I must admit I find this "Buckle-issue" Arno has mentioned some days ago very interesting! I also think there are a lot of collectors who even don't know about these little details in these Heuer-buckles...

I must confess I figured it out also quite late myself, only after one year I started buying/trading/collecting vintage Heuer wriswatches I began to notice the little differences :-)

So, here are a few pictures from some of my Heuer-buckles;

Here we have on top a vintage blue Corfam strap with original vintage Heuer buckle, in the middle a "New" Heuer buckle on Tropic strap. The lower strap is a genuine strap with an 18mm Heuer buckle;

Here's the inside from the vintage buckle, notice the little sun;

Here are two pictures from the inside of the "more recent" Heuer buckles. The second picture is from a buckle I bought very recently;

And this is the inside of the 18mm Heuer-buckle;

Buckle-gathering;

Notice the three last buckles in the pictures (so the ones starting on top in the picture). Look at the pin, you'll notice this is more straight then with the other buckles in the picture. The other ones are more curvy and a bit shorter. This is another difference which can indicate whether it's a real vintage buckle or a more recent example.

So, this being said...I still have some questions left :-) I hope Arno or someone else can provide us with some correct answers or at least some guesses!

* When was the first buckle with the Heuer-shield (as we still know today) introduced?

* Untill what date the Heuer buckles were punched with the little sun inside?

* The vintage buckles came in different sizes (I know 12mm, 14mm and 16mm). But when was the 18mm Heuer buckle introduced?

* Are there some more varieties/differences? I am pretty convinced there still are some more differences in details which haven't been discussed here yet, just check this post from David D from some weeks ago: http://chronocentric.com/forums/heuer/index.cgi?read=25804

Well, I already look forward to any reply or answers,
Groetjes,
Abel.