Spot on Mark,
I posted similar pics of the 1614 model at the same time as your post!
The 'red date' thing - the odd dates were red & the even black (on my 1614 example anyway).

You are right to question both the PVD and the 'stainless steel' - the SS finish looks nickel (or similar) plated.
These things alone are a bit suspect. But like I mentioned before, there were a lot of weird & wonderful iterations of this model around the early 80s.
My 1614 is stainless steel, without a brushed case back and more shallow.
The fact that the caseback on Erics has been reworked with an 'Autavia-esk' brush finish, then a sticker placed over the top is highly suspect. Like you say, it also looks like it has been 'roughed up' with a dab of water to give it an old & original feel, as if the sticker has been there since it left the factory.

To me, it would suggest that a donor caseback has been used, and the original markings removed and a brush finish applied to disguise the originality of the caseback. Coupled with a old sticker placed ovcer the top, this is clearly an attempt to hoodwink the suspect originality of the caseback.

Eric, I would say that this watch isn't as it left the factory. Whether original or not, it has been messed around with, the evidence is there, I'm afraid.

Stewart

: I'm always a bit wary with these. Even the more familiar models we
: know from catalogues - all the components needed to assemble the
: watches were being freely sold on the German market in the late
: 90s and early 2000s, and if they were there, I don't doubt they
: were in other countries too.

: It's such a shame that these don't confirm to any of the known
: Heuer reference number schemas, or to the usual serial number
: ranges - they are both very useful diagnostic tools. Take the
: Monaco case AndyO links above for example - the serial number
: stamped would be from about 1986 or 1987 extrapolating forward
: from numbers we do know, long after they stopped making the
: Monaco. That's one of the reasons I wouldn't be keen on a serial
: numbers register - it gives more ammunition to the fakers and
: takes away one of our tools for spotting originality at a
: glance. But we can't use those here as the factory watches of
: this type don't fall into the known ranges.

: So we fall back to looking at the details, as Stewart has done
: below:

:
:

: I have some concerns about that caseback too - I'd expect the
: brushing to be all in the same direction and level, but there
: appears to be some deeper marks that are less horizontal than
: the general finish. Looking at that and the earlier picture:

:
:

: too, the brushed finish doesn't run right to the edge of the flat
: plane as I would expect it to on a Heuer. There seems to be a
: bit of a border rather than running right to the edge. The white
: fibres on the sticker are unusually prominent - might have been
: soaked off, the caseback refinished then the sticker reapplied?

: Looking at the second photo makes me question whether the case is
: PVDed or just painted? Or potentially painted over an earlier
: PVD layer - the chip near the bottom pusher seems to show an
: earlier layer of black material under the top layer? And where
: the caseback meets the case looks odd too - looks more like
: silver paint with lines along it than steel. Is the main case
: definitely steel, or could it be chrome-plated base metal?

: Looking at the dial, we're searching for familiar details from
: other examples of this type of watch. I'll borrow one of
: Revorbaro's pics from Vetroplastica, hope he doesn't mind!

:

: We're on firmer ground here. The tachy scale looks the same, as do
: the markers. The distinctive shape of the chrono needles is also
: present and correct. The handset differs apart from that, but
: we've seen a few different types of hands on these (which is a
: slight worry). Revorbaro's watch has a black date wheel, but
: we've seen red dates on these before too. The "Made in
: France" versus "Ebauche Suisse" thing isn't a
: problem - the earlier watches carry "Ebauche Suisse"
: to stress the link with Switzerland before later watches come
: clean with "Made in France". The acid yellow and black
: combo is new on me, but as Stewart suggests could be a customer
: special. Anyone know a company with those colours and no
: recognisable logo to put on the dial?!

: There is so much that is mysterious about these watches at this
: period of production, it's hard ever to be sure. I posted some
: positives and some negatives there, but I think on balance I'd
: still reserve judgement!