i don't know if i'd call them a "poor man's heuer," as Kav said if heuer didn't make them, because they weren't tooled to do it, i guess you could call them a "poor man's not made by heuer but signed?," but i'm not sure what they retailed at the time of their production, so maybe "poor man," isn't accurate? as i understand it the poor mans heuer, doesn't have anything really signed heuer, but is mostly or somewhat identical to an actual heuer made/signed model (and of course made by heuer), and sold for a lower price by another brand? please feel free to correct anything i may have gotten wrong.

as far as the hands, you mentioned. Jeff wrote (i'm paraphrasing here not quoting) in the viceroy comparison notes, that some viceroys had monaco hands as owners liked the bigger hands better for legibility, and heuer replaced them during servicing or if requested. could be something similar on the french made heuer divers you were talking about? i'm just guessing here, i really don't know. once again if i got any of that dead wrong please feel free to correct.

interesting point you brought me to though, if heuer made mostly identical watches for other brands, but actually made them and sold for less than their heuer counterparts, which is more revered. a poor man's heuer, or a french nonheuer made, heuer? is this why their isn't much discussion or excitement about these pieces on this forum (not so much the divers, but the chrono's)? or is it because they have no direct tie to a racing event/name? or is it because they have the heuer name, but not much of the legacy? feel free to comment, add, subtract, etc. and correct. thanks!

j.h.