Baselworld was the first chance that I had to put together the new TAG Heuer Silverstone re-edition and a vintage Heuer Silverstone to compare the similarities. Obviously, the two are very similar, with the only differences being:
- New Silverstone (right) slightly larger diameter than vintage (left), as well as having a thicker case
- The vintage blue Silverstone has a metallic inner bezel, where the new model’s bezel has the same finish as the dial
- The word “Swiss” has moved from the top of the date window to sitting either side of the date window
- The sub-dials of the new Silverstone has more hash marks than the vintage version
And that’s it- apart from that, they are identical..and the differences mentioned above are pretty small in the scheme of things.
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Heuer’s relationship with Lemania in the early 1980s was brief, but intense. As the first part of the Heuer/ Lemania story detailed, Heuer was actually owned by a consortium involving Lemania for a few short years before being sold to TAG in 1984/5. This relationship explains why there were so many Heuer models using the Lemania 5100 movement in the early 1980s.
However what this doesn’t explain is why are there so many other brands that sold almost identical version of these Heuer watches. Based on the trusty formula of two-parts research mixed with one-part assumption and one-parts guesswork, the conclusion is perhaps surprising: Because for the most part, they were not Heuer designs in the first place.
Before explaining why many of these designs were likely owned by Lemania itself, its worth revisiting the basics of the way that Swiss watch industry was structured.
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Following the post last week about the upcoming Heuer Silverstone re-edition, I’ve had several e-mails asking what the new model will look like. The simplest answer is it will look very, very similar to the Vintage Silverstone models.
And this is no bad thing, because the Heuer Silverstone is one of the most distinctive Heuer models- there’s not much else around from the other watch houses that looks like the Silverstone, a pure slice of 1970s design.
So rather than a detailed review of the Heuer Silverstone, below are a few photos of the Blue and Fume Silverstones to hold you over until the re-editions arrive. Its the Blue Silverstone that seems to be the most prized amongst collectors, but the Fume (or Smoke) Silverstone that has the most distinctive dial- a fabulous metallic star-burst finish that changes appearance depending on the ligh, a quality difficult to capture in photos.
More photos of the Silverstone pair after the jump.
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There has been some intense debate over the last few days about the Heuer Silverstone Lemania, and in particular the authenticity of one example. As was the case with many Heuer models in the early 1980s, there are some inconsistencies between different examples of the watch, which has led to questions over what characteristics a 100% genuine Silverstone Lemania should have.
You can read more about the points being debated here and here
The Lemania Silverstone is one of my favourite Heuer watches and you may recall this earlier post on Calibre 11 about the Lemania-powered Silverstone- http://www.calibre11.com/2009/08/22/the-other-silverstone/
Rather than add to the debate here, below are a couple of photos of my Silverstone, which have different markings than the watch under question over at Vetroplastica. A warning- to show these markings in detail, the images after the jump are large files that may take some time to load.
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Every year it seems that a different Vintage Heuer model enjoys its moment in the sun- collectors suddenly realise that there are some under-appreciated models out there (with under-appreciated prices to match), a few examples are bought and photos posted…and the Heuer collecting world has a new favourite.
Of course, there are always the “blue-chip” models- 1133B Monaco, Siffert Autavia, Carrera 12 that will continue to appreciate (although my view is that the Siffert and 1133B values will slow in their appreciation), but the real fun comes in finding models that are off the radar of most collectors and so can still be bought at reasonable prices.
I have tried to limit my list to models that are reasonably easy to find- some models have such a low “Samples Per Year” count (see http://onthedash.com/priceguide.shtml) that a some collectors will pay whatever the asking price when one is available…because it will be a long time before the next one comes long.
Here are five models that I believe could be the big price movers for 2010:
1) Heuer 510.500/ 501/502/503
These Lemania 5100 powered watches were released in the final days of Heuer and survived through to about 1986 as TAG Heuer models. Through their production run they were offered with a date window and later a day/ date window as pictured left.
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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).
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Thought that I would share this high-res close-up of my blue Silverstone dial that was taken by Abel, who is currently doing some work on the watch.
There are two things that stand out for me- the first is that the blue has a fantastic metallic hue to it and the second is that the dial is round! Not sure why this surprised me: I guess that with the watch being square in shape I expected the dial to be the same.
You can also see that the hands are all original and have developed a green tinge near the central stem- a reaction from the metal I guess
Photo: Abel Court
Cheers Arno
