market.

Back at Collector Studio — Motorsport Gallery.  And what about our friend Morry?  He’s a super nice guy and he has been a good sport about this whole thing.  Morry has a great store, with a nice selection of motorsports artwork and some fantastic racing memorabilia.  You can visit his store in Toronto or look through his excellent website.

Maybe you will want to buy the autographed Clay Regazzoni’s helmet from 1976 (at CDN $15,000) or maybe a signed one from Senna (you will need to inquire for the price).

Even if you missed out on Steve McQueen’s racing suit, maybe you will still want a poster of Steve and his Porsche 908.  Or maybe a Monaco poster signed by Regazzoni or Villeneuve in his Heuer-marked Ferrari?

But why stop with the Gilles Villeneuve poster?  For a mere CDN $14,995, you can buy the rear wing from Villeneuve’s Ferrari (at CDN $14,995).

Yes, even with the McQueen racing suit gone to its new home, Collector Studio has some great motorsports memoribilia.  And if Morry’s sale of the Steve McQueen racing suit for the small sum of $155,000, and his buyer’s subsequent “flip” of the suit for $984,000, can generate some publicity (and some sympathy), and drive some sales of Morry’s other merchandise, maybe his sale of McQueen’s racing suit will prove to be the best “investment” he ever made.

For further information, contact Collector Studio — Motorsports Gallery, as shown below.

COLLECTOR STUDIO – Motorsport Gallery
136 Yorkville Ave.
Toronto, ON, M5R 1C2, Canada
tel/fax: 416.975.5442
http://www.collectorstudio.com

Yesterday, on the TZ-UK Watch Talk discussion forum, I posted a photo showing four versions of the Heuer Autavia, Reference 1163, each with a black dial.  A reader of that forum (under the name “even neve”) posted a message, stating, “Very nice – but don’t see the point in having four watches looking all the same. Maybe you could mod some of them ?”  Well, that would be an interesting idea . . . “modding” (modifying) a vintage Autavia.  Two of the watches have the same polished steel hands, so perhaps I would replace one set with some bright orange or red hands?  Three of them have the same black Minutes / Hours (MH) bezel, so perhaps I could find a more colorful bezel for one of them, perhaps something in the “Pepsi” colors?  Four stainless steel cases?  Maybe one of them would look nice in black PVD. 

Of course, most collectors of the vintage Heuers would consider the idea of “modding” any of these four Autavias to be heresy.  Still, the posting made me realize that people who are not specialists in particular type of vintage watch may not see, and appreciate, the distinctions between the different models and executions.

I thought that it might be interesting to slice apart the photo of the four black Autavias and describe the most important differences between the watches.  Some might call this an “Idiot’s Guide” to these watches.  Rather than being judgmental about those who may not be familiar with the vintage Heuers, we will remain more neutral by calling this a ”Field Guide.”

Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive description of these watches or a discussion of their various technical features.  There are additional executions and variations of these models that may be important to some collectors.  Instead, this Field Guide will provide a simple overview of these four versions of the Reference 1163 black Autavia.  This Field Guide is intended to help the reader who finds a black Autavia at a flea market or garage sale, and is trying to determine whether it is the common “Viceroy” model that we find every day for $1,500 or the super rare ”Chronomatic” that may be worth $20,000. 

For additional information about each of these four models, plus 75 additional Autavia models, readers may wish to review our Autavia Reference Table.

General — Cases for the Reference 1163 Autavia measure 42.3 millimeters across the front and 47.5 millimeters, from lug to lug, with a thickness 15.6 millimeters (back of the case-back to top of the crystal).  They are 2o millimeters between the lugs, and have the reference number “1163″ marked between the lugs. 

First Version — Autavia, Reference 1163 MH (Chronomatic)

The first version of the Reference 1163 MH Autavia is distinguised by the “Chronomatic” name above the “Heuer” shield, with the word “Autavia” appearing on the lower half of the dial.  The “Chronomatic” and red hash marks are larger, and more promonent, than on later models.  The applied steel markers have ridges; the hands are polished steel with luminous inserts.  The cut of the case and the length of the pushers gives the appearance that the pushers extend far from the case, giving this watch the look of “big ears”.

The “Chronomatic” version of the Reference 1163 MH Autavia was produced for a very limited period (in 1969), and these are among the rarest of the vintage Heuers.  In a decade of collecting, I can recall seeing three of them, and I am proud to say that at one time I had two of them.  Estimated value for a nice one . . . probably in the $20,000 range (though there are so few samples that any estimate is only a rough guess).  If you find one of these in a flea market, the best advice is to see how quickly you can pull out your wallet and buy it!!

You can see more photos of the Autavia Reference 1163 MH “Chronomatic” Autavia in the OnTheDash Gallery.

Second Version — Autavia, Reference 1163 MH (Ridged Markers)

On the second version of the Reference 1163 MH Autavia, the “Chronomatic” name is no longer being used, and the dial follows the more common configuration — model name (“Autavia”) above the Heuer shield and “Automatic Chronograph” on the bottom half of the dial.  The applied steel markers (with ridges) and the polished steel hands with luminous inserts continue from the previous “Chronomatic”.

This version of the Autavia was introduced in late 1969, after Heuer had ceded the “Chronomatic” name to Bretiling.  These Autavias are relatively rare, with collectors paying a premium for the “ridged” markers.  Estimated value for a nice one . . . probably at least $4,000.

You can see more photos of this version of the Autavia Reference 1163 MH in the OnTheDash Gallery.

Third Version — Autavia, Reference 1163 MH (Polished Markers)

The primary change from the second version of the Reference 1163 MH Autavia to the third version is that the “ridged” markers are now replaced by polished steel markers, with luminous inserts.  Following Heuer’s customary approach, (a) the white inserts in the markers contrast with the black dial, and (b) the polished hands are updated to match the markers, so they have black inserts to “match” the inserts in the markers. 

This version of the Autavia was likely introduced around 1970/71, with production continuing into 1972.  These Autavias are scarce in today’s collectors’ market, though not as scarce as the two previous versions.  Estimated value for a nice one . . . in the range between $3,000 and $4,000.

You can see more photos of this version of the Autavia Reference 1163 MH in the OnTheDash Gallery.

Fourth Version — Autavia, Reference 1163 V (Viceroy)

The fourth model of the black-dialed Autavia Reference 1163 includes three major design changes.  A Tachymeter (T) bezel has replaced the Minutes / Hours (MH) bezel of the earlier models; hands are brushed steel, with red inserts and red triangular tips; and the chronograph hour recorder has all 12 numbers, rather than only the 3, 6, 9, and 12.

This version of the Autavia was offered in a Viceroy cigarettes promotion at a deeply discounted price, commencing in May 1972, with the promotion continuing through the end of 1972.  Even after the Viceroy promotion ended, Heuer continued to produce this model, with dealers offering either the T or MH bezel.  This chronograph is known as the “Viceroy” Autavia, whether it was purchased through the cigarette promotion or through a dealer. The Viceroy Autavia probably had the highest production of any Heuer chronograph in history, and these watches are among the most abundant in today’s market.  Estimated value . . . $1,000 (for a beater) to $2,500 (for a really nice one).

You can see more photos of this version of the “Viceroy” Autavia in the OnTheDash Gallery.

In 1972, the Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company ran a promotion through which customers could purchase a Heuer Autavia chronograph for $88, with proof of purchase of a carton of Viceroy cigarettes (which consisted of 1o packs).  At that time, Autavia chronographs were being sold for $200, through the normal dealer channel.

I will be writing more about the Viceroy promotion, and the impact on the Heuer brand, but wanted to create this page to show the advertisements for the Autavia promotion, along with some other Viceroy ads from 1972 that used the motorsports theme, and showed Heuer chronographs and stopwatches.

Below is a portion of the advertisement, in high resolution.

The following table shows the magazines in which the advertisement for the Heuer Autavia promotion was placed.  The first advertisement appeared in the May 15, 1972 edition of US News and World Report, and the last advertisements for the Heuer Autavia promotion ran in August 1972.  By its terms, the promotion ended on December 31, 1972.

The photo-shoots for the earliest advertisements must have been done, before Viceroy had arranged for the sponsorship of the Vel’s Parnelli Jones racing team.  These advertisements show “generic” cars and the racing suits and helmets do not show the Viceroy colors or logo.

The first appearance of a Vel’s Parnelli Jones car in a Viceroy advertisement comes in May 1972, with the advertisement on the left.  This advertisement ran before the launch of the Heuer Autavia promotion, but the racer’s chronograph and the timing board with three stopwatches is prominent in the ad.

The program for the Indianapolis 500 included a Viceroy advertisement (shown below) that did not run in other magazines.  The Number 9 car was driven by Mario Andretti, in the 1972 Indy 500.

Shown below are Viceroy advertisements that ran during and after the Heuer chronograph promotion, from June 1972 through December 1972.

A few months ago, we had a posting about a very rare Chronomatic Carrera that had been destroyed by a local jeweler.  The jeweler had the dial refinished, thinking that the customer would be pleased to have a nice fresh coat of paint, rather than the aged dial of the original watch.  I would estimate that this little surprise for the customer took the value of this watch from something like $5,000 to $7,000 to around $1,000.  [In understanding these values, I should also mention that the movement had been replaced, but we don't know exactly when that occured . . . perhaps another little "surprise" from a jeweler!] 

Today, we see an eBay listing for an Autavia that started life (in 1970) as a 1163 MH and — through the work of a service center — the watch has ended up as nothing but a mess. 

The original watch was an Autavia Reference 1163 MH, with the distinctive features of an early automatic Autavia – numerals 3-6-9-12 on the hour recorder and polished steel hands.  In the servicing, the original dial and hands were replaced with parts for the “Viceroy” version of the Autavia – with 12 numerals on the hour recorder and brushed steel hands, with red accents.   While the 1163 MH is one of the rare Autavias and is coveted by collectors, the 1163 Viceroy is probably the most common (highest volume) Heuer chronograph of all. 

Proof of the damage is found by looking at the parts in the bag and the service ticket.  In the bag, we see the original dial (3-6-9-12 on the hour recorder) and the pair of polished steel hands. 

As compared with the Chronomatic Carrera disaster described above, the owner of this Autavia will have a couple of reasonable choices — (a) spend another stack of hundreds to have the original dial and hands put back on the watch (assuming that they fit properly and are in good condition), and then sell off the Viceroy dial and hands, or (b) sell off the original 1163 MH parts, and think of it as a discount against the price of the watch, in its current condition. 

So what is the value of the watch, with the original parts in place, in good condition?  Probably a shade over $3,000 . . . maybe $3,500.  And the value of the watch as we see it today, along with the bag of original parts?  I’m guessing something below $2,000.  A purchaser will need to spend money to have the watch re-restored.  Perhaps a watchmaker will buy it, and then undertake the project.  It doesn’t take a mathematician to realize that paying to have the watch ruined and then paying again to have it put back as it was is not a good use of money.

Ladies and gentlemen, when you send your watch in for any type of servicing — whether a simple cleaning, a full overhaul or a restoration — you will do well to spend a few minutes communicating with the watchmaker or the service center, to tell them what should be done (and exactly what should NOT be done).  Some watchmakers prefer the fresh parts (and paint); most collectors don’t!

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Update:  Seller has informed me that the original parts had water damage, so my suggestions of either (a) having the original parts put back on the watch or (b) selling off the original parts, do not appear to be realsitic.  My opinion of what this watch and its parts are worth:  somewhere in the area of $1,000 / $1,200.

On November 3, 2011, Rich Crosthwaite — one of our Monaco experts — posted a message on our discussion forum regarding the Carrera Chronomatic dial shown immediately below.  While our community had seen a handful of Chronomatic Carrera chronographs, all these had a gray-blue dial, with white registers, we had never seen a Chronomatic Carrera in the white-on-white design.

A remarkable discussion followed, on our discussion forum, with several members of our community debating the origins, purpose and authenticity of this dial.

Mark Moss is our ranking Carrera expert, and after watching the debate for the better part of an afternoon, he weighed in with his analysis of the watch.  Mark’s analysis of this dial is shown immediately below.  This posting is an excellent example of Mark’s analytical powers, his writing style and his knowledge of all things Carrera-related.  I hope that our readers will enjoy this piece, which members of our community have called “Mark’s Master Thesis”

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The following message was posted by Mark Moss, on the OnTheDash vintage Heuer Discussion Forum, November 3, 2100, at 18:35 GMT, under the title, “After Some Consideration”:

I took a while to look at this one, digest some of the valid points that people have come up with and see what I really thought of it.

Jeff is already familiar with my concept of the “known unknowns”, a (mental) list of watches I keep that I have never seen in the metal, in a photo, or in documentation, but I have reason to believe may exist. As opposed to an “unknown unknown”, which would be a complete surprise of a watch. Some of the known unknowns have since appeared – the 2447 NT first execution and 1153 S ‘Yachting’ spring to mind.

One of the watches on there is an 1153 Chronomatic in silver. I have seen sales documentation stating the Carrera Chronomatic was available in charcoal and silver, but it was from a third-party rather than Heuer themselves. Nonetheless, I believed (and continue to believe) that there is a good possibility that the Carrera with Chronomatic marked dial was available in both N and S versions. Not to do so would have broken with a long standing Carrera tradition and run contrary to the Autavia, which had less history of silver/white dials before the Siffert. I also entertained the possibility of an 1158 with Chronomatic dial, but that felt a bit less likely. On the basis of the earliest watches and catalogues, I suspected that if an 1158 Chronomatic did exist, it would most likely have the silver dial.

And now we have a silver dial before us, with non-contrasting registers (well, not quite but I’ll come to that), which would suggest that it was intended for an 1158 rather than the 1153. The 1153 S Chronomatic, if it exists, I feel would have the same black registers as the later series production model. That this dial also has gold markers is a clincher – there’s no reason for an 1153 to have anything other than steel markers. And as Paolo pointed out, it is correctly missing the onyx 12 o’clock marker from later watches, just like this early watch does:

Plus the Singer marking is correct, as Paolo also notes.

The script gave me some pause for thought. So I put a little Chronomatic collage together:

Some people have noted that it’s not a good fit for the Chronomatic 1153 Ns we know of. I would agree, there are a number of differences against those dials. Not a good match against the Monacos or the Autavia 1163 T either, look where the “Chronomatic” text on those lines up against the Heuer shield.

And then…. and then we come up against the Autavia 1163 MH. Very different script on those compared to the 1163 T. The text is wider, with the C, h, i and c all being more or less outside the width of the Heuer shield. The Cs are nearly closed, with elaborate serifs. The first O is slightly oval, the second more round, unlike the other Chronomatics where both Os are more distinctly oval. And we see all the same things on this “new” Carrera dial. Which bodes well for originality – we have no other 1158 Chronomatics to compare it against, but we can see echoes in a sister model.

I’m not sure why there are comments about it not being mounted on a watch. It clearly has been. There are marks where the hands have been removed, wear from the tachy bezel and marks on the reverse where it has been mated to a movement. Whether this was in 1969 or subsequently is impossible to tell, but I would say if has definitely been part of a watch at some point. None of those scream to me prototype dial, not intended for sale.

What might suggest that, though, are the registers. They are white rather than the clear silver of what we usually consider the finished article. Let’s use Paolo’s to demonstrate:

Clearly the registers are finished in the same silver as the rest of the dial. The other Chronomatic dials didn’t have a metallic finish on the registers but that shouldn’t have been a problem for Singer – they had supplied silver starburst dials with silver registers for the launch of the Carrera in 1964 after all. But these white ones don’t look to have been ground down and refinished – the ridges are still clearly visible. Let’s remember how these chronograph dials are typically constructed though. They are a series of plates pressed together in a sandwich, allowing for the registers to have this recessed look and easily to be in a different colour from the dial itself.

And hang on a bit more. From the photo of:

can we be entirely sure that one doesn’t have white registers too? Hard to be sure from the photo, but I wouldn’t rule it out entirely. You’ll note that both early dials have a radial starburst finish rather than the vertical brushing of later watches too. Paolo, as you have tracked down the owner, do you think he could confirm for us whether that example has white or silver registers? And Rich, can you confirm the colour of the date window surround?

All considered, I’m definitely leaning towards genuine. Will be interesting to see the replies to my two queries above.

Watch collectors are different.  While most people watch movies for entertainment, for escape, or even for information, a “watch guy” may watch an entire movie for the sake of identifying the various watches worn by members of the cast.  Of course there are the famous ones, the watches worn by James Bond, Sylvester Stallone and the high-profile Hollywood ambassadors, but the “sightings” are also fun . . . spotting Lady Gaga in her Casio Baby-G or Jerry Seinfeld in a vintage Heuer Autavia (in place of his usual Breitling).

And so, with the release of the movie Moneyball on Friday, September 23rd, the “watch watchers” — and Brad Pitt watchers — will soon ask the question, “What watch is Brad Pitt wearing in Moneyball?”.

With Pitt taking in role of the general manager of a baseball team, and often wearing a short-sleeve shirt, we can expect the watch to get lots of screen-time.  But this watch will not be a mystery — I identified the watch for the property master soon after Pitt selected it on the first day of shooting and then provided the property master with three watches that would be the “back-ups” for Brad.  Though this watch may be somewhat difficult to identify on the screen, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it is a TAG Heuer Kirium, Reference WL1113, made by TAG Heuer in the late 1990s.

The Story of Moneyball. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is a book by Michael Lewis, published in 2003, about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager, Billy Bean.  Under Billy Beane’s leadership, the Oakland A’s sought to build a competitive baseball team, even though the team had an annual budget that was far smaller than those of other teams.  Management of the A’s believed that by dismissing traditional approaches to scouting and evaluating players, in favor advanced statistics and new approaches, they could build a competitive team, on a small budget.  Beane is the genius behind the Oakland A’s, and he works tirelessly to develop a wining team comprised of cast-offs, low round draft choices and players who might not be valued by traditional managers.

The Story of Brad Pitt’s Watch. On the first day of shooting (in July 2010), the property master for Moneyball presented Brad Pitt with three choices of watches to wear for the movie.  Two of the watches were from the property master’s own supply of watches; the third watch was the TAG Heuer Kirium.  That morning, the property master had spotted this Kirium on the wrist of a crew member, and she thought that it might appeal to Brad Pitt.  She borrowed the Kirium from the crew member, included it among the choices for Pitt, and — as fate would have it – the Kirium was the one chosen by Pitt.

In this era of corporate sponsorships and brand ambassadors, it’s refreshing that Brad Pitt actually chose a watch that had been taken off the wrist of a crew member, just a few hours earlier.  It turns out that the Kirium is “period correct”, with the watch produced in the late 1990s being perfect for a story that focused on the 2002 baseball season.  The Kirium seems like exactly the kind of watch that Billy Beane might have worn — the watch is sporty looking, and seems rugged enough to have done well playing catch or even during a visit to the weight room.

The TAG Heuer Kirium. The Kirium, Reference WL1113, was produced by TAG Heuer in the late 1990s, as part of its Profesional series.  The version worn by Brad Pitt has a midnight blue dial, Mercedes-style hands (often used on divers watches), and a unidirectional rotating bezel, marked for minutes.  The watch measures approximately 40 millimeters across the widest part of the case, and approximately 37 millimeters across the narrowest part.  With the outer edge of the bezel measuring 34.5 mm, and the crystal / dial measuring approximately 26 mm, the dial itself appears relatively small.  The Kirium is waterproof to 200 meters.  A distinctive feature of the watch is its integrated stainless steel bracelet, with 20 millimeter links all around.  Though the dial and hands are somewhat small, the wide case and rock-solid bracelet give the Kirium a very strong, secure feel on the wrist.

The Perfect Watch for Billy Bean. Though it was somewhat by chance that Brad Pitt ended up wearing the TAG Heuer Kirium watch in Moneyball, the watch was a perfect choice for the role.  Like the Oakland A’s baseball team, the Kirium is a relatively low-budget watch, and will surely stay under the radar of the big-money teams.  Still, the Kirium is a good looking, reliable watch and the one that I have worn over the 14 months has been accurate to within 70 seconds over this period . . . strong performance for a 12 year-old watch purchased second-hand for $500.  With their huge payrolls, the Yankess, Red Sox and Phillies may represent the high-dollar watches, but this little TAG Heuer Kirium will outperform many of them, at a fraction of the cost.  It may not win the World Series, but you can count on it to make the play-offs!

My “Role” in Moneyball. The day after Brad Pitt selected the TAG Heuer Kirium, the property master of the movie embarked on the task of securing back-ups for the watch, just in case something happened to the one that Brad was wearing.  The prop master sent a photo of the watch to a production company; the production company contacted TAG Heuer; and TAG Heuer contacted me, as their local expert in vintage watches (or, more accurately, any of their watches that are no longer in production!!).  I identified the watch as a Kirium, Reference WL1113, and proceeded to round up three of them for the prop master, finding them in the $400 to $500 range, from the usual internet sources.

I have enjoyed this watch over the past year, and hope that you have enjoyed reading this little piece of Hollywood and horological history.

Jeff Stein
Updated, September 24, 2011

We have added a new section to OnTheDash, to show the Instruction booklets for the chronographs, stopwatches and dashboard timers.

Here are the first eight booklets that we have added.  Click on any of the covers, to see the Instruction booklet.

We look forward to adding more Instruction booklets, and have a few that we will be scanning soon.  If you have any Instruction booklets that you can scan, please send me a note to let me know that they are coming.

Enjoy these great booklets!!

Jeff

Two popular versions of the Heuer Autavia from the 1970s, the Reference 1163T (known as the “Siffert” model) and the Reference 1163V (known as the “Viceroy” model), are distinctive among vintage chronographs in having rotating tachymeter bezels.  So it came as no surprise when one of our readers asked about the “functional benefit” of having a rotating tachymeter bezel on a chronograph.   He asked, “ . . . would one ever rotate the Tachy bezel?”  A simple question . . . exactly seven words.

“So What is This Tachymeter For?”

Searching Google, I found a barrage of questions about tachymeter bezels, all in a single posting on a discussion forum.  The writer asked, “What use is the ‘Tachymeter’? . . . I feel quite annoyed, time from time, when seeing that dreadful ‘tachymeter’ bezel on watches (one of mine has that thing too).  I just can’t understand what possible function it may have.  Looks?  Well, maybe for some people.  Time-telling? Not really, the numbers there have no correlation to minutes, hours, days or even weeks. Calculating? Again no, those are often stamped on non-rotating bezels.  Chrono? Again, not really, as the numbers don’t really make any sense.  So what is this ‘tachymeter’ for? And, if it has a use, are you actually using it or is it just a ‘design thing’ that you don’t mind?”

The question, “What use is a tachymeter?” appears to be simple enough, but the answer is complex.  It becomes far more difficult when we consider the use of a rotating tachymeter bezel.  I will try to keep my answers relatively simple; if readers would like to “drill down” to discuss some of the nuances, we can do so in additional postings.

The Purpose (and Mathematical Basis) of the Tachymeter Bezel

I will assume that our readers understand the basic purpose of a tachymeter scale (as incorporated into a chronograph) – to determine the speed of an object traveling a fixed distance.  If the chronograph itself measures the time that it takes to cover a known distance (for example, the seconds that it takes to cover one mile or one kilometer), the tachymeter bezel provides a direct reading of the average speed that was achieved over that distance (most commonly, miles per hour (MPH) or kilometers per hour).   The basic math incorporated into the tachymeter scale is simple:  Divide 3,600 (the number of seconds in one hour) by the number of seconds that it takes to cover one mile, and you will see your average speed, expressed in MPH.  [For a refresher on the basic use of a Tachymeter bezel, have a look here, here or here.  You can even find a video entitled, "How Do You Read a Tachymeter?"]

Let’s Start with a Fixed Tachymeter Bezel

Let’s begin our discussion of tachymeter bezels by having a look at a chronograph that has a fixed tachymeter bezel, meaning that the bezel does not rotate.  Some examples of chronographs with fixed tachymeter bezels are the Rolex Daytona and the Omega Speedmaster (both having fixed outer bezels) and a Heuer Carrera 1158 or Heuer Montreal (both with fixed inner bezels).

Looking at the Carrera (third watch shown above), imagine that the driver started the chronograph at the beginning of a measured mile, and stopped the chronograph as he passed the one mile marker, 22-3/5 seconds later.  By a direct reading on the tachymeter bezel (i.e., seeing where the chronograph second hand falls on the tachymeter bezel), we determine that the driver covered that mile at a rate of approximately 160 miles per hour. (i.e., 22-3/5 seconds for one mile means that he would have covered 160 miles in one hour).   So far, so good . . . we have covered one mile, and used the tachymeter bezel to compute our speed over this mile.

Notice that that a tachymeter scale printed on the dial of a chronograph is the functional equivalent of a tachymeter scale printed on a bezel.  It’s just that the scale is fixed on the dial, rather than being fixed on the bezel.

Whether on the bezel or on the dial, starting with the chronograph second hand in the 0 position, we can use the chronograph to time one measured mile (or kilometer), and the tachymeter track will show us the MPH (or KPH) for that mile.

The Challenge — Computing Average Speed per Mile (MPH) Over Consecutive (Sequential) Miles.

To study the Carrera shown above will also illustrate the limitations of the fixed tachymeter bezel.  This Carrera is a good tool for computing your average speed over one measured mile, but what if you want to keep driving, and determine the speed over a second (or third or fourth) measured mile?  Of course, we have the same “problem” with the Rolex Daytona and the Omega Speedmaster (and all the other chronographs that use a fixed tachymeter bezel).

Let’s say, for example, that you are driving from Atlanta, Georgia to Birmingham, Alabama, along Interstate 20 . . . a highway on which every single mile is marked by a small green sign, showing the mile number.  If you start the chronograph with the chronograph second hand at 0, and stop the chronograph 22-3/5 seconds later (when you pass the first mile marker), you will know your speed for that first mile, but – having stopped the chronograph — you have no way of timing the second mile.

So what timekeeping / computing tools are available if we want to determine our time and pace over several consecutive miles?

The Most Elegant (and Accurate) Solution.

The most elegant solution to timing (and computing speeds over) a series of measured miles will be to use three stopwatches on a multi-sequence timing board (sometimes called a “lap timer”), as shown below.  Each stopwatch has a three-function crown, that starts, stops and resets the timer with consecutive pushes.  Using the three stopwatches mounted on this timing board, as one timer is stopped, the second timer is started, and the third timer is reset to zero.  So as you go from one mile to the next to the next, you will always have one stopwatch stopped on your elapsed time for the previous mile, one stopwatch showing your running time for the current mile, and one stopwatch resting at zero, ready to start timing the next mile.  Each push of the lever across the top of the crowns operates the start / stop / reset for all three stopwatches.  If these stopwatches have a tachymeter scale on the dial (as on Heuer’s Reference 917 stopwatch, shown below), you are all set . . . you can drive the 150 miles from Atlanta to Birmingham, and the three watches will give you the exact time (and MPH) for each of the 150 miles.

To describe this “elegant” solution serves to highlight the problem for the average driver:  What if, rather than having three stopwatches on a large multi-sequence timing board, and a navigator to operate the contraption, you are driving and have only a single chronograph at your disposal?  As we saw above, the Carrera (or Daytona or Speedmaster) is great for timing the first mile, but there is no good solution from that point forward (or westward, in our Atlanta to Birmingham example).  Perhaps you can keep the chronograph running the whole way, and write down the exact times that you pass each of the markers, but that won’t give you an instant reading of your MPH, as you cover each mile.

Another Approach — The Flyback Chronograph with Tachymeter Scale

Assuming that the lack of either space or a navigator make the use of the multi-sequence timing board impractical, there is another approach that we can use to determine the speed per mile, over sequential measured miles — a flyback chronograph with a tachymeter scale.  The timing operation is fairly straightforward — each time we pass a mile marker, we take a direct reading on the tachy scale (to see average speed over the mile that we have just completed) and push the flyback button (to instantly begin the timing for the next mile).

Flyback chronographs were relatively uncommon in the “golden age” of chronographs, however, being used primarily in chronographs designed for pilots.  Breguet produced the Type XX for the French Air Force, commencing in 1954, and Leonidas and Heuer produced their flyback chronographs for the Bundeswehr, in the 1960s.  The flyback feature was rare, however, in chronographs for civilians, as leading brands such as Breitling, Gallet, Heuer, Omega and Rolex did not offer this feature.

Over this period, Longines was the only major brand to offer flyback chronographs intended for non-military customers, with these timepieces being powered by the legendary 13ZN and 30CH in-house movements.  Here are some samples of Longines flyback chronographs that span the decades from the 1920s through the 1970s.

There are a couple of difficulties, however, with the use of a flyback chronograph for the purpose purpose of timing sequential measured miles (or laps).   First, the use of a flyback chronograph for this purpose will be somewhat imprecise.  The chronograph second hand will be “flying back” to zero, and restarting, at the very instant that you are taking the MPH reading on the bezel.   So you will be reading a thin hand that will be moving, stopping and resetting, all at the very same instant.  Second, technical aspects of the flyback movement raise issues about the accuracy and reliability of its timing.  It is a technical challenge for the chronograph second hand to stop, flyback to zero, and restart, all in the same instant, and there is some lack of accuracy in the process.  Third, flyback chronographs record the time for one event (being a mile or a lap), and then reset to zero and restart.  So you will not be able to record a total time, for all the miles that you are timing (your trip from Atlanta to Birmingham, for example).  Finally, the construction of the flyback chronograph is complex, and these watches tend to be rare (meaning that they are also expensive).

Mechanical chronographs with the flyback complication have recently become much more common, at least compared with previous eras.  Shown below are recent models of flyback chronographs from Panerai, Girard-Perregaux, Graham and Zenith.  All these models have fixed tachymeter bezels, making them useful for computing speed over a measured mile, with the flyback allowing the determination of average speeds over sequential measured miles.

But Wait, Why Not a “Taylor” Split Second Stopwatch?

Next up on our list of possible solutions for timing consecutive measured miles would be a split second stopwatch that uses the “Taylor” system of lap timing.  A stopwatch using the Taylor system begins like any other stopwatch, but when you push the crown at the end of the first mile (or the first lap), some unusual things happen.  First, when you push and release the crown at the end of a lap, the main hands (minutes and seconds) fly-back to zero, and instantly begin timing the second lap.

And if that’s not enough technology to impress you, the Taylor’s use of a split second hand is certain to please.  When you depress the crown at the end of the first lap, while the main hands of the stopwatch fly-back and instantly begin timing the second lap, a red split second hand stops and stays in its position (where it was at the end of mile one), so that you can read the precise time, with the split second hand stopped.  Once you have taken this reading, you push the little red button to the left of the crown, and the little red split second hand rejoins the main second hand, which is busy timing the second mile.  You get accurate readings of the time for each mile, mile after mile after mile.

The Taylor system is perfect for lap timing.  However, it falls short in the mission to compute the average speed for each mile, on my drive from Atlanta to Birmingham, for the simple reason that it does not have a tachymeter scale.  The last thing I want to do when I get to Birmingham is to sit with 150 lap times, and convert each of them into MPH.  I want a direct reading of the average speed of each mile; the Taylor is a wonderful system, but it’s not the tool for this assignment.

Heuer’s Solution – The Rotating Tachymeter Bezel.

If you have quick hands and a good eye, and don’t might a bit of distraction while you drive (or navigate), the Heuer Autavia chronograph with a rotating tachymeter bezel can be used to provide direct reading of your speed over sequential measured miles.   It’s not as accurate as the multi-sequence timing board, and it’s not as simple as the flyback chronograph, but Heuer’s unique timing system has the advantage of being available on any vintage Autavia that is fitted with a tachymeter bezel.  Left running, the Autavia will also record your cumulative time over the race event.  Perhaps best of all, in 1972 the Autavia equipped with a rotating tachymeter bezel was available for $88, through a promotion with Viceroy cigarettes.  For all these reasons, the Heuer Autavia became a valuable tool in the hands of racers and rallyists of the 1960s and 1970s.

Let’s go step-by-step, and mile-by-mile, to see how the Heuer Autavia was used to measure times and compute speeds, over sequential measured miles.  [In these photographs, please do not pay attention to the time-of-day shown by the main hands on the Autavia.  Please focus on the chronograph hands and the tachymeter bezel.]

• We start with the chronograph second hand stopped at zero, as we approach the zero mile marker.  The moment that you pass the marker, start the chronograph running.
• The moment that you pass the 1 mile marker, you keep the chronograph running, but take a reading of the chronograph second hand on the tachymeter scale.  With the chronograph second hand at the 36 second mark, the tachymeter shows that you covered this first mile at an average speed of 100 MPH.
• After you complete the first mile, rotate the bezel so that the triangle (arrow) is at the point at which you finished the first mile / start the second mile (i.e., the 36 second mark).  The tachymeter bezel is now positioned to show your speed for the second mile. 
• Let’s say that you pass the 2 mile marker 34 seconds later, when the chronograph second hand is at the 10 position on the dial.  With the triangle (arrow) set at the 36 second mark (which is where you put at after you passed the 1 mile marker), the tachymeter scale shows you that your average speed for the second mile was exactly 106 MPH.  Brilliant!!
• As soon as you pass the 2 mile marker, you will need to rotate the triangle (arrow) to the 10 second position, so that the tachymeter scale will be in the proper position to make the speed computation for the third mile.
• As you pass the 3 mile marker, 32 seconds later, the chronograph second hand is at the 42 second position and the tachymeter scale shows you that your speed for the third mile was approximately 112 MPH.  Wow . . . we are gaining speed all along the way!
• After you pass the 3 mile marker, you will need to rotate the triangle (arrow) to the 42 second position, so that the tachymeter scale is in position to give you the reading for the fourth mile.
• Just as you pass the 3 mile marker, your radar detector unit starts screaming and flashing . . . oh no, police ahead!!  You hit the brakes, slow your car down, and cover the fourth mile in 50 seconds.  So as you pass the 4 mile marker, the chronograph second hand is at the 32 second position, indicating that you have covered the fourth mile at an average speed of 72 MPH.  Certainly not as exciting as the first three miles, but at least you have avoided the speeding ticket!!

Notice that the chronographs runs continuously during this process – you spot the mile markers, check to see where the chronograph second hand is pointing on the tachymeter scale, and then rotate the tachymeter bezel to its proper position for the next mile, but the chronograph continues running throughout this operation.  If you stop the chronograph at the end of the process (say, as you pass the 4 mile marker), the chronograph will indicate your elapsed time for the four miles . . . in this instance, 2 minutes and 32 seconds.  From this, you can use a calculator to compute your average speed for the four mile run, at 94.7 MPH.  Unfortunately, the tachymeter scale is not easily used for multi-mile computations.

Is This Realistic?

Now that we have described the sequence of (a) simultaneously spotting the mile marker and taking a direct reading of the chronograph second hand on the tachymeter scale, and (b) then rotating the bezel so that the triangle (arrow) lines up with a certain spot on the dial, we face some questions.  Is this really an effective means of measuring time and speed?  Is this really how the rotating tachymeter bezel was intended to be used?  If we can imagine the racers’ world before there was electronic timing, telemetry and GPS systems, can we imagine that anyone ever actually used an Autavia in this manner?

My experiment in using an Autavia for the equivalent of “lap timing” over measured miles, on Interstate 20 travelling from Atlanta to Birmingham, was nothing short of harrowing.   Every 45 to 50 seconds, I had to spot the mile marker, read the chrono second hand on the tachymeter bezel, and then rotate the bezel to its new position.   I had the impression that this was taking a toll on the watch, and with a moment of inattention, it would also take a toll on the car (and on me).  Also, because I was alone in the car, it was impossible for me to write down or record any of the time or speed information.  In short, I was just playing with the Autavia, to pass the time and the miles, on an otherwise boring drive.

Midway through my experiment, however, I realized that this would all have been very different in an actual rally situation.  In a rally, the car would have been equipped with two critical items that I was missing — (1) a navigator and (2) a Halda Twinmaster odometer (or an equivalent instrument).  So rather than the driver needing to spot the little green mile markers and operate the rotating bezel, the navigator would have used the Twinmaster to determine the one-mile intervals [remember, that the Twinmaster is accurate to the nearest 1/100th mile] and could have easily operated the tachymeter bezel on the Autavia.  We can also assume that the navigator could have recorded the times and speeds, and made appropriate calculations all along the way!

The Tachymeter Bezel — A Matter of Style

Having worn chronographs with both fixed and rotating tachymeter bezels for several years, I am of the view that — in the modern era — the tachymeter bezel is primarily a style element, giving the chronograph a sporty look or building on a watch’s motorsports theme.  And I am fine with that.  Anyone defending the tachymeter bezel as a useful tool should ask how often we find ourselves driving over measured miles and wanting to compute our average speed?

So many elements of our cars, homes and wardrobes are for style, rather than for function alone, and so it is with our watches.  We should enjoy the sporty look of a tachymeter bezel, the same way that we admire the spoiler of a Porsche 911 or the design of a six-burner Viking stove.  Yes, these are high-performance machines built to the specifications of professionals, but none of us need to apologize if it’s primarily the style that we are after.

So too, in the world of chronographs, whether we are considering the “classics” from Patek Phlippe, Rolex, Omega or Heuer, or some of the newer models that incorporate a tachymeter bezel (such as the Audemars Piguet chronographs, shown below), we probably do best to admit that the tachymeter bezel is added to a chronograph primarily for the sake of style, rather than for its usefulness as a tool.  We can all admit this, and not feel guilty for pretending to be racers.

But Wait, the Rotating Bezel is Different

But let’s not lump the rotating tachymeter bezel with the fixed tachymeter bezel, and dismiss both of them as merely stylistic elements.  The triangle (arrow) on the rotating bezel can itself be used to mark a current or future time.  Accordingly, the rotating tachymeter bezel can be used to determine elapsed time (“the lecture began at 9:03”) or as a reminder (“this is when I need to take the brownies out of the oven” or “this is when the time on my parking meter expires”).  As such, the rotating bezel provides another tool for timing, in addition to the chronograph itself.  Timing the lecture, the brownies or the parking meter may not be as romantic as computing average speeds on the Mulsanne Straight or at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but that little triangle makes the rotating bezel another useful “tool”, on what we categorize as a “tool watch”.

Have a look at the 1970 brochure from Heuer (shown below), describing the 24 uses for an automatic chronograph, and notice how many of these operations can be accomplished simply by using a rotating bezel.

The Conventional Wisdom — Rotate the Minutes and Hours Bezels; Fix the Tachymeter Bezel

It is interesting to consider why, back in 1962, Heuer designed its Autavia with a rotating bezel, whereas Rolex, Omega and Breitling were more likely to leave the bezels on their chronographs “fixed” in place.  Omega used rotating bezels on some of its watches, but not on its chronographs.  So too, Rolex was a pioneer of the rotating bezel, with its Turn-O-Graphs and Submariners, but Rolex never used a rotating bezel on its chronographs.  We see brands like Brietling (with its Navitimers, Unitimes and Co-Pilots)  and Universal Geneve (with the Compax series) that used rotating bezels on chronographs, but – as shown by the pair of Universal Geneve Compax chronographs (below) — it was only the minutes and hours bezels that rotated. 

If the chronograph had a tachymeter bezel, the bezel would be fixed in place.  It almost seems that the major brands believed that it violated some law to have a rotatings tachymeter bezel.

Heuer’s Innovation — The Rotating Tachymeter Bezel

At least among the major brands, it seems that Heuer was alone in building a chronograph with a rotating tachymeter scale.  Almost 50 years after the fact, we can only speculate as to why things developed in this manner.  I have a theory as to why Heuer used rotating bezels on the Autavia, first the rotating minute or hour bezels and then the rotating decimal minutes and tachymeter.  It all derives from Heuer’s experience in providing timing equipment to racers, and especially Heuer’s series of dashboard timers and purpose-built stopwatches.

From 1933 through 1958, Heuer’s dashboard timepieces (Autavia, Hervue and Auto-Rallye) had screw-on bezels, meaning that they did not rotate.  In 1958, however, Heuer redesigned the primary models in its dashboard line-up — Master Time, Monte Carlo and Auto-Rallye – to incorporate rotating bezels.  The earliest models of these dashboard timers had only the triangle (arrow) on the bezel, to mark a time.

Each timepiece on this early Rally-Master set has a rotating bezel, with an arrow to mark the time.

Over the years, Heuer realized that it was useful to allow for a rotating tachymeter bezel on its dashboard instruments.  Below, we see that there was an evolution from having the tachymeter scale printed on the dial (as shown on the earlier Autavia and Monte Carlo), to having the tachymeter scale marked on the rotating bezel.  While we see relatively few dashboard timers with the rotating tachymeter bezel, it is telling that Heuer even offered this option.

My theory as to why Heuer incorporated a rotating bezel into the Autavia chronographs suggests that through the years of supplying timing equipment to the racers and motorsports crowd –  including the stopwatches, dashboard timers, timing boards and other equipment — Heuer realized the value of the rotating bezel.  Even in its simplest form, with nothing more than a rotating triangle, the rotating bezel could be a useful tool.  So it was to be expected that when Heuer introduced its Autavia chronograph in 1962, a chronograph designed for AUTomotive timing, the AUTavia included a rotating bezel.  On the first series of Autavias, Heuer used hour and minute scales on the bezels.  Both these scales supplemented the chronograph as a timing device.  The rotating hour bezel could be set for a second time zone, making the Autavia a simple GMT chronograph.  Next, Heuer added a decimal minutes bezel, meeting a particular need of rally timing (in which times are satted in hundredths of minutes rather than seconds.)

With Heuer’s introduction of the second execution of the Autavia case, in around 1967, Heuer introduced the first chronograph with a rotating tachymeter bezel (shown below).   This rotating tachymeter bezel would become a hallmark of the Autavias, being used on various models of into the early 1980s.

The Autavia — The Racer’s Favorite Heuer.

We began this posting with a simple question about the usefulness of a rotating tachymeter bezel and, in the course of exploring this question, we learned that the rotating tachymeter bezel was a unique element offered by Heuer in its Autavia line of chronographs.  While the other major brands (such as Rolex and Omega), with their fixed tachymeter bezels, could offer the sporty look and show the average speed for one measured mile, it was only Heuer that allowed the racer (or his navigator) to compute average speeds over consecutive miles.  As we understand the usefulness of the rotating tachymeter bezel for race timing, we also gain a new appreciation of the rotating tachymeter bezel as a defining feature of some of the cherished Autavia models, specifically the Reference 1163 T (worn by Swiss Formula One hero, Jo Siffert) and the Reference 1163 V (sold to thousands of amateur racers for $88, as a promotion by the Viceroy cigarette brand).   

The Autavia was more than the racer’s favorite chronograph, however.  In the 1960s and 1970s, the Heuer Autavia became the race fan’s favorite chronograph.  In the early days of stock car racing — with the competition between Ford, Mercury, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Dodge and Chrysler — the automobile manufacturers lived by the slogan, “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday”.  Indeed, studies showed that the cars that won the races on Sunday also won in the dealer showrooms on Monday.  So too, in the days before paid ambassadors, the watch brands realized that racing enthusiasts wanted to wear the same watches as the racers, and they wanted the look of racing.  This racing look was embodied by the tachymeter bezel.  While the iconic Rolex Daytonas and Omega Speedmasters offered “the look” with their fixed bezels, the Heuer Autavia offered this look, but with something more.  With the rotating tachymeter bezel, Heuer improved the functionality of the Autavia, as a timekeeping device.  The tachymeter bezel gave enthusiasts the “look” of racing; allowing the bezel to rotate gave them a useful tool to time measured miles, a second time zone, or when to add coins to the parking meter or take the brownies out of the oven!

So we can look like Formula One legend Jo Siffert, with the white-dialed Autavia, and we can imagine that we are on Parnelli Jones’s racing team with the black-dialed “Viceroy”.  We can determine our average speed for a measured mile, and even for consecutive measured miles.  We can remember when we need to put more quarters in the parking meter or when we need to take the brownies out of the oven.  The Autavia, favorite chronograph of the racers . . . the Autavia, favorite chronograph of the bakers!

With the listing for sale this morning of four Heuer chronographs powered by the 28,800 movements, it seems timely for me to assemble what I know about these movements into a posting. I have done some research into these movements, involving experts from the era when they were produced (say, circa 1970), current personnel at TAG Heuer and another collector who owns a watch powered by a 28800 movement. I had planned to conduct a lot more research, and then publish a comprehensive webpage on these movements . . . for better or worse, let me publish the information that I have assembled (as of July 8, 2011 . . . I suppose that completion of this project will be like finishing so many other projects in the queue . . . maybe it will happen / maybe it won’t.

I should add that I am writing this on an airplane, without any access to research materials or experts, so the following is based on what’s in my head at the moment (and on my hard-drive); yes, there are some informational gaps that I had hoped to fill, but we will roll the presses with what I have, and not worry about what I might have gathered with a few more hours of research. It is also unfortunate that I am unable to fully illustrate this posting with photos of the subject movements and chronographs; these can be added, at some later date.

So here is what I believe to be the situation regarding these 28800 movements:

• I understand that Heuer explored the use of high-beat 28800 vibrations per hour (VPH) movements, in the early period of the Caliber 11 (Chronomatic) movements. My best guess would be that Heuer was working on this project around 1969 / 1970. [This dating becomes important, when we begin to look at the cases in which some of these movements are now housed; about which more below.]
• Heuer arranged for Buren – one of the partners in the development of the Caliber 11 (Chronomatic) movements – to make prototypes of these movements. The use of Buren for this project makes perfect sense, as Buren had developed the base movements that would become the Caliber 11 / Caliber 12 series of movements.
• Modification of a standard Caliber 11 movement, with its beat of 19,800 VPH, to beat at 28,800 VPH was a relatively modest undertaking, requiring replacement of only a handful of components. Of course, it would take considerable engineering and design work, but compared with whet Buren and Heuer had been through to develop the Caliber 11 movement, I believe that it is fair to say that jumping up to 28,800 VPH was not an enormous undertaking. [Let’s also keep in mind that Heuer would switch from 19,800 VPH to 21,600 VPH, when it switched from the Caliber 11-I to the Caliber 12 movement.]
• At some point in the project, Heuer abandoned the idea of jumping the Caliber 11 movement up to the 28800 “high beat”. Perhaps Heuer decided that Zenith had the advantage in the “high beat” world, with the El Primero movement already beating at 36,000 VPH; perhaps there were technical issues with the prototypes. We don’t know the “why”, but we do know that Heuer abandoned its effort to produce chronographs powered by the 28,800 VPH version of the Caliber 11 movement.
• One of the mysteries here is exactly how many of the 28800 movements Buren produced for Heuer. I have heard that Buren produced 100 of the prototype movements; this number seems high to me, but this is just a gut reaction.
• To me, the biggest mystery of all is whether or not Heuer ever actually put any of these prototype 28800 movements into a case, to produce a working chronograph. Perhaps they produced a few prototype watches with these movements; perhaps none of the movements ever made it into a watch . . . this is a mystery that I have not been able to solve (as of July 8, 2011). My best guess – which I can explain when there is more time — is that Heuer assembled a very limited number of complete chronographs with the 28800 movements.
• I know of exactly 10 (ten) chronographs that currently incorporate the 28800 VPH movements; I own three of them; I know of another collector who owns one; we have seen four chronogrpahs offered for sale this morning . . . which brings the total to 8 (eight). There are two more, which I cannot write about at the moment. In terms of who produced these 10 chronographs and when they were produced, I believe that most of the 10 were produced by someone other than Heuer, in a timeframe well after the movements were produced by Buren. Whether they were assembled in 2010 or last week (or in 2000 or 1980) hardly matters; the key finding here is that most of the chronographs now housing the 28800 VPH movements were not produced in the period in which the movements were produced. Notice that I use the word “most”; I believe that a handful may have been made by or for Heuer, back in the day.
• I have had one of these 28800 VPH movements fully disassembled, inspected and overhauled (and photographed all along the way). The watchmaker who examined the watch confirmed that the movement appeared to have been produced in the period under consideration (say, around 1970); that all parts were from this same era; and that the quality and finish of all the parts in the 28800 VPH movement was consistent with parts that Heuer used in this period. He also confirmed that there were other clues in the movement that suggested that the movement was part of a prototyping project (the finish of certain plates; the placement of numbers on certain parts; etc.)

So what are these chronographs worth? That is a question that the market will answer for us. We have seen today’s collectors pay premium prices for Chronomatic dials housed in later Autavia and Carrera cases. It will be interesting to see how the market will value the 10 chronographs that have surfaced recently . . . I hope that this information is useful to the collectors who may be interested in these fascinating chronographs!!

Jeff

Every once in a while, I receive a message from someone who is very excited to have recently purchased a “New Old Stock” chronograph, but is — at the same time — disappointed that the beautiful watch of thier dreams either (a) is not running properly (or is not running at all), or (b) has just been diagnosed as needing an expensive servicing. The questions vary: Why does a New Old Stock watch need servicing?  Isn’t a New Old Stock watch supposed to be perfect?  Why didn’t the seller tell me that the watch needed an overhaul?   The final gasp is to the effect that the purchaser paid top dollar for a NOS watch, and they never contemplated that they would need to invest an extra $500 to $700, just to get the watch to run.  How can this have happened?

My Answer

My answer usually begins with the following question: If you had just purchased a New Old Stock sports car from the 1960s or 1970s, that had been stored in a garage for the last 40 to 50 years, but hadn’t been driven or serviced serviced during this interval, would you possibly think that you could jump in the car, fire up the engine, and drive the car around the block (or even on a racetrack)?  Surely you would realize that significant service (and probably some new parts) would be needed, before even turning the key in the ignition.

From there, we go to the point that a vintage watch and a vintage car are similar machines, and that the same type of things that will need attention in the old car will need attention in the old watch — oil, seals, round parts that are no longer round, etc. etc.  So a New Old Stock watch that has been put away for 40 years will need a complete overhaul (meaning having the watch disassembled and oiled, and the seals replaced), regardless of how well it was stored.  It’s that simple.  If you want to keep it as a New Old Stock watch, perhaps in your vault, then there is no need to service the watch.  But if you want to wind it up and wear it, you will need to start with the overhaul.

Should the Seller Have Warned the Buyer?

The purchaser may ask why the seller didn’t warn him that the watch wold need to be serviced in order to be worn.  I have been collecting watches for around ten years, and have seen hundreds of watches offered as New Old Stock samples.  I cannot recall ever seeing a listing that advised prospective purchasers that (an expensive) servicing would be required, before the watch could be used.  So too, if I saw a “time capsule” car listed for sale, I would not expect to see an advisory that the car would need expensive mechanical work, prior to use.  Those who deal in vintage watches understand the realities of buying NOS watches.  It’s a shame that the novice who jumps into the market to buy a NOS watch will often face the disappointment of an expensive service ticket.

So What Do I Tell the Buyer?

And so the buyer asks, “What should I do?”  My usual answer is that, even though he has just experienced the shock of needing to invest additional money to have what he thought he was buying, from the start, if the buyer can see his way clear to invest in the overhaul, then he will have the “best of the best” — a watch that is in perfect cosmetic condition and that can also be used and enjoyed.  If the buyer prefers not to make an additional investment in this watch, then he will have exactly what he thought he was buying — a New Old Stock that can sit in his safe and that may prove to be a worthy investment.

The Bottom Line

This situation with the need for a New Old Stock watch to be serviced before being used, can be unfortunate.  It is a simple case of the seller and buyer missing something in their communications, though neither of them may be at fault.  We can only hope that if the buyer will have the watch serviced, then he will be able to enjoy a watch that will be in perfect condition, both cosmetically and mechanically.

Let’s play a game with the TAG Heuer Monaco 24, as follows:  Let’s say that you collect vintage Heuer chronographs, primarily the racing chronographs from the 1960s and 1970s (Autavia, Carrera, Monaco, Silverstone, Montreal, etc.).  You are a committed collector, who enjoys the style  and history of these watches, as well as the fact that they are reliable timepieces that you can wear on a daily basis.

One of your favorite chronographs is the black PVD-coated Monaco (Reference 74033 N), as shown below right.  You are wearing this old Monaco one day, when you walk into a local watch store, and see the new TAG Heuer Monaco 24, as shown below left.

It’s your lucky day!!  A representative of TAG Heuer is standing behind the counter, shows you the Monaco 24, describes the specifications, and says, “We want you to love this new Monaco 24 and to buy one for your collection.  Please tell us if there is anything that you would like us to change about the Monaco 24, so that you will buy the watch for your collection.”

So here is our game, which we will call “Monaco 24, in the Land of Make Believe”:  Please review the photographs of the Monaco 24 (which are of the watch that I actually saw, in the metal), as well as the specifications for the watch listed below.  Then tell us exactly how you would like the Monaco 24 altered, so that you would actually buy the watch.   Too big or too small?  Would you prefer a different color scheme?  You can be aggressive (for example adding a third register for the hours), but please try to be realistic (you can’t have it produced in rose gold, and lower the price to $1,995).

Specifications of the TAG Heuer Monaco 24 are as follows:

• Case is stainless steel, coated with black titanium-carbide, highly-polished, and measures 40.5 mm, across the dial
• Sapphire glass, front and rear, with anti-reflective treatment
• “Gulf Stripes” down the center of the dial
• Recessed registers, for running seconds (on the left) and chronograph minutes (on the right)
• Semi-sub counters each showing half the register, with double-sided hands (rotating system) – “orange” needle for first half of the timing and “silver” needle for the second half of the timing
• Date at six o’clock position, shows yesterday-today-tomorrow
• Orange shock-absorbers (advanced dynamic absorber system)
• Polished rhodium plated hour and minute hands, with luminous markers
• Black alligator strap, with orange stitches and titanium clasp
• Caliber 36 “El Primero” movement, 36,000 vibrations per hour, automatic
• COSC certified chronometer
• Display back shows three-spoke rotor
• Special edition [not “limited edition”]
• Priced at approximately $10,900

We have had previous discussions on the question of whether the “vintage guys” will ever buy a modern, new watch.  In The Land of Make Believe, with the ability to change the various elements of the watch, every vintage collector should be able to construct a Monaco 24 to his or her liking.

So please tell is how you would change the watch, so that you would buy it.  Of course, you can also feel free to say, “It’s perfect just the way it is!  Where can I buy one?”

I look forward to seeing some responses, then I will post my own list of “modifications”.

A couple of days ago, over on our discussion forum, David Howlett posted the question, “If you could only have three Heuers in your collection, what would they be?”  This kind of question comes up from time to time, in a variety of formulations, so rather than posting my response on the forum, let me do a quick posting here, so that this response will have a more permanent home.

The Classics.

The first response that comes to mind is the three “classic” Heuers from the 1960s and 70s — the three register Carrera from the 1960s (Reference 2447), the ”Steve McQueen” Monaco  from 1970 (Reference 1133B), and the Viceroy Autavia from 1972 (Reference 1163V).  These are the three Heuers that are probably most widely recognized as vintage Heuer chronographs, and as representing Heuer chronographs, in popular imagery.  There is certainly a big “gap” between these three watches, and whatever might be number four on the list.  The Carrera is the design icon with the clean style and the beautiful name; the Monaco was Steve McQueen’s watch in the filming of Le Mans (and his image has been reinforced through numerous “McQueens” sold by TAG Heuer over the last 15 years; the “Viceroys” popularized the black-with-red color scheme, and put tens of thousands of Heuer chronographs onto the wrists of racing enthusiasts, in the early 1970s.  So that’s the path of least resistance, the default setting . . . the three iconic executions of the “big three” — Carrera, Autavia and Monaco.

The “Classics” that I Enjoy Wearing.

But wait a minute.  This is not a popularity contest, this is the question of which three Heuer chronographs I want to own.  And, according to my collecting standards, if I own it, then I wear it.  So I need to think about the three Heuers — for now, within the Carrera, Autavia and Monaco model lines — that I really, really like to wear.  If this is the test, then I will go with a different list of three – (1) a Carrera with contrasting registers (black dial with white registers is the favorite right now), (2) a GMT version of the automatic Autavia (the one with all 24 numbers) and (3) the very rare black PVD Monaco.  As of this writing, these are the three models of the “Big Three” that I am enjoying most, when they are on my wrist.  I am happy to have three very different shapes / looks; the Carrera on a stainless steel bracelet and two on leather straps; some variety of colors, even if all three have black dials.

The tough calls here were the Black PVD Monaco and the Autavia GMT.  The blue “Transitional” Monaco (Reference 1133B) is a fantastic watch, that I enjoy wearing, and the blue Monaco is definitely one of the “classics”.  But the Black PVD gets the nod, as a fantastic, dramatic looking watch.  On the Autavia front, I am really into the 1163 MHs and Viceroys at the moment; still, the GMT is the choice, as it will also give me this “second time zone” complication (and a fantastic custom leather strap, by David DeVos).

If You Will Allow Me To Add a Couple More.

If you were kind enough to allow a couple of additional Heuers, then I would venture beyond the Big Three (Carrera, Autavia and Monaco), and add (1) an Italian Air Force (AMI) chronograph — it’s just such an amazing lump of steel and that Lemanis 5100 is a great movement and (2) my Caliber 12 Silverstone, in red.  These two chronographs are definitely not for ”every day” wear, but when you are in the mood, then each of these chronographs is fun to wear.   And since we are going above the limit of three Heuers, let me add a third one to this group, the 18 karat gold automatic Carrera, Reference 1158 CHN.  As with the AMI chronograph and the Silverstone, it’s not to wear every day, but it’s a special watch for when the mood strikes..

And Thanks (for Allowing Unlimited non-Heuers)

Thanks to David for phrasing the questions in terms of our Heuers.  Although he has limited me to three Heuers, I will also enjoy three of the Sinns (156, 144GMT and EZM-1) and then there’s the good old reliable Rolex Explorer (6610), not to mention the Breitling Unitime and maybe a Zenith or two.

All This, as of June 29, 2011

Let me close by pointing out that these are the watches that I am enjoying most, as of Wednesday, June 29, 2011.  They are not the rarest; they are not the most valuable; but they are the ones that are getting the daily duty, most often.  Ask me tomorrow, or in six months or two years, and the list(s) of my favorite watches may be very different.

The following is a message posted on the Horological Meandering discussion forum, by Marv, on June 14, 2011, addressing the question of why certain watches bear the marking, “Fab. Suisse”. 

There was a French law (Art 15. de la loi du 11 janvier 1892) that said that it was prohibited to import into France any product whose brand, name, sign or mark could mislead the consumer, in the sense that it could be understood as having been produced in France whereas it was not the case.

In 1924, a very strict interpretation of that law applied: a brand name that had a “French” origin or meaning could be considered on its own as a misleading mark! Even a brand with a foreign name, but with one subsidiary in France, was concerned! Therefore, many Swiss brands were concerned by this strict rule.

In order to be allowed to import watches into France, many Swiss watchmakers had to add a “legal rider” on the dial to explicitly mention the Swiss origin: “Importé de …“, “Fabrique en …“. There was a tolerance for the watches whose dial was too small to have the whole rider printed. In that case, the short “Fab. Suisse” was accepted.

You will find below a dial of a 1934 Reverso.

In 1936, in the document linked by “Nickd” [in a previous discussion forum message], another restriction was made: the rider for watches had to be placed very close to the brand name, and not at 6 o’clock any more.

Hereafter is the dial of my Omega T17. circa 1936

This French specificity continued to be valid in the following decades.

Below my Reverso post-1937

Please note that there is enough space for the full “Fabrique en Suisse” below Jaeger-Lecoultre.

Seamaster from 1953

Futurematic from the 50s

And finally a Longines from the 60s

Now, concerning the date when the “Fab. Suisse” ended, I am not sure it can be precisely established.

The law that protects customers against misleading marks on a product has never been abrogated (cf current Art. 39 Code des Douanes)

But there has been more and more tolerance: To be considered as misleading, the marks displayed on the product must be really misleading. And even in that case, there is more flexibility regarding the rider and where to place it : e.g. the use of Acronyms or English expressions such as “made in …” is now fully accepted.

In parallel, the country of origin has moved from the field of “customs” to the field of “marketing”. Custom constraints have been reduced from the 60s (Kennedy Round, EEC-Switzerland agreements); whereas the use of the “Swiss Made” label has been strongly marketed.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Marv wanted me to point out the excellent resource the doc.rero.ch provides for vintage watch collectors.   The scan of all the issues of “La Fédération Horlogère” is a real gold mine. For example, concerning the following discussion, one can look at the issue published on the 24th of October, 1925.

Day One – Monday, June 13, 2011

One of the neat things about this vintage watch collecting hobby is that there is always something new to explore, some mystery to try to solve.  We see a number in a catalog (1163P), some strange mark on a movement (SX) or dial (T), and rather than letting it go, every once in a while, there is the sudden urge to unravel the mysteries of the mid-20^th century.

And so it was on the morning of June 13, 2011, when a forum participant posted a photo of his Carrera 45 Dato, seeking information about the year of production for the watch.  That question was relatively easy, but suddenly I focused on two words written on the dial, comprised of nine letters, that I had seen hundreds of times before, but never bothered to explore . . . the words, “Fab. Suisse” (the abbreviation for the French term “Fabrique Suisse”, meaning “produced in Switzerland”).

Once upon a time, collectors of vintage Heuers used to say that Heuer dials were not supposed to include extra letters or words on the dial to indicate the number of jewels (for example, 17 rubis), or that the watch was shock-proof or used the incabloc shock-proofing system.  The words “Fab. Suisse” caused similar suspicion, and collectors seemed to suggest that the appearance of this mark on the dial called into question the authenticity of the watch.

On the morning of June 13th, however, the words “Fab. Suisse” were on the dial of a beautiful Carrera, that appeared to be original in every respect.  So I began to wonder, “How did these words get onto this dial?”  Surely this beautiful Carrera 45 Dato had not been produced from some lesser watch (like a Baylor, Tradition or Zodiac), with the dial refinisher leaving the “Fab. Suisse”, but adding the “Heuer” and the “Carrera” so perfectly.   How many 45 Datos were there that could have served as donors for this dial?  Not many!  And so, in an instant, I told myself that this Carrera was original, and that the “Fab Suisse” must have gotten onto the dial through legitimate production.

And thus the question, “Why do some Heuers from the 1950s and 1960s have the words “Fab. Suisse” on the dial?  I decided that, after collecting the Heuers for around 10 years, June 13, 2011 would be the day that I finally did some digging and answered this question.  To aid in my search, I would raise the question in a couple of discussion forums, and also post a more generic version of my question on Twitter — Why are the dials of some vintage Swiss watches marked “Fab. Suisse”, when they are already marked “Swiss” or “Swiss Made”?  Surely, within a few minutes, I would have a definitive answer to this simple question.  In the meanwhile, I would try a couple of quick Google searches.  Surely, someone had written on this point.

To my surprise, over the course of the day, I received not one answer, but three answers . . . three very different answers!

First Theory – “Fab. Suisse” as a Marketing Device.  According to one explanation – posted on a discussion forum — in the era after World War Two, the Swiss watch companies sought to capitalize on their reputation for high quality watches by indicating on the dials of their watches that they had been made in Switzerland.  But this explanation made little sense to me:  Why would a dial be marked both “Swiss” and “Fab. Suisse”?  Surely the marketing types would have realized that the word “Swiss” conveys the same sense of quality as “Fab. Suisse”, so this would not be a good reason to clutter up the dial with both phrases.  OK, so we reject this explanation.

Second Theory – “Fab. Suisse” Required in France.  A second explanation suggests that in order to be sold in France, during a certain historic period, a watch was required to state its country of origin in the French language.  The usual “Swiss” or “Swiss Made” – routinely printed on the dial by the manufacturer — would not satisfy this requirement, as these are English phrases, rather than French phrases.  Under this theory, the French importer (or the brand sending the watch into France) would add the “Fab. Suisse” marking to a standard dial, which explains why the same dial would have the word “Swiss” as well as the “Fab. Suisse” marking.  This theory seems to be the “conventional wisdom” on the subject.  Here is a thread from the HOrological MEanderings discussion forum that supports the theory.

Third Theory – “Fab. Suisse” Required in Canada.  Theory number three is exactly the same as theory number two, except that it is Canada (or more specifically the Province of Quebec) that is imposing the French language requirement.  This theory has the merit of simplicity, but I wonder whether all the watches that we see with the “Fab. Suisse” marking could actually have been sent into the Canadian market?  So my conclusion is this explanation is theoretically sound, but I doubt that it explains the reality that we see in the vintage watch world.  Simply, there could not have been this many watches produced for Quebec (or even all of Canada).

End of Day One – We Have a Theory, but No Definitive Proof.  As Day One of my one-hour research project came to a close, I had a theory [required by French law], which seemed like the best explanation, but I was frustrated that we didn’t have a definitive answer, from an expert, supported by chapter and verse of a specific regulation.  How the Internet has spoiled us.  A few years ago, this type of inquiry would have involved time-consuming research in original materials, at some distant library.  Now, we are upset when we can’t find black-and-white answers to esoteric questions, within the timeframe of a couple of Google searches and discussion forum postings.

Day Two – Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Day Two of my search for Fab. Suisse began in the dentist’s chair, at 8:00.  The Novocain numbed my mouth, the questions about Fab. Suisse numbed my brain, and I stared at a poster on the dentist’s wall, that had the following quotation:    

I fully realize that I have not succeeded in answering all of your questions.  Indeed, I feel I have not answered any of them completely. The answers I have found only serve to raise a whole new set of questions, which only lead to more problems, some of which we weren’t even aware were problems. To sum it all up…In some ways I feel we are as confused as ever, but I believe we are confused on a higher level, and about more important things.

OK, that poster was surely a sign:  We would not be able to find an answer to the Fab. Suisse question, but at least we had learned a few lessons along the way.

Things went from their proverbial “bad to worse”, when I got to my office and had a quick e-mail exchange with Mr. Jack Heuer, the President of Heuer-Leonidas during the 1960s and now Honorary President of TAG Heuer.  If anyone could confirm one of the theories from Day One, it would be Mr. Heuer.  So I served up the question about Fab. Suisse, and even provided a selection of possible explanations.  Mr. Heuer responded by expressing his doubts about the “required by French law” explanation, while also not providing any other better explanation.  Indeed, it seemed that this question would have no answer.  If Mr. Jack Heuer could not provide the answer, then what could any mere mortal hope to achieve!

If this were a detective show, we would say that the first real “break” in the investigation came at around 2:00 in the afternoon, when “nickd” posted a message — with the title, “You owe me a beer” — on the HOrological MEanderings discussion forum, that included the following language from a French statute, circa 1936:

Douanes Marque « Fab. suisse »
Les exportateurs sont rendus attentifs aux décisions qui ont été prises par l’Administration des douanes françaises, concernant l’apposition du correctif d’indication d’origine pour les produits horlogers. Le correctif « fab. suisse » doit être apposé, toutes les fois que la place existe, aussi près que possible de la marque elle-même, à côté ou immédiatement au-dessus ou au-dessous. Seules les petites pièces, où un manque de place empêche d’apposer le correctif conformément aux décisions ci-dessus, pourront le porter au-dessous de 6 heures. En vue d’éviter des difficultés et voir des cous refoulés, les exportateurs voudront bien se conformer aux indications ci-dessus.

Nickd was good enough to provide the following translation:

Customs Label “Fab. Suisse”.
Exporters have become attentive to the decisions that have been taken by the Administration of the French customs concerning the placing/fixing of the place-of-origin markings for horological products.  The markings “fab. suisse” must be placed, whenever space allows, as close as possible to the make itself, to the side or immediately above or below.  Only small watches, where a lack of space prevents the placing of the markings in accordance with the above instructions, can have it below the 6 marker.  In order to prevent difficulties and the return of packages, exporters would do well to conform to the above mentioned instructions.

So there we have it:  The “Fab. Suisse” marking is, in fact, a “customs label” that French authorities required on the dial of Swiss watches being imported into France.  Rather than being a marketing tool or badge of honor for the high quality Swiss watches, the “Fab. Suisse” was a warning that the watch had been made in Switzerland, rather than in France.  [Kind of like requiring that any Toyota or Honda coming into the United States bear the badge, “Made in Japan” placed as closely as possible to the “Toyota” or “Honda” badge, on the face of the car. This analogy is probably more realistic than we first imagine, as the Swiss watch industry in the late 19th / early 20th century was thought of in much the same was as the Japanese watch industry in the late 20th century.]  Questions remained, but it certainly seemed that we had the answer!

Case Closed!!

Continuing with the language of detective dramas, we can say that it was “case closed” for the mystery of the Fab. Suisse, late Tuesday night.  “Marv” posted a fantastic message — entitled, “For Consumer Protection” — on the HOrological Meanderings discussion forum, that provided a complete history of the French requirement for the “Fab. Suisse” marking, with this history dating from 1892 [that’s right, 1892, one hundred and nineteen years ago].  Marv showed watch dials from Jaeger, Omega and Longines, from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, all with the “Fab. Suisse” on the dial. Indeed, French authorities required that the dials of Swiss watches clearly marked with the words “Fab. Suisse”, to warn French consumers of their origin. (Skeptics might also suggest that they were motivated to protect the French watch industry.)

At 12:40 AM, it’s too late tonight to attempt to paraphrase Marv’s amazing discussion forum posting — if you are interested in the “Fab. Suisse” story, then you should read Marv’s message, in its entirety.  It’s also too late to try to wrap up all the loose ends of the “Fab. Suisse” mystery.  I would like to create a webpage to tell the story, so that — with any luck at all — the next vintage watch collector wondering about these two little words will be able to put the words “Fab. Suisse” into a Google search, and find the answer . . . in a lot less than two days!

Thanks to “nickd”, “Marv” and all the OnTheDash regulars who played a role in the search for “Fab. Suisse”.

Comments and additional information will be welcomed!  Write to me at OnTheDash@bellsouth.net

Afterwards – June 15, 2011

The day after we published the “Search for Fab. Suisse” posting, we continued to receive some additional information.

Mr. Jack Heuer sent an e-mail message, congratulating us for solving this little puzzle.  He also confirmed that France had been a relatively small market for Heuer watches and chronographs in the 1950s and 60s, although the company was more successful in marketing its stopwatches and timers in that market. 

The exclusive importer of Heuer watches in France over these decades was S.A.V.I.C. (which stands for something like “Societe Anonyme Vente Industrielle de Compteurs”, meaning that SAVIC focused on industrial stopwatches [perhaps comparable to Fisher Scientific, in the United States]).  SAVIC was a strong importer for Heuer in the early years, but was less successful in selling the self-winding watches that became popular in the 1950s.  Mr. Heuer remarked that Breitling was more successful than Heuer, in terms of selling watches and chronographs in France.  The fact that Heuer sold relatively few watches and chronographs into the French market back in the 1960s explains why we see so few of the Fab. Suisse markings today.

Mr. Heuer’s description of SAVIC and its success in selling Heuer stopwatches and timers into the French market suggested another channel for research relating to the Fab. Suisse mark.  Over the years, we have seen numerous stopwatches, pocket chronographs and dashboard timers that are co-branded “Heuer” and “S.A.V.I.C.  I dug through my photo files and found a few photos of timepieces with the SAVIC name on the dial.  Just as we might have expected, all these timepieces also had the Fab. Suisse marking on the dial. 

It has been an interesting couple of days, exploring a topic that most of us had ignored for years.  Stay tuned for further information and attention relating to the Heuer chronographs that were sold in France, with the Fab. Suisse mark.

The Skippers bear several similarities to the Seafarers: (a) they are colorful, (b) they are intended to be worn for boating, fishing or other water-related activities, and (c) saddest of all — like the hermit crabs we see at the beach — they never had shells (cases) of their own. You see, the poor Skipper had to find a home in the case of the 1960s Carrera, as well as a progression of Autavias (borrowing from the References 7763, 1563, 11630 and 11063. [Like the hermit crab, that must seek larger shells over the course of its life, the Skipper also moved to increasingly larger cases, as it grew over the years!!]

But rather lament that the Skipper never had a case of its own, as we approach the Memorial Day weekend (in the United States) and the start of summer (anywhere in the northern hemisphere), let’s celebrate the Skipper!! I have dome some research, spoken with The Master, and used all this new information to reorganize the Skipper section of OnTheDash.

My research shows that there were exactly seven executions of the Skipper, as follows:

(1) our beloved SkippeRrera (case borrowed from 1960s Carrera)

(2) Ref 7764 Skipper in “compressor” case (borrowed from Autavia Ref 7763)

(3) first automatic Skipper, in low-profile case (borrowed from Autavia Ref 1563)

(4) manual-wind Skipper in low-profile case (borrowed from Autavia Ref 73363)

(5) higher-profile automatic Skipper, with blue dial and bezel (case borrowed from Autavia Ref 11630)

(6) higher-profile automatic Skipper, with black dial and bezel (case borrowed from Autavia Ref 11630)

(7) largest automatic Skipper, with black dial and bezel (case borrowed from Autavia 11063).

Next project: put all this into the reference table for the Skipper.

After that: we attack the first “hermit crab” of the Heuer world, the Seafarer . . . another nautical chronograph that was never lucky enough to have a case of its own.

In the meanwhile: visit the vastly improved Skipper section of OnTheDash, and send or post any photos (or information) that you might like to contribute.

Thanks to Laurent for the fantastic photos of the Ref 7764, which you can see here, as well as all our other contributors!!

Here’s wishing everyone a great Memorial Day weekend and a fantastic summer.