Andrew:

the question that you ask goes to the heart of what we have called Targa Florio Chronograph -- The Great Debate. Have a look at the information that we present as part of this debate.

I have tried to have this chronograph authenticated by TAG-Heuer USA and TAG-Heuer Switzerland, but have been unsuccessful. Watchmakers who have been with TAG-Heuer throughout the past 40 years are not familiar with this chronograph. This makes me question whether it was, in fact, produced by Heuer. Even it were a "special edition" produced in very limited quantities, it seems as though these watchmakers would have heard something about this chronograph.

The flood of these chronographs onto the market over the last six or eight months also calls into question their authenticity. But again, it is hard to determine exactly what is happening here: is it a collector selling off rare pieces that have been stored for many years or it is someone producing and unloading a batch (or multiple batches) of fakes?? Perhaps the only source of real information is either (1) the collector who put these old watches away, many years ago, or (2) the person who is having them reproduced currently. Until we have better evidence from either of these sources, then it will remain a debate, subject to much guesswork.

Let's see whether other readers can study this chronograph and the evidence that we have assembled, and provide any further information.

Thanks for raising this question.

Jeff Stein
Atlanta, Georgia