My newish Heuer chrono with valjoux cal. 7765

I really don't post enough here at XMT so first, I just want to say hi to everyone and to make amends I'm posting a small intro premiere of my vintage Heuer chrono I recently acquired in all its PVD glory. I'm not much of a black watch guy but when I saw the rarity and condition of this I couldn't resist. I picked it up a few weeks and have found a liking to the size and look. It's really easy to tell time and the layout with its 'inverted' tri-compax look is original, IMO. What's more though is that if you look closely, there isn't a subregister at the three o'clock position where the date resides - it's like an optical illusion. Very endearing! To the best of my knowledge this chrono came out circa 1978-1979 at the tail end of the quartz invasion. Inside the case is a lower-cost manual wind Valjoux cal. 7765 that runs to 30 minutes. While not the most elaborate caliber Valjoux's ever made, it has great amplitude and is pretty robust. Winding is easier than my vintage Speedy Pros.

David from Calibre11 forwarded a snippet from Chronocentric that stated Hans Schrag, who was with Heuer for many years, listed this as Heuer cal. 1611. This particular specimen is cased by G. Monnin in France I think, even though it still says Swiss Made on the dial. Some have called this Heuer a military chronograph but I have yet to track down what branch of any military unit that actually used this - any info shared would be appreciated to help further the research.



BTW. Some of you guys may remember that I saw this last year in Japan and was ogling this particular cal. 7765 for a bit. So cool, right? That Heuer came out the same time as this one. But notice how this one below says Made in France.




But in the catalog scanned by el Maestro they're listed side-by-side. Chronomaddox:




And some specs from Jeff Stein, On the Dash:




And one more listing from Watch Time. I'm not trusting the production dates quoted here though - from all other sources the cal. 7765 was at least in production a good three to four years earlier, but FYI regardless.




Thanks for reading, and thanks to the following places from where I was gleaning knowledge.

http://classicheuers.blogspot.com/

http://www.calibre11.com

http://www.onthedash.com/

http://chronomaddox.com/#Other
(and yes - the man does know about other chronos besides Omega's!)


I guess I'll finish it off with a couple of extra shots.





(cool emoticons!)

L

That is a BEAUTIFUL vintage chronograph that you have there!!! Love it!!

First, good to see you again, thanks for coming by!

Second, very cool vintage, glad you got one you have been chasing!

A lot of great info in the post...Thanks!

You know I love those Pre-ruination Heuers! Glad you found one that is in such nice shape. Also appreciated all the reading material along with the terrific photos.

What an AWESOME looking watch ! That case shape
is just SO good ! Some unique touches with the sub-dials
as well ! I especially like how wide that chapter ring is on
the watch. Also think the orange hand is VERY cool.
As is that strap for that matter ! Congrats to you and
Enjoy !

Outstanding!!!! Very cool vintage piece; looks to be in excellent shape, great pick up!

Fantastic watch and an awesome post, thanks for all the reading material!!

NICE, war! Love those classic Heuers! Cool research too, thx for posting. ENjoy it, she's a BEAUT!!!

That was an awesome post...That vintage Tag is amazing...Congrats on your pick up..Look forward to your postings here...

Glad to see you posting and great lookin Heuer!

Hey, Lewis. Glad to see you here. Nice Heuer. And man, that's some great info about the watch.

And you Omega lovers; wait until you see Lewis's gray and orange Speedmaster. The watch I actually have lust in my heart for.

Thank you guys!

Re: jackprime1 - As an aside and not to be nit-picky, and please forgive my anality in advance, but TAG Group (Techniques d'Avant Garde) didn't come into the picture until the mid 80's which is partially what Doc was alluding earlier - TAG had no affliation to watches before that since they were into making parts for Formula 1 cars, when a wealthy Saudi businessman named Akram Ojjeh decided that he wanted the brand in his stable of companies. While his family initially made its fortune as arms dealers to the Middle East, Akram Ojjeh - with the help of Ron Dennis - diversified from the shadier business ventures and started TAG as a producer of turbo engines. Niki Lauda and Alain Prost both raced under TAG power. His son Mansour Ojjeh now heads the operation and currently owns a good portion of McLaren International. Sorry for the pseudo-history, I like F1 racing...

I'll try and spin off the back at some point to document the spartan movement. Other than that I've been finding this a good pickup. The Tropic strap with the racing holes have pulled its share of weight over the years of usage but still holding on well, but you can see in parts that it's taken on a glossy patina. It's not a high-maintenance watch as far as vintage chronos go, and is actually one where there are a few spare parts still to be had, unlike some Monnin-produced divers or earlier Autavias. IMHO it looks the business from a WIS standpoint and can hold its own in terms of being a vintage chrono, enough at least that the Speedy Pro mafia in the watchbox won't push it around too much, but it's also subtle enough that the typical lay person wouldn't give it a second glance because it doesn't give off too much of a bling factor. This is not a watch for the aspiring gangsta rapper.

Re: porschefan - The Tangerine Dream's in the local shop right now getting a spa treatment - there's an Omega GTG this weekend at Topper and I wanted it looking spiffy. If anyone else is in the bay area and want to look over Rob Caplan's newest offerings from Baselworld ( he just flew back a couple of days ago, and boy are his arms tired... ba-dump-bump!) let me know and I'll send direx and pop you on the seating chart as we're all having grub afterwards at the Burlingame Il Fornaio.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Lewis, you should start a thread in the "General Watch Discussion" room mentioning the GTG. It might get more notice there. I wish I could get up there.

Re: jackprime1 - As an aside and not to be nit-picky, and please forgive
my anality in advance, but TAG Group (Techniques d'Avant Garde) didn't
come into the picture until the mid 80's which is partially what Doc was
alluding earlier - TAG had no affliation to watches before that since
they were into making parts for Formula 1 cars, when a wealthy Saudi
businessman named Akram Ojjeh decided that he wanted the brand in his
stable of companies. While his family initially made its fortune as arms
dealers to the Middle East, Akram Ojjeh - with the help of Ron Dennis -
diversified from the shadier business ventures and started TAG as a
producer of turbo engines. Niki Lauda and Alain Prost both raced under
TAG power. His son Mansour Ojjeh now heads the operation and currently
owns a good portion of McLaren International. Sorry for the
pseudo-history, I like F1 racing...

My bad brutha...did not realize since my knowledge of horology is still in its infant stage...Did not mean to offend you but glad you explained that to me and always love learning something new everyday. Thanks for the info....its appreciated.

Jack, like most of us already around here, Lewis takes much more than that to be offended.
And he also takes some damn fine photos, as well.

Wow, that is beautiful. I'm not very interested in most vintage watches but that what is fantastic. The fact that it is manual wind appeals to me, too. I prefer manual wind to automatic. Congratulations.

porschefan wrote:

Jack, like most of us already around here, Lewis takes much more than that to be offended.
And he also takes some damn fine photos, as well.

Thats good to hear since I know some people get offended when you post wrong info about their post and I don't want to offend anyone since I am learning more and more everyday. Thanks bro much appreciated. I totally agree on those pics...They are awesome...and it is a beautiful watch...

WoW, Thats one of the Coolest Vintage Chronos I've ever seen

jackprime1 wrote:

porschefan wrote:

Jack, like most of us already around here, Lewis takes much more than that to be offended.
And he also takes some damn fine photos, as well.

Thats good to hear since I know some people get offended when you post wrong info about their post and I don't want to offend anyone since I am learning more and more everyday. Thanks bro much appreciated. I totally agree on those pics...They are awesome...and it is a beautiful watch...

LOL - you'll soon find that it takes a lot of sh!t to piss me off, as Tim and some others know. The only time I've gone flame on - ever - on a watch forum was when some British douchebag who didn't know me from Adam decided to lord his mod status over some non-sensical triviality. Guys like that deserve no love IMO. Regardless. Glad to make your acquaintance, Jack, and know that you have a bunch of knowledgeable peeps here to feed your WIS appetite and appreciate your kind words.

waruilewi wrote:

jackprime1 wrote:

porschefan wrote:

Jack, like most of us already around here, Lewis takes much more than that to be offended.
And he also takes some damn fine photos, as well.

Thats good to hear since I know some people get offended when you post wrong info about their post and I don't want to offend anyone since I am learning more and more everyday. Thanks bro much appreciated. I totally agree on those pics...They are awesome...and it is a beautiful watch...

LOL - you'll soon find that it takes a lot of sh!t to piss me off, as Tim and some others know. The only time I've gone flame on - ever - on a watch forum was when some British douchebag who didn't know me from Adam decided to lord his mod status over some non-sensical triviality. Guys like that deserve no love IMO. Regardless. Glad to make your acquaintance, Jack, and know that you have a bunch of knowledgeable peeps here to feed your WIS appetite and appreciate your kind words.

Thanks brutha I appreciate that...I look forward to your participation here. I actually seen a watch similar to yours for sale at wus and is an amazing piece also. Yeah I know how some people get on the forums and some people just have their foot up their azzes...lol...and take stuff way too seriously and that's what I love about this forum. No one treats each other differently, no clicks, no watch is too good or below anyone's standards. I learn something new every day and that to me is valuable and also makes a very successful forum imho..