Experts on the coolest watchmaker of the 1960s talk Octane’s man through the peaks and troughs
WORDS MARK McARTHUR-CHRISTIE
IN THE 1960s and ’70s, you’d have had to try hard to find a serious racer’s wrist without a Heuer strapped to it. Yes, other makers have produced chronographs, sponsored race series and worked with drivers as brand ambassadors, but as Jean-Jacques von Erlach or ‘JJ’ (Hubert Heuer’s grandson) says: ‘A Heuer watch has to smell like petrol.’ One suspects his grandfather – Jack Heuer’s uncle and business partner – would agree, before handing over another gold ref. 1158CH Carrera to a race winner as the chequered flag was rolled up and put away.
Founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer, the firm specialised in chronographs. It’s a common complication today, but it’s worth remembering that Moinet’s compteur de tierces, the first chronograph so far discovered, had come off the bench less than a quarter-century earlier. This was new tech, a sort of 19th Century smartwatch but designed to last longer than the next update. And, over the years, Heuer stuck to its chronographs, producing timers for everything from yachting to football.
So, to find out more about collecting Heuer, I buckled on my 1963 Carrera 2447S (see Octane 225) and ventured north to Bowcliffe Hall to meet Jonathan Scatchard and Guy Nelson-Bolton of vintageheuer.com. Jonathan’s been collecting Heuer since the 1990s, so is well-placed to give a bit of sage advice.
Heuer produced so many models and variations that it’s hard to know where to start, apart from the always sound advice ‘Buy what you like the look of.’ Jonathan explains: ‘You could start with the ’60s watches – obviously the Carrera, that’s a collection in its own right, there are so many dials and versions. But then you go into the early screw-back Autavias from the same period. Or you could go ’70s and choose the Monaco with its fat, solid look.’
And, as Heuer was part of the Buren/ Breitling/Dubois-Depraz partnership that produced the ‘Chronomatic’ automatic chrono (one of three vying for the title of ‘first’), you can choose your collection on how you want your watches powered – manual or auto.
If you’re brave, you can go down the quartz route. Heuer was one of the first to take advantage of the new technology with the digital Chronosplit, Manhattan and Senator. If you’re nuts there’s the ref. 100.703 Chronosplit with combined LED/LCD display. Slightly less barking is the ref. 102.
