Issued Heuer split second timer

Lovely blued steel hands..... a very nice touch.

This is a issued Heuer stopwatch from the 1950's. I thought I had bougth a cool military issued Heuer, but some research of the GPO engravings on the back led me to the British Post service "General Post Office". Not as exciting as a war veteran, but still kind a cool.

The markings on the back says 6 GPO, BAU 53, 60107. 53 stand for 1953, the year it was issued. There is a website about GPO Watches, check out: http://www.britishtelephones.com/clocks/watches.htm

My watch is number 6, described as:

"Watch No. 6 is an 8-hour, high-grade, keyless, lever stop-watch of the permanent-motion type with a continuously operating seconds hand at the bottom of the dial, and two stop-start centre seconds fly-back hands with an associated revolution register at the top of the dial. The centre-seconds hands make one complete revolution in 100 seconds over a scale marked in half-second divisions and the revolution register integrates the revolutions of the upper centre-seconds hand up to a period of 3000 seconds. i.e. 30 revolutions."

This Heuer split stopwatch, was issued for the accurate measurement and timing of the electro-mechanical call timing equipment.

The movement is a lovely finished Valjoux 57. Fully signed, and with a very loud ticking sound. The second hand at six, is constantly running, even if the stopwatch is not engaged.

The bridge and case is signed Ed.Heuer & Co, Switzerland.

Monaco 73633 G

This a cool classic Heuer. A manual version of the famous Heuer Monaco made famous from the film "Le Mans" starring Steve Mc Queen. He used the more common blue dialed 1133 B version with the automatic caliber 12. This manual Monaco is driven by a Valjoux 7736 and have a all grey dial.The ref. 73633 is known in three different versions. The blue dialed 73633 B with white subdials. And the two different dials on the 73633 G, one all grey, and the other with black/dark grey subdials. The all grey is belived to be the earliest of the two.

This Monaco is in good orignal condition. Very nice dial and hands. The case has not been polished. The back is stamped with the Heuer logo and Tool No. 033, the special tool required to open the waterproof case.

It even have the original bracelet. That is a nice bonus. They are rare, and very expensive if you can find one.

The ref. 73633 G and B is listed in this 1972 Heuer catalogue.

Original crown and pushers in nice condition. Most of the original finish is still visible.

The only litle fault I can see is a tiny missing lume part from from the hour hand. All in all is this a very fine example of one of Heuers coolest chronographs. A real classic...

Heuer 844 French made diver.

This is one of the first Heuer made diver watches. The 844 model was made for Heuer in 1979-80 in France by G. Monnin. This was the first trial run for Heuer into the divers watch market. Heuer did not think it would be worth while tooling up for something like that so they purchased already existing models in France. As you can see the divers watch market was very successful, that they started to gear up in 1980's with swiss made movement.

The dial is printed with "MADE IN : FRANCE" on the bottom, and say : "METRES" and : "PROFESSIONEL" as opposed to : anglicized "METERS" and "PROFESSIONAL" versions of that. The hands are of cathedral type. There is also red 24 hour numeral on the dial. The case back is plain with no Heuer logo. And is stamped 844 rather crudely. "ETANCHE ACIER - 20 ATM - AUTOMATIC" is also stamped around the edge.The movement is Felsa FE 4611A and is signed G. Monnin France on the rotor. Later Swiss made Heuer divers have movements from ETA.

Inside of case back is signed G. Monnin France.

It's a full size 42mm big diver with 24hour dial and screw in unsigned crown. I like it a lot. Looks cool on a NATO strap.

Autavia caliber 15 Ref. 1563

Here's my Autavia Ref. 1563 with caliber 15. The caliber 15 version was a economic version of the Caliber 12. The hour register was replaced with a small running seconds hand at 10. To the right is the same 30min register as found in caliber 11/12.

The case is the same as Autavia 1163, and is stamped 1163, not 1563 between the lugs at 12. This is normal, I have never seen a Autavia stamped 1563.

The Autavia 1562 was listed in catalogues in the early 1970's. There was two versions, black and white. And two different bezels, tachymeter or hour/minutes. The crystal is plastic and can easily be polished to remove scratches.
The pushers is fully visible from front, and partially obstructed from back. This indicates that the case is a 1163 and was made by Schimtz.

The caseback is signed Heuer - Leonidas SA inside.

Autavia Ref. 7763 MH

The Ref. 7763 Autavia is one of my favorites. It was my first vintage Heuer, and really kick off my interest for vintage watches. It's the second generation Autavia with snap-back case 30 min. register, and is driven by a Valjoux 7730. The back is marked with "Autavia" and the Heuer logo.

There is two versions, 7763 TH with tachymeter bezel, and 7763 MH, with Miles/Hour bezel. They was listed in the catalogues from 1968-1971. It's quite big at 40,5mm, lug size is 20mm.

To the left is Ref. 7763 as pictured in a Heuer catalogue from 1970. The price back then was US 105$ with Corfam strap, and US 120$ with a stainless steel bracelet.

The case is stainless steel, and is super water resistant, tested at 330 feet, or 100 meter. The turning bezel (MH) has combined 60 minute and 12 hour division. The dial is black with two white register, running second to the left, and 30 min. counter to the right.

The Valjoux 7730 movement is signed Heuer-Leonidas on the bridge. The case back is also signed Heuer-Leonidas on the inside.

The ref. number 7763 is stamped between the lugs.

Art Deco Heuer

This is a rare one, an Art Deco styled very early 14k. gold Heuer mens watch. It is not signed Heuer anywhere, this is a Rose watch, signed “Rose W. Co” on case and movement. The watch is small, only 18mm x 30mm. To small for a man today. It is in very good original condition, even if it’s nearly 100 years old. Not bad.

In April 1912 Heuer was renamed “Heuer & co., Rose Watch co.” Charles-Auguste and Jules-Edouard at the urging of their American partner decided to use the trade name "ROSE WATCH COMPANY" on all watch movements imported into the USA. Due to high customs tariff on complete Swiss watches during this time period, Heuer would send a complete movement without a case. The movement was then installed in a US-made case.

In 1922, after ten years, Heuer stopped using the “Rose”-name. So from 1912-1922, all Heuer watches sold in USA was signed “Rose W. Co.”. A full range of pocket-, mens-, ladies watches and chronographs was marketed.

Autavia Ref. 1563

Here's my latest member of my collection. A Heuer Autavia Ref. 1563 from around 1971.

The bezel have a lot of wear, and will soon be replaced with a better one. The watch keeps good time, and I love those orange hands. I will post more when I put on the new bezel.