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HEUER Autavia Chronograph, Reference 1163, White Tritium Dial, Tropical Brown Sub Dials, Stainless Steel, Gay Freres Bracelet, Caliber 12, Year 1971, Rare Find

Before it became TAG Heuer, Heuer was already building the chronographs that motorsport itself relied on, and the Autavia, its name literally fused from Automobile and Aviation, was designed for exactly that world.

The 40mm cushion shaped steel case carries the crown on the left side, a deliberate layout choice that let drivers operate the pushers with their right hand without disturbing the winding crown mid race, a detail that still reads as unmistakably purpose built decades later. Fitted to its original Gay Freres beads of rice bracelet, the whole watch keeps the light, sporty proportions that made it a favorite among racing drivers of the 1960ies era.

The dial is where this particular example earns its rarity. What began as black subdials has aged into a warm tropical brown, an uneven, organic discoloration that only develops naturally over decades and can never be replicated artificially, paired here with an orange chronograph seconds hand that still pops against the cream white main dial.

Inside runs the automatic caliber 12, jointly developed by Heuer, Leonidas and Breitling as part of the famous chronomatic project, one of the first automatic chronograph movements to reach the market and still regarded as a genuine milestone in chronograph history.

This exact watch is published in "Heuer Chronographs, Timekeepers in Motorsport" by Arno Haslinger (CALLWEY), featured on pages 64 and 65 under the name "Orange Boy," a rare instance of documented provenance tying a specific example directly to a recognized reference work.

- Excellent vintage condition

- Tritum dial with tropic brown sub dials

- Bespoke in HEUER CHRONOGRAPHS book

"A beautiful and cool racing chronograph that has earned every shade of its tropical dial, exactly the kind of honest aging collectors chase - with the watch published a real rarity for the eternal collection!"

- We buy watches since 1991. -

-- All offered watches are on stock in our store. --

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