Heuer Regatta -- Menu Page
With its unusual countdown function and colorful red and blue discs, the Heuer Regatta was designed for yacht timing. The Regatta was introduced in the mid-1960's, as a joint venture with the Aquastar brand, and ended its run with a very different look, some 20 years later. Still, it retained its defining red and blue countdown discs.
Founded in 1962, Aquastar was an independent Swiss watch manufacturer, with its own factory. Aquastar specialized in diving watches, as well as other equipment for diving (compasses, temperature and pressure guages, etc.). You can read about the history of Aquastar on the Aquastar website. In November 1964, Aquastar received a Swiss patent for a "piece of horology allowing the counting of a restricted number of minutes". You can read about this patent, and see a diagram of the Aquastar watch that used this new technology, here.
Heuer's history with the Regate (which became the "Regatta") unfolded as follows:
- In 1965, Heuer began to distribute the full line of Aquastar watches. Included in this line of watches was the Aquastar
"Regate", a countdown timer designed for sailing.
- Soon after that time, the name "Heuer" was added to the dial of the Aquastar Regate, shown below, so that the watch was co-branded with the Heuer and Aquastar names. This chronograph was produced by Aquastar and powered by the Felsa 4000N movement.
- Around 1976, Heuer began to produce it own Regatta chronographs, Reference 134.500 and Reference 134.505. This first true "Heuer Regatta" featured a fixed steel bezel, and was powered by the Lemania 1345 movement, considered to be far superior to the previous Felsa movement. The 134.500 has a silver dial and a steel bezel, with gold screws; the 134.505 has a black dial and a gold bezel, with steel screws.
- The Regatta took on an entirely new look around 1983, with the introduction of the 134.600 Series. This series used an Autavia-style case, and was available in Black (134.601), Military Green (134.602) and Grey (134.602). This new Regatta was waterproof to 100 meters, had a mineral crystal, and was fitted with a matching steel bracelet for each version.
- The Regatta stopwatch (Reference 202.515) made its debut in Heuer's 1983 stopwatch catalog, and was also powered by a Lemania movement.
Read about the operation of the Regatta chronograph, with its unique countdown discs, in the 1983 Catalog.
November 16, 2005