Mark, I'm totally agree with you.

: ...you need to do some groundwork. Reality doesn't like to give up
: its secrets all at once.

: You see, by Monza 1969, I assumed you meant the Grand Prix (and
: couldn't see the pictures to confirm). Its September date could
: well be a good fit with the changeover from
: "Chronomatic" to "Automatic Chronograph"
: marked dials.

: The Monza 1000 km is a wholly different matter though. It took
: place on the 25th April in 1969, the same month that the
: "Project 99" coalition was showing pre-production
: prototypes of its Chronomatics at the Basel fair. That, if we
: are to judge by the press release issued in March of that year
: looked like this:

:
:

: Note the MH bezel on the Autavia and different text on the dial -
: the "Chronomatic" is where we would later expect the
: "Automatic Chronograph" text to be.

: If Siffert was able to get his hands on an 1163 at all in time for
: the Monza 1000 km, it would have been one of these prototypes,
: which could explain why the watch in the photos looks unusual.

: I can't get the photos to display in either IE8 or Firefox 8, which
: is annoying as I can only see them on my iPhone where the blog
: software doesn't let me zoom either, but the bezel looks like it
: might be narrower than an 1163's and where he is adjusting his
: chin strap, there may well be a crown between the pushers. One
: of the rare silver dial early Autavias perhaps?

: So, I think, rather than busting the idea that Jo Siffert wore a
: white dialled Chronomatic, all we have here are photos to show
: that he enjoyed the Autavias before he got to wear the watch
: that he would later make an icon. That's all.