Heuer Autavia...holy hotness!

While poking around the internet, I ran across a pretty cool article about the Heuer Autavia, the first automatic chronograph. Here is the intro to the article for some perspective:

On march 3 1969, the first automatic chronograph movement was introduced. This movement, called Chronomatic, was developed by a joint venture of Heuer, Breitling, Buren and Dubois-Depraz. The Chronomatic was used by Heuer, Breitling and Buren under the name of caliber 11.



Cover of Swiss Watch and Juwelry Journal


HEUER AUTAVIA 1163





HEUER AUTAVIA 11063 GMT - From the 80's




HEUER REGATTA 136.601 BLACK




Pictures from heuarautavia.com


Here is the link to the article as well as another site purely dedicated to the Heuer Autavia --->>>> http://www.monochrome.nl/the-first-automatic-chronograph-movement/
http://www.heuerautavia.com/00000099190794c03/000000991907baa19/index.html

I would love to see some re editions of those
The black one had to be waaay ahead of it`s time!

This one is for Tim:

You have hit on the main reason I am not a TAG fan - they helped kill Heuer. Heuer had some of the hottest watches ever in the 60s and 70s. TAG bought the name and promptly put out stuff with the Heuer name but not the Heuer STYLE.

Thanks Mark. I remember every one of those fellas.

Make sure if you do pick up one of those that they're in good running order. I made a play for one before speaking to my watchmaker and he mentioned in passing that the older Cal 11 and 12's are very difficult to obtain spare parts for. FYI.

That said, it doesn't discourage me from picking up a cherry Jo Siffert if I can find a clean version for under $5k. I'll just have to pick up a thrashed 1163 as a backup for cannibalism. Here's another shot of that particular piece.




And if you guys like vintage chronos, stop on by David C's calibre 11 which also has some great tidbits on these guys as well as an awesome interview he just did with Jack Heuer himself at Baselworld 2010.

Rambam wrote:

I would love to see some re editions of those
The black one had to be waaay ahead of it`s time!

They had some - the Autavia re-editions came out a few years back and looked - IMO - a bit too designed-by-consensus and apparently did not do too well in the marketplace. For example, while the Siffert re-edition languished and can be had for @ $1.5-1.8k on the bay, the original 1163 Siffert kept right on appreciating, with NOS examples coming in about $8-9k.

Don't recall seeing these links so I'll add:

http://www.heuerautavia.com/

http://www.vintageheuer.com/

Rambam wrote:

I would love to see some re editions of those
The black one had to be waaay ahead of it`s time!

Docrwm wrote:

You have hit on the main reason I am not a TAG fan - they helped kill Heuer. Heuer had some of the hottest watches ever in the 60s and 70s. TAG bought the name and promptly put out stuff with the Heuer name but not the Heuer STYLE.

I was thinking the same thing Kenneth ! Imagine if they brought
those back somehow. That would really be something else, and that
black one is EXTRA cool also !

Thanks for that history lesson as well Doc ! I must admit, I did not
know the story behind Heuer and Tag ! I know recently I had seen watches
with only "Heuer" on the dial, which were vintage. I just thought that perhaps
they were leaving out Tag or something. Now I know a little bit more about it !
Thank you !

..and THANKS to you also Mark ! These Autavias are off the charts !!!!
I like everything about the case shapes, nicely detailed dials, as well as the
movements. The bracelets are outstanding by the way. They, along with
the case, remind me a little of Doxa ! ..REALLY like these watches !
Some very cool links also !

A little more history....(from ulackfocus on WUS)

Heuer was acquired by TAG (Techniques d'Avant-Garde) in 1985. While the language is French, the company was not - it's Arab owned. Controlling interest of TAG was sold to LVMH in 1999 for $739,000,000.

Here is the difintive thread with all the history of the two brands...it's at WUS.....YOU WILL LEARN A LOT.

http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=303624&highlight=Techniques

I really love the old Heuers, and the new Tag Heuers, even the new reissued Heuer Chronos, by Tag Heuer.

sixtysix wrote:

A little more history....(from ulackfocus on WUS)

Heuer was acquired by TAG (Techniques d'Avant-Garde) in 1985. While the language is French, the company was not - it's Arab owned. Controlling interest of TAG was sold to LVMH in 1999 for $739,000,000.

Here is the difintive thread with all the history of the two brands...it's at WUS.....YOU WILL LEARN A LOT.

http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=303624&highlight=Techniques

I really love the old Heuers, and the new Tag Heuers, even the new reissued Heuer Chronos, by Tag Heuer.

Wow, I am really learning alot with this Gary ! Never knew what TAG stood for, or that they
were sold in 1999 either. Thanks for the info, and links sir !..Just as a side note, for you as a Tag
Heuer fan, do you think they should go back to Heuer, or keep the TAG there as well ?

AtomicTom wrote:

Wow, I am really learning alot with this Gary ! Never knew what TAG stood for, or that they
were sold in 1999 either. Thanks for the info, and links sir !..Just as a side note, for you as a Tag
Heuer fan, do you think they should go back to Heuer, or keep the TAG there as well ?

I think TAG Heuer has become too much of a 'brand' or a 'marketing name' to change it now. Most people only refer to them as TAG...I usually try not to. I always try to write out the Heuer only because it's the important part of the name. I learned a lot from that thread too, that's why I remembered it.

vintage Heuer ..... got mine. Powered by the cal 12.

DMB wrote:

vintage Heuer ..... got mine. Powered by the cal 12.

One of the nicestt examples I have seen, and Heuer Chronos were generally very nice to start off with!

Docrwm wrote:

DMB wrote:

vintage Heuer ..... got mine. Powered by the cal 12.

One of the nicestt examples I have seen, and Heuer Chronos were generally very nice to start off with!

I have seen this one a few times (in postings around the forums) and Doc is right, this is beautiful and rare.

sixtysix wrote:

AtomicTom wrote:

Wow, I am really learning alot with this Gary ! Never knew what TAG stood for, or that they
were sold in 1999 either. Thanks for the info, and links sir !..Just as a side note, for you as a Tag
Heuer fan, do you think they should go back to Heuer, or keep the TAG there as well ?

I think TAG Heuer has become too much of a 'brand' or a 'marketing name' to change it now. Most people only refer to them as TAG...I usually try not to. I always try to write out the Heuer only because it's the important part of the name. I learned a lot from that thread too, that's why I remembered it.

You are probably right about them not changing it back Gary !..Have to admit, I got into calling them
Tag once in a while. Just thought it was their name ! ..Thanks again for the info sir, it was much
appreciated !

I bought this "Daytona" new in 1976, but sold it about six years ago to finance other acquisitions.

Saw this one at TZ-UK in the Friday Watch thread (they do WUWing 1x per week there). Hadn't seen a GMT with Pepsi Heuer before.