Heuer 844 Monnin restoration

I love the big size Heuer divers like 844, 980.006 and the other versions. They look cool and the size is quite big even by todays standard.

I have been looking for a 844 Monnin for a while. I wanted to find one that needed some work. The prices of these first generation Heuer diver has gone crazy.

In Germany I found a a very sad looking 844 quartz. It was just what I was looking for with totally wrong bezel, and a movement in pieces. The important cathedral hands was painted all white and looked awful.

But the watch had potensial to be nice again, and it had the very rare original oyster bracelet.

The cathedral hands had to be stripped down to bare metal before reluming. This kind of hands is very important for a correct 844 Monnin.

The movement had to be replaced it was totally damaged and in parts. A NOS movement (ESA 536.121) was found on Ebay from Egypt. 

A bezel was located in USA from a fellow Heuer collector and friend. New screw in crown was bougth from England.

Put together again this turned out to be a very nice early 844 Monnin with quartz movement.

There's at least two versions of the quartz Monnin. The 844 and the 8440. The last one has a French quartz movement, and the first has ESA 536.121.