I now have a second Heuer (Autavia)! This is, of course, the re-issue Autavia from 2003-2004 (?). I received a second chance offer on the bay that I couldn't refuse. Unfortunately, it needed immediate service as it was gaining 4 minutes an hour when I received it! Our local watchmaker in Richmond (Cowardin's) did a stellar overhaul in an unbelievably short time of only two weeks! This is partially attributable to the fact they were preparing to close for vacation/inventory, and wanted to get all repair jobs done prior to the one week break. It wasn't cheap ($395) but the seller I bought the watch from was very cooperative and did refund me $100 to go towards this unexpected servicing.
Jeff mentioned in a previous thread that the Autavia re-issue was not successful. This is a shame and I have a few ideas how this watch might have been a slightly better re-interpretation of the original. First, the subdial hands should have been white rather than the dark blue hands which are difficult to see in anything other than bright light (It doesn't seem that bad in my pic but remember that we are looking at an image 3-4 times bigger than the real thing). The calendar should have had a silver border around it, to highlight it and the dial should have had a minutes ring "border" (or circle) around its circumference like the original. IE-the minutes graduations don't meet up with a solid black border, or "ring". It is somewhat difficult (for my aging near vision) to easily see the minutes on this dial. My Autavia GMT, conversely, has a great "minutes track".
I doubt that any of these changes/additions would have had much impact on cost, yet I believe it would have given the dial a classier look for a $3200 original retail price watch. Oh well, just my 2 cents worth. I do love the watch despite those omissions and it is the only white dialed chrono in my collection. All my other chronos have black dials (which I tend to prefer). This re-issue is a great day watch and I do enjoy wearing it! If I had never seen an original Autavia, maybe I wouldn't have noticed these "flaws".
Steve
