Jeff:
How wonderful is Mr. Heuer in sharing this valuable information and how fantastic is that you take your time on Christmas day to report them to us. I won't be the first one in saying that we are among the coolest web communities...

Your answers do address some of my questions very directly. They seem to confirm the impression that the gold watches and the unbelievable bracelets were Heuer's attempts in appealing a wider market with, in my opinion, the risk of diluting the main racing/tool theme many of us felt in love with...

I think I will continue to admire these 1158 (with or without bracelet) and to congratulate you guys in bringing them to our attention. However, most likely they won't divert the direction of my collection too drastically....

Warm regards,
Francesco

: Francesco:

: Thanks for posting this message and the questions. Let me answer a
: couple of the easy questions, about the 18 karat gold Carreras,
: based on an e-mail message that I received from Mr. Jack Heuer
: yesterday. Perhaps these are not direct answers to your
: questions, but they provide some interesting information that is
: very relevant to the 1158 Carreras: In fact, Heuer did not
: consider the gold bracelets to be consistent with the sports /
: racing theme, but Heuer thought of these massive 18 karat gold
: bracelets as being more "California" / flashy style.
: [Remember that many people call chronographs "tool
: watches"; we do not see many 18 karat gold tools, do we?]
: Accordingly, when the US manager requested that these gold
: bracelets be offered by Heuer, the company (in Switzerland) did
: not pursue the design and production of the bracelets, but this
: project was undertaken by the US manager. Mr. Heuer believes
: that any of the gold bracelets offered throughout the world
: probably came through the US office. It is interesting that
: Heuer still showed the 1158s on the bracelets in most of its
: catalogs.

: Mr. Heuer also suggests that many of the 18 karat gold Carreras
: have survived to this day, in excellent condition, because they
: were "special" watches that the owners wore only on
: "special" occasions. Think of the "beater"
: Autavias that we see; indeed, it is unlikely that anyone would
: let this happen to an 18 karat gold Carrera.
: As I mentioned, these points may not answer your questions, as
: such, but I believe that they are very interesting. How
: wonderful to have Mr. Heuer providing information about his
: favorite Heuer for today's enthusiasts!!

: Jeff

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