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Vintage Heuer Discussion Forum
The place for discussing 1930-1985 Heuer wristwatches, chronographs and dash-mounted timepieces. Online since May 2003. | |||||||
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It's a original 1957 Hanhart 417ES Flieger Flyback, one of only 500 made.
There is so much to say about this watch..
Hanhart was taken over at the end of WWII as part of the reparation payments to France.. and they changed the name on the dial to VIXA (type 20). In 1956/7 Hanhart were allowed to go back to making their own signed watches, and continued to make the Flieger for the Luftwaffe & commanders of Naval vessels, including U-Boats and Destroyers – the 417E (brass case) and ES (stainless steel case). The 417 was short lived, and in 1958 the Hanhart was replaced by the Junghans (J88) as issued equipment. In c1967 the Heuer Bund replaced the Junghans.
Then there is the McQueen connection - it was his personal watch, most probably bought when he was doing filming for the Great Escape. He wore it when he competed in the 1964 International Six Day Trials. This was a big deal, he was part of the US team, and they were in the spotlight as the event was held in the old Eastern Block.. and this was the first time a US team had entered. He can be seen wearing it at the opening ceremony where he was holding 'Old Glory'. He competed on his beloved Triumphs. One of his fellow US team members also worked with McQuuen on The Great Escape, and it was him (not McQueen) that did the famous 'jump over barbed wire' stunt.
I have detailed all my research on my blog, with a load more pics and info:
http://heuerville.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/hanhart-417es-flyback-flieger-mcqueen/
Cheers
Stewart
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