Heuer used the word "Economy" in a variety of ways. Easiest to understand is in their line of stopwatches, in which the "economy" models had less expensive (less sophisticated) movements and lower quality cases, and sold for considerably less than the standard models. The catalogs had special sections for these "economy" stopwatches.

In the case of the original "Viceroys", Heuer was making changes so that it could sell watches for $88 through the cigarette promotion, while continuing to sell the $200 watches through the dealers. You can imagine that the loyal dealers would not have been happy if Heuer / Viceroy were cannibalizing their "channel" with these cheaper watches. So Heuer made several changes in the "Viceroy", which I would call "cosmetic", in order to protect the dealers. [Imagine that you just paid your dealer $200 for the 1136MH, and your buddy tells you that he just got the same very watch for $88 . . . I imagine that you return the watch, or at least make some noise about that.] The use of the "economy" designation allowed the dealers to continue to sell the 1163 MHs, or so it seemed. I believe that the quality of the components and finish of the Viceroys is identical to the 1163 MHs, in every respect.

I love the Viceroys (and the Viceroy story); talk to some of the amateur racers from the 1970s, and they will tell you that these were the watches they were wearing. It was a great deal to buy the carton of Viceroy cigarettes (10 packs), toss the cigarettes in the trash (or give them to a friend), and buy the watch at the $88 bargain price (by sending the end flap of the carton to the tobacco company). This was also a huge success for Heuer, and got a lot of their watches into the market.

Jeff

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: Glad you said that Fabrizio,
: From photos, I can't see any real difference between a so called
: 'economy' and standard dial.

: Maybe it was a (rather strange) marketing trick so that buyers of
: the $200 'non Viceroy' didn't feel hard-done-by about people
: buying a Viceroy for $88.

: Stewart