The Case for the Heuer Montreal
Normally when I take photographs of watches I spend most of the time on the head-on shots of the dial- after all, this is the view that you have when you look at your watch. This angle offers the best view of the hands, the sub-dials and any pattern on the dial (oh, and you can also tell the time).
However today I want to focus on the Heuer Montreal- and ignore its dial and hands and instead focus on its amazing case finishing. That is not to say that the dial of the Montreal is not something special: this white example (ref. 110.503W) is one of the most colourful Heuer dials- white, blue, red, black and orange/ yellow all making an appearance. But its the case of the Montreal that really sets it out from other Heuer models and makes it unique.
The Heuer Montreal first appeared in the 1972 Heuer catalogue and was powered by the Calibre 12 Chronomatic movement. The Montreal was initially available in four colours:
- White
- Black (PVD)
- Blue (bright)
- Gold
By 1974, Heuer had added a second blue colour (slightly more subdued than the first blue), a black with white sub-dials and a black dial in a stainless steel case (known as the “Stefan Bellof” Montreal).
The Calibre 12 Montreal was phased out during the mid-1970s and replaced with a new Valjoux powered “Montreal” in 1977- but to me its the first Calibre 12 Montreal’s that are the memorable models.
You might think that the inspiration behind the name is obvious- a continuation of the Heuer policy of naming watches after famous F1 racing tracks- but this was not the case for the Heuer Montreal as the first Montreal GP wasn’t held until 1978. As Arno Haslinger details in his wonderful book, the name was actually chosen to further Heuer’s efforts in the North American market. Why Montreal? The World Fair of 1967 had been held in Montreal, and it was announced in the early 1970s that the city would also hold the 1976 Olympic Games.
Heuer was not the only company to name one of its models after the famous city- Alfa Romeo producing the Montreal for most of the 1970s having shown the first prototype at the 1967 World Fair.
The Montreal is not one of the more expensive Heuer models- but it is one of the hardest to find in decent condition. Looking at these photos and you can see the wonderful star-burst finish of the case contrasting sharply with the highly polished sides- and with the beautiful crisp edges that typified many 1970s Heuers. About 95% of the Montreal’s that you will see for sale have the cases polished- sometimes lightly, sometimes hideously buffed to a smooth finish. I can tolerate case polishing on some watches- but not the Montreal. To lose the case grinding is to lose a large part of what made the watch so distinctive in the first place.
If you do find a Montreal with an original, mint case- buy it irrespective of the dial. That’s not to say that the dials are plentiful and easy to replace, but I’d rather look for a dial than a decent case. The inverse is also true- there are several Montreals on eBay at the moment with polished cases…I’d recommend steering well clear as you won’t be getting the true Montreal experience.
Photos: A. Tolley
Beautiful!