Back in February I posted a few photos of a tired Autavia that I had bought with the aim of having it restored. The 11063 GMT Autavia is one of the last of the Heuer Autavia series, and my favourite of the Autavia GMTs, with its all-black dial and over-sized case. They are however difficult to find, which is why I was prepared to buy one in need of some work.
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…
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It was a busy time for TAG Heuer in Shanghai this week, with the opening of a new boutique and a dinner to mark the 150th anniversary. Like every luxury brand, TAG Heuer has ambitious plans to grow its Chinese business, as shown by the presence of both CEO Jean-Christophe Babin and Honorary Chairman Jack Heuer in Shanghai.
The new boutique is located on Nanjing Road West, a fashionable shopping strip in Shanghai that features shop after shop stuffed with watches- both dealers and boutiques of the brands themselves. The TAG Heuer boutique is designed to sell not just watches, but also TAG Heuer’s growing product line, with dedicated areas set aside for accessories, sunglasses and the Meridiist mobile phone.
Pleasingly, there was also a significant amount of space given to a display on the history of Heuer/ TAG Heuer, as well as a display of some vintage Heuer watches (including a Heuer Daytona, a Heuer Monza and a Heuer Autavia).
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The TAG Heuer 300 SLR due in October will be the fifth SLR-branded TAG Heuer, a series that began as a limited edition watch only available if you also bought a Mercedes SLR McLaren, which at least gave you a way of getting your watch home fast.
The partnership with Mercedes-Benz grew from the shared association that TAG Heuer and Mercedes-Benz had with the McLaren F1 team, which in the early 2000s had sealed a deal with Mercedes-Benz to produce a Supercar that would be the spiritual successor to the famous Mercedes-Benz 300SLR of the 1950s.
The first SLR Calibre 36 was released in 2004 to mark the release of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, the first McLaren car since the famous McLaren F1, although one that was developed without the genius of Gordon Murray.
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While today you might associate James Bond with Omega watches, here is something you may not know: Before Bond strapped on his Seamaster, he wore a TAG Heuer diver in the 1987 James Bond film The Living Daylights.
This is the first time that Heuer/ TAG Heuer has been identified as being part of the rich legacy of watches worn by 007.
In fact it has taken Dell Deaton, a Bond aficionado who runs the website jamesbondwatches.com, more than two years to name the Heuer/ TAG Heuer 980.031 dive watch as being the watch worn by Bond as he attempts to dispose of yet another evil henchman.
Accurately identifying watches worn in older movies can be incredibly challenging, especially when sometimes all that’s available is a few seconds of blurry footage. Today life is easier, with watch companies lining up to tout their association with blockbuster films, but this hasn’t always been the case.
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If reading the interview with Jack Heuer has inspired you to add to your vintage Heuer collection, then the perfect opportunity is coming up in December 2010, when renowned Heuer collector Arno Haslinger will auction 81 watches from his amazing collection through Bonhams.
Arno’s collection is detailed in his terrific book “Heuer Chronographs” which has detailed photos of all the famous Heuer models from the 1970s, as well as the stories behind the development of each model. The book is a great read in itself, but it now also serves as a sort of preview of some of what you will find for sale in December.
So, what about the collection itself? Simply put, this is the best private Heuer collection in the world. Arno is a fastidious collector- he doesn’t touch anything unless it is 100% original and in mint condition- many of his watches are unworn “New Old Stock” examples- proper “NOS” with the fantastic original Heuer red sticker still on the back.
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Jack Heuer is one of the legends of the Swiss watchmaking industry, having led Heuer through it’s most dynamic- and turbulent- era.
The watches today that we think of when people talk about their love of vintage Heuer watches were all created under Jack Heuer’s leadership- Monaco, Autavia, Carrera, Monza, Montreal, Daytona, Silverstone- and many more.
Having cut his ties with the company following its forced sale in the early 1980s, Jack Heuer went on to a successful “second career” in the electronics industry, before returning to TAG Heuer in 2001.
But Jack is not just a link to the past- he has helped shape some of the TAG Heuer’s that we see today.
He is much-loved at TAG Heuer and played a key role at the event to mark TAG Heuer’s 150th anniversary, where he gave the opening address.
As well as finding out more about Jack Heuer’s early days in charge of Heuer, I wanted to show Jack several photos of famous Heuer models to get some of his memories about these watches and his perspective on TAG Heuer today.
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Baselworld is an incredibly busy time for anyone in the watch industry, and this is especially the case for the CEOs who are here to meet customers, talk with the media and generally promote their brand at a time when everyone is completing for attention and space.
When I met with Jean-Christophe Babin he was nine hours into a day that was back-to-back with meetings- yet he still looked and sounded as fresh as he would have at 9am.
The impact that Jean-Christophe Babin has had at TAG Heuer is hard to over-state. At his speech to launch the Pendulum movement, Jack Heuer said he considered Jean-Christophe to be the “fifth generation” of his family to run the company- it’s hard to get a more meaningful seal of approval than this.
I had 30 minutes with Jean-Christophe and was keen to get his perspective on his time at TAG Heuer and what he wanted to achieve in the future. The resulting interview was illuminating and frank- I hope you enjoy it.
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The highlight for me of TAG Heuer’s Baselworld watches was the TAG Heuer 300SLR, a new limited edition heritage watch to be released in October alongside the Monaco 24 and the new Grey Heuer Monaco re-edition.
While I didn’t manage to take any photos of the new watch, Hodinkee did manage to get some shots, which you can see here.
The 300SLR (ref. CAR2112) is based on the new Carrera Calibre 1887, but loses the external bezel and carries no Carrera markings. The dial itself is a metallic bronze colour, reminiscent of the Heuer Carrera 150.173F of the 1970s, and is finished with orange detailing.
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Two more watches that are new for Baselworld 2010 are the TAG Heuer Link Advanced GMT and the Lady F1.
I’ve never been a big fan of the Link series- OK, its more elegant than some of the more overtly sporting TAG Heuer watches, but it’s never been one to set the heart racing.
This GMT version however is quite clever. The watch has a magnetic bezel system, and as you rotate the bezel the disc with the city names also rotates.
The watch uses the Calibre 7 movement (ETA 2893) and features a hidden button at 10 o’clock to re-set the GMT.
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Debating the merits of watch movements is usually a sport reserved for the true Watch Idiot Savant. When I bought my first automatic watch (a Heuer Monza re-edition), I took it back to the store shortly after I bought it because I noticed that if I didn’t wear it for a few days, it tended to stop. The funny thing is that as soon as I started wearing it again, it worked fine…surely I can’t be the only one who has done this.
One of the secrets of the Swiss watch industry over the last 20 years is that basically everyone was using the same movements- OK, a few high-end brands had their own, but generally it was ETA/ Valjoux as far as they eye could see and customers generally didn’t care.
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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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The Monaco 24 Concept that was shown at Baselworld last year is being prepared for an Q4 2010 launch. The watch has a titanium PVD case and the Calibre 36 (El Primero) movement.
A quick re-fresh- The Monaco 24 uses the same case as the Monaco LS, with the curved crystal wrapping around the side of the case. The Monaco 24 has bespoke pushers and crown, and swaps the LS-layout for more traditional sub-dials.
The dial has the famous “Gulf” colours also used on the Limited Edition Gulf Monaco released last year.
The real magic to this watch is firstly the black PVD titanium (reminescent of the famous Heuer Monaco PVD) and secondly the “floating” round dial that sits suspended in the case.
TAG Heuer will release the Monaco 24 in the fourth quarter of 2010 alongside the new Grey Heuer Monaco….and a third “heritage” watch.
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Cheers Arno
