This year that saw the return of the Heuer Silverstone- one of the iconic 1970s Heuer models and one of my all-time favourites. The re-edition did a great job capturing the design essence of the original- not surprising given that except for a slightly larger case and minor changes to the sub-dials, the re-edition is basically identical to the original.

The original Calibre 12 Silverstone was released in the mid-1970s and offered in three colours- Red, “Fume” and Blue. The Silverstone was launched as the replacement for the Heuer Monaco, which …

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 (above 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Lemania Heuer Silverstone reference 510.403 from Calibre11.com- Vintage Heuer Blog; TAG Heuer blog

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 …