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).

The Lemania Silverstone came on a Tropic Rubber strap, and may have also been available on a rare Novavit SA bracelet- I’ve never seen confirmation of this in any of the Heuer catalogs.

In the period when Piaget Group owned Heuer (prior to the TAG acquisition in 1984/5), Heuer started to move away from its policy of naming its watches after famous racing tracks- and so sadly, the Silverstone Lemania saw out its last days as part of the Heuer 1000 range in the 1985 catalog.

As you can see abve, its the same watch as the Silverstone, but no more “Silverstone” on the dial, but instead being known by the evocative code number- 510.403.

Is it any wonder that Heuer/ TAG Heuer spent so long in the wilderness in the 1980′s with decisions like that? Its sad to read through the catalogs of the early-1980′s and compare them to those of the 1970′s- evocative racing drivers, famous tracks and Grand Prix heritage, all replaced by an image that could be any other brand. Still, this needs to be seen in the context of the Quartz-crisis, which had decimated the entire Swiss watch-making industry.

The “Poor- Man’s” Variants

The term “Poor-Man’s” version is a somewhat derogatory way of referring to a model that looks the same as a more expensive brand, but has a house brand or a lower cost brand on the dial. Generally the Rich-Man and Poor-Man models are assembled in exactly  the same factory from exactly the same parts, so the Poor-Man watches are a great value option if you’re not too worried about the logo on your dial.

As with many of the Heuer 1000 range, there were a number of Poor-Man’s versions of the Lemania Silverstone- although they came with a blue herringbone pattern-dial, rather than the plain black of the Heuer. Below are three such versions of the “Silverstone Lemania- from Lemania itself, Sinn (Model 7080) and a brand called Gabriel, which I don’t know a lot about.

The herringbone pattern on these watches is similar to that used on the Lemania-powered Heuer Cortina- like the Silverstone, a model name resurrected in the early 1980′s, but a model that bares no relation to its 1970′s predecessor.

As with many of the 1000 model range, its not clear why there were so many Poor-Man’s versions available. Did Heuer develop these watches and then seek to on-sell the designs to other watch houses- or was it the opposite? A range of watches developed by Lemania that the company then on-sold to clients, including Heuer.

The Heuer Silverstone Herringbone?

Last year on E-bay there was a Blue herringbone pattern Heuer Silverstone for sale, a watch which the crew over at onthedash.com quickly identified as being a re-dial due to the lack of serif script on the word “Silverstone”.

This week there has been a discussion on the Italian Heuer forum Vetroplastica about the suspicious number of NOS Silverstone’s that are appearing on the market (See discussion here )

There is no doubt that there are a number of parts-bin specials that someone in Italy is putting together- typically, the case is 100% correct as are the sub-dial hands, but the hour and minute hands are never the same as the original Heuer items. Some of these examples also have a Heuer shield on the crown (which the original never did) and other details missing that point to these being assembled from spare parts.

However, before dismissing these as fakes, this example below is intriguing. Once again, the hands are not correct, but the dial looks to be either original, or a very high-quality re-dial. Unlike the example on E-bay last year, the Silverstone script is perfect.

So perhaps there are a couple of genuine Herringbone Lemania Silverstone’s out there- but buyer beware: there are also a great number of watches that are being made in a backyard somewhere.

Photos:

1) Heuer Silverstone: Onthedash.com

2) http://www.pbase.com/junglejim/image/25714492

3) Sinn- http://www.pbase.com/junglejim/image/25741812

4) Lemania- Heuerboy.com

5) Gabriel- Abel Court

6) neroleon: http://www.vetroplastica.it/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6684

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