Sunday 12 September 2010

Pewter PVD ref. 982.013

Grey, but not dull vintage Heuer diver.



This a rare Pewter PVD Heuer diver. I have never seen it in any catalogues. Only known listing is in a German pricelist from 1985.
This one is the normal sized mens watch at 38mm. There is a Pewter fullsize 42mm version as well.



The price in 1985 was 580 DM. This watches come with Tropic 18mm strap or Pewter PVD 18mm Jubelee bracelet with Heuer signed clasp. I wear mine on a Tropic strap or a grey NATO band. I don't have to original bracelet. They are hard to find.



The case back on mine has the great looking Heuer logo engraved. The very first of these Heuer diver had a plain case back. No Heuer logo, just the ref. number stamped in.



The movement is ESA 536.121. This is a thick early quartz movement. Some are signed with the Heuer shield logo, others are not. This is normal. Parts is difficult to find, so try to find a working watch if you are looking for vintage Heuer divers.

Monday 19 July 2010

Big and chunky Montreal




This is my Heuer Montreal Ref 110.503 W (White). It's probably Heuers biggest watch. It's thick and heavy, and I love it. The white Montreal is the rarest one and is quite popular among collectors.



The Montreal was available in seven versions powered by the Caliber 12 movement:

- stainless steel, blue dial with white registers (applied markers);
- stainless steel, black dial with white registers (applied markers);
- stainless steel, white dial with black registers (applied markers);
- gold-plated case with champagne dial and registers (applied markers);
- stainless steel, blue dial with blue registers (painted markers);
- stainless steel, black dial with black registers (painted markers); and
- black (PVD) case with black dial and black registers (painted markers)



I was lucky to find a NOS two piece NSA bracelet with a Heuer signed buckle.






Four Montreals in a 1972 Heuer catalogue.

Saturday 12 June 2010

One for the ladies ref. 756



Once again I write about a very rare diver. This is the ref. 756 ladies automatic diver. This is the very first serial production diver from Heuer along with the French made ref. 844. It's a tiny little watch at just 28mm. This first edition ladies diver had a very cool black and red bezel, and the dial is printed "Ebauche Suisse" at the bottom. The later ref. 756 has an all black bezel and "Swiss Made" on the dial.



She was "cover girl" on the 1979 Heuer catalogue together with the ref. 844.



The automatic movement is not signed Heuer. I have not managed to identify the maker. The original strap is a 14mm Tropic strap with a original Heuer 12mm buckle. Very cool and rare combination.







Another scan from the 1979 catalogue.

These small automatic ladies divers are very rare. This is the only one I have seen in the six years I have been collecting Heuers. I have seen a few of the later black bezel Heuer / Tag Heuer version, but only this one of the first edition.

Wednesday 12 May 2010

A classic beauty



This is the most beautyful little Heuer I have owned. It's just 33mm and is powerd by a nice Valjoux 23. The bezel is rose gold with matching crown and pushers.




The bridge is signed Ed. Heuer & Co and the Heuer logo shield. This movement is in very nice condition. Not bad for a watch from the 1940s.





Snap on case back is signed Ed. Heuer & Co and with the Heuer logo.


A nice classic Heuer that have moved to a new home. It did not get the wrist time it deserved due to it's small size. So I sold it to get a bigger Heuer... I almost regret it when I look at the pictures, it's just so nice looking.

Saturday 20 March 2010

Very rare Heuer diver

The Ref. 980.004 / 1



This is the rare Heuer ref. 980.004/1. With original full length bracelet. This bracelet was not signed on clasp. A large 40mm rarely seen Heuer.





It's from the 1980's and have the new slimmer ETA 955.114 movement. The same movement used in the updated TagHeuer 1000 diver series with a N behind the referance number.
I like the black Date/Day window, that's a nice detail.




It was shown in the 1982 Heuer diver watch catalogue. My watch moved to a new owner as I found the design a little to simple.
German watchmaker Sinn made their own version with an automtic movement.

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Tag Heuer 989.113N


This is the watch that started my interest for Heuer and Tag Heuer. I found this watch in a pawn shop in Belfast in Northern Ireland while I was there on a assignment as a photojournalist back in 2005. A deal was made and I never looked back. I quickly moved from Tag Heuers to vintage Heuer so this diver is no longer a part of my collection. I often regret selling it, I is a very nice diver in a all grey design.

The ref.number is 989.113N. The "N" indicates that this is a watch made after the merge with Tag in 1986 and that the movement is a ETA 955.112. This movement is much slimmer than the earlier ETA/ESA quartz movements used in the Heuer diver watches. The case back on this Tag is much lower in profile.




Great luminous face and black hands.

Original jubilee bracelet with Tag Heuer signed clasp.
These Tag Heuer / Heuer 1000 diver watches is great value for money. I highly recommend one if you are looking for a daily beater.

Sunday 10 January 2010

Super Autavia

Super Autavia the ultimate timer.

The Super Autavia is the most complex of the dash-mounted Heuers, a true chronograph that combines time-of-day and a stopwatch. Powered by a rare Valjoux 76 movement the Super Autavia was introduced in 1958.

This one is the first model with dials with baton markers not numerals as on later models. The bezel is coin-edged and the hour hand is thinner than on the later versions.


All Super Autavias are rare. This one is extra rare as it’s the first model and co-branded with Abercrombie & Fitch. Founded in New York City in 1892, Abercrombie & Fitch was a store devoted to apparel, equipment and supplies for all sorts of outdoor sports - from fishing to climbing to the most exotic of adventures. Heuer manufactured several interesting chronographs for Abercrombie & Fitch, and the full line of dash-mounted timers was also sold under the Abercrombie & Fitch name.

The beautyful Valjoux 76. That's a very nice movement.

In 1965 the movement was changed to Valjoux 5 and the style of the case was made to match the style of the other dash-mounted Heuers. The final variation of the Super Autavia featured a true 24-hour indication, with a unique red and blue bezel that allowed a start time to be marked or a second time zone to be tracked. The Super Autavia maintained its dignity, this top of the line chronograph was never produced in a plastic case.

The Super Autavia functions like this:

Time of Day is read as on a standard clock, with white hands for hours and minutes, and a seconds register at the bottom of the dial at 6:00. Heuer referred to this as the Super Autavia’s “White System”.

When the crown is pulled out, the movement stops instantly, allowing synchronization with a radio time signal or other source of “official” time (hack movement). Pushing down the crown to its normal position starts the movement again.

Time of Trip (Stopwatch) is indicated by what Heuer called the “Red System” – hours and half hours are read by the red-tipped hour hand against the red divisions on the turning bezel; minutes are read by the red hand on the small minute dial (at 12:00 o’clock); and seconds (accurate to 1/5 seconds) are read by the red center second hand.

The button in the crown starts and stops the stopwatch; the right pusher resets stopwatch hands to zero when stopwatch has been stopped. No flyback.
Thanks to Paul (Foilguy) at MWR (The Military Watch Resource) http://www.broadarrow.net/ for some pictures I could play with in Photoshop :-)