For me, there is no question at all that these are "real" and correct. It just felt right since the first time I saw one, but for me there are two aspects which make it 100% sure this is a true Heuer watch:

- the hand set and movement and case design correspond to the manual GMT Autavia (pictured in Arno's book, one on sale at Nic's site)

- the reference number 741.603 is just so correct for this watch.

I think it is impossible that a faker would have the deep Heuer knowledge to construct this case reference 10-20 years ago (many of these watches are very aged) and then get it so perfectly inscribed into so many cases. Why go to so much trouble for a watch no one cares about? I think the rest of the Heuer community here accept this a one of the true members of the Heuer family. OK, it is one of the black sheep stupid nephews that everyone would rather not acknowledge, but it is a pureblood Heuer.

I have to say I agree with Paul, that it seems unlikely that this type of dial was used on the automatic autavias; the dial and hand set are specific to these manual models.

Once Jeff did me the honour of naming this model after me (I saw one in Portobello Market in London and speculated that it was real) I had to have one in my Autavia collection. This is the one I found, not quite as nice as Paul's but still a nice beater for the weekends. I'll have to post some "after" pictures, this one was before it went to Jasper's for a movement service (don't even ask about how hard it is to get these movements serviced!):