Heuer Autavia GMT Restored
The work was done by Abel Court, a well-known Heuer collector who has the magic touch when it comes to restoring these old watches. Abel’s work has previously featured on Calibre 11, through his customised Autavia and his restoration of his dream watch- a Heuer Monaco PVD. What I love about Abel’s work is the balance between restoring the parts that need to be fixed, but also being ready to leave as much of the watch as possible in original condition.
We’ve all seen a lot of “restored” Heuers and the majority are absolute rubbish- done by people who probably weren’t even sure what the original looked like and almost always featuring a few alien parts from the parts bin. The good news is that there are some Heuer lovers who do great work at reviving these watches and have a great passion for their work…its worth seeking them out rather than going to your local default watchmaker.
So, a huge thanks to Abel for his efforts and skill. My thanks also to Alex Peters and the “mystery man”, who were a great help in tracking down a couple of key parts needed for the watch- much appreciated. So, on to the photos…
Before
I bought the watch from an eBay auction in December and was pleasantly surprised when the watch arrived- sure, the bezel was rusted and the glass crystal badly scratched, but the case was pretty solid and didn’t have any really deep marks
The photo dial itself was OK, but all the lume had come off the hour markers and some of the metal finish was starting to come off the silver hour-markers themselves. The hands were OK- a little out of shape and discolored, but at least they were original.
During
I love this photo- I think it’s the first time that I have ever seen the modular Calibre 14 movement separated into its two components- the Buren base movement and the Dubois-Depraz chronograph movement. Of course, Abel gave the movement a full service- who knows when it was last serviced? OK, onto the serious work- here is the case being sanded back and the scratches and small dents removed. How does Abel do this? A trade secret!
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