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Vintage Heuer Discussion Forum
The place for discussing 1930-1985 Heuer wristwatches, chronographs and dash-mounted timepieces. Online since May 2003. | |||||||
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This one is old and she looks it! When I acquired this 2446 is was in a box, in pieces. Everything was there except the bezel. My kingdon for a bezel! Make that two bezels. I have included a pic of the Kingon. Is it a 3646 ???? It sure looks like kin to the 2446.
Here are more data on the Kingon:
I also have a 2nd execution 3646 and have made some comparisons between the three Autavias. The cases of the 2446 and the Kingon are identical, in fact, I got them mixed up once and put the 2446 movement in the Kingon case. However, the most interesting comparison is with the three case backs. All three are identically signed on the outside of the case back, except the HEUER logo has been replaced with KINGON. However looking at the insides, reveals three different signatures. As Jeff’s expert pointed out, the ED HEUER on the Kingon Autavia is somewhat crude, yet the balance of the nomenclature, “& CO SA SWISS” looks normal, as if they two parts were stamped separately. Also, the shape of the case backs is intriguing: The two early Autavias have a large lip extending past the threads, while the threads on the later Autavia are almost at the edge of the back. As you might expect, the 2nd execution back will not fit on either first execution case, and visa-versa. However, although the two early model backs are interchangeable, the Kingon back has a completely different shape than the other two. The 2446, and 2nd execution 3646 backs have two steps, or tiers, yet the Kingon back has only one tier.
While trying to discover the meaning of “Kingon” I found there was a race car driver named Tex Kingon active in the post war racing scene. Given Heuer’s affiliation with auto racing it seems like there may be some connection between Tex and this watch. However, Mr. Kingon was killed in a crash in 1955, years before the Autavia was offered for sale.
Finally, I wonder why Heuer chose to use the Valjoux 92 rather than the Valjous 23 for the 3646? Since they used the Valjoux 72 in the three register Autavia, the Valjoux 23, base model for the 72, 72C, & 88, seems the obvious choice for a two register Autavia.
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