Great news: The Heuer Silverstone is coming back!
Calibre 11
Vintage Heuer watches | TAG Heuer watches
Good news for both Heuer and TAG Heuer fans- a new re-edition series is on the way, in part to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the company coming up next year.
So what is it? I wouldn’t leave you clueless:
- Has not been offered as a re-edition series previously
- Was initially launched by Heuer in the 1970s
- Was offered with two movements over its lifetime
- Is named after a place in Europe
All will be revealed on Saturday….
The news that Swiss watch exports fell in the first half of 2009 is not going to be a surprise for anyone. Take a look at the table to the left and its a fairly predictable, if worrying set of numbers.
Well, unless you happen to run a watch business in Seoul, in which case you had a very good year (which in itself is staggering when you consider the appalling state of the South Korean currency and economy last year).
The decrease was pretty much across the board- mechanical watches fell at about the same rate as quartz watches. Also not surprising is the fact that the least impacted sector were those watches with an export value of between CHF200-500.
So the fact that sales are down isn’t news, and nor is the fact that markets like Hong Kong and Singapore are now very important markets- but did you realise just how powerful these markets are in the overall context of watch production? Take a look at the following table for a surprising picture.
So, what will future TAG Heuer’s look like? Typically, new designs are kept under wraps until the Basel show to ensure maximum exposure and impact. However, if you have a new design that you intend to patent, then you have to submit a patent application..and the secret is out.
TAG Heuer have developed a strong relationship with the designer Christoph Behling, who has designed several products for TAG, including the Meridiist, the Grand Carrera and the Golf watch (an in particular the way that the Golf watch attaches to the wrist).
So what is this new design?
The Calibre 12 Heuer Silverstone (Ref. 110.313 and available in Blue, Red and Fume) is one of the most famous and distinctive Heuer models from the 1970′s. Introduced in 1974, the watch was part of the Heuer range until 1977 when it was dropped. Heuer never played around with too many variations of the Silverstone- three dial colours in the same case and each with the same movement (The Calibre 12- although there have been examples of Calibre 11 watches turning up).
The Silverstone made a comeback to the Heuer range in 1983 with a new model that bares no resemblance to the Calibre 12 model. Despite this, the “other” Silverstone is a great watch in its own right.
The 1983 Heuer Silverstone (Ref. 510.403) uses the Lemania 5100 movement and features a high-gloss case design that TAG Heuer later appropriated for the TAG Heuer Monza re-edition (the design of the TAG Heuer Monza being a combination of design cues from the Heuer Camaro and the Heuer Silverstone Lemania).
Last year TAG Heuer released a limited edition Grand Carrera for the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix- which was also the first ever race to be held at night. Singapore has been a strong market for limited edition watches, with TAG Heuer, Sinn and others releasing Singapore-only models
The 2008 watch (pictured right) sold out quickly, but the black and green colour combination looked a little odd, albeit distinctive.
With the 2009 Singapore race coming up, TAG have tried again and this time with much more success. Photos of the new model on the next page
This is the new TAG Heuer Carrera with the Calibre 5 movement (ETA 2824-2). The design is heavily influenced by the Calibre 1 Limited Edition manual wind watch that was released last year- both watches sharing the clous de Paris marking on the dial.
While I normally prefer Chronographs over a standard watch, the new Calibre 5 is a nice design- I like the elongated hour batons and the unsual date window and its not too big at 39mm. The watch comes in black and a brown dial- black is the one to have. Not sure about the bracelet either- this one would look better on a rally-style leather strap.
Larger photo of the Calibre 5 duo on the next page
The retro trend that kicked off in the late 1990′s must have been a dream for the marketing and product development guys. Step 1) Rifle through your brands old product catalog. Step 2) Modernise the design- a little. Step 3) Pump out a heritage based ad campaign. Step 4) Lunch.
Put yourself in the shoes of the team at TAG: the Carrera and Monaco re-editions had been a huge success for the company- how long must it have taken for someone to realise that there had not yet been a re-edition of the other famous model from the 1970′s- the Autavia? On the face of it, the decision to introduce a re-edition Autavia must have been what the marketing guys would call a “no-brainer”- so why did the model disappear within two years of release while the Carrera and Monaco are still going strong for TAG today?
/01Chronomatic.jpg "Chroomatic")
Without doubt the most fabled of the Heuer Monaco, Autavia and Carrera lines are those rare watches that carry the “Chronomatic” marking on the dial- a combination of the words “Chronograph” and “Automatic”. The very first Calibre 11 models released in 1969 have the Chronomatic marking on the dial, but these were only produced for a short time until Heuer replaced Chronomatic with the words “Automatic Chronograph” and moved the model name from below the hands to above the Heuer shield.
If you can find a Chronomatic Heuer, then buy it irrespective of condition- they command a very substantial premium over the later Calibre 11 models.
I’ve recently been looking around the website of the late Chuck Maddox, the renowned Heuer and Vintage watch aficionado. Chuck’s site contains a vast range of information, photos and articles written by Chuck up to the time of his untimely passing last year. Chuck’s blog is preserved here http://www.chronomaddox.com and it is well worth taking the time to visit.
Nice looking box…only available in Portugal. Any guesses?
Collecting vintage watches is a great hobby because its not just about the watches you have, but the stories of how you hunted them down.- the late night Ebay bargains, the fabled stories of stumbling upon a NOS Monaco at a watch store in the middle of nowhere and the restoration projects come good. The reality is that anyone could build an instant Heuer collection from scratch pretty quickly simply by buying from one of the specialist Heuer dealers…but I’m not sure that would be as satisfying in the long run.
To date, my collection has been built partly through planning (saving for 12 months for a Mint Monaco 1133B with original box and papers- must have looked and ruled out over 20 watches during the search) and partly through spontaneous decisions (the Calculator that I bought on a whim and is now one of my favourites). I’ve bought from dealers, from collectors, from Ebay and yes, even once from an antique market (although these are almost always disappointingly over-priced and poor quality).
While not wanting to leave behind the spontaneous purchasing, as my collection has grown I have been thinking more about the models that I don’t have that I would really like to add over the next few years. I’ve tried to limit the selection to the 12 that I would prioritise, so there are other Heuers that I like that I have left off the list..so here they are- the 12 target Heuers
One of the great aspects of the Heuer Autavia was the variety of movements, case designs and colours variations that are available. From the iconic two-register Automatic Siffert to the three-register GMT manual, there are many classic Autavia designs. Perhaps the rarest is the Diver 100 (Ref. 11063P), a model which appeared only once in the 1982 catalogue.
This model borrows much of its style from the Rolex Submariner- the bezel design, circular hour markers and Mercedes-style hands are straight out of the Rolex design book. The Diver 100 comes on either a jubilee bracelet or a tropic Diver. The jubilee bracelet was popular with Heuer divers in the 19080′s and kept on during the early TAG Heuer years. Its a nice design, but its shame that the bracelet itself feels so light and flimsy- it certainly doesn’t match the build quality of the rest of the watch.
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Index
- Heuer Watches (30)
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- PVD (9)
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- Heuer Watches (30)
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