:

: older Heuer watch info

: Posted By: Mark Mazzitello

: Date: 6/12/04 05:53 GMT

: I have a Heuer "Autavia" watch that
: belonged to my late father, and I'm trying
: to find out what I can about it. I wrote to
: LVMH Watch & Jewelry in New Jersey (the
: Tag Heuer retailer in the US) but all they
: can tell me is they think it may have been
: made in the 1930s. I would like to find the
: manufacture year and anything I can about
: what it originally sold for and what it
: might be worth today. I can't find a serial
: number on it, but I have pictures I can
: email to anyone interested. I am also
: looking to have it restored - it works
: perfectly but there are cosmetic blemishes I
: would like fixed.

: Any information about who to contact to find
: what I'm looking for would be greatly
: appreciated. Also an email address for Tag
: Heuer headquarters in Switzerland would be
: great.

: Thanks! and:

: Chuck -

: No serial # or markings between the lugs or
: anywhere else. Just the "Autavia"
: & "Heuer" logo on the face
: (and the word "swiss"), and on the
: back the same Heuer logo and the words

: "Stainless Steel Chronograph -
: Waterproof - Guaranteed 330 ft Under
: Water" written in a circle.

: I couldn't figure ou how to post pictures to
: the discussion board so I posted a couple on
: a temporary web site at:
: http://www.mazzitelloconsulting.com/watch

: and I could email pictures to you if you give
: me an address.

: Thanks for your interest and help.

: Mark Mark,

: Ok, actually, you are in the right place to
: learn more about your (or rather, your
: father's) Autavia... Once you
: sucessfully posted a picture I was able to
: narrow the Autavia Field from over 45
: possible varieties, to three:
: Autavia Case Ref.
: Model Ref. Description
: Dial Colors Movt.
: Crystal Registers/Date
: Catalog Dates Price New
: 3646

: M or H

: 1st Execution Dial (large registers)/case
: (screw back); dauphine hands; smaller
: pushers (4.0mm); tapered lugs

: Black/White 92 P
: two/45 min 64, 65/66

: 65/66-$99.50 3646

: M or H

: 1st execution case (screwback); 2nd execution
: dial (small regs, thin applied markers, dots
: mark hours); dauphine hands; larger pushers
: (4.3mm); tapered lugs

: Black/White 92 P
: two/45 min 66

: 66-$99.50 3646

: M, H or T

: 2nd execution case (screw back); thinner
: bezel; small regs; silver applied markers;
: rectangular hands; large pushers (4.3mm)

: Black/White 92 P
: two/45 min 68/69

: 69-$99.50

: Notes: Model Ref. -- M: bezel marked for M
: inutes , H : bezel marked for H ours , MH:
: bezel marked for both M inutes and H
: ours , T: bezel T achymeter bezel .
: Registers/Date: shows number of registers
: and maximum time recorded; shows when
: date is included on manual wind models
: (All automatics : Calibre's 11 , 12 , 14
: , 15, have date), The first GMT Auto is
: actually a modified c.11 movement, later on
: the c.14 evolved from the faster beat c.12
: and this modified c.11... . Crystal -- P
: lastic or M ineral . Catalog Dates -- dates
: refer to catalogs or brochures, unless with
: ' c ' before the year ( c 74 means
: circa 1974, for example...) .

: These tables were compiled by and are the
: property of Bruce Mackie, Hans Schrag, Chuck
: Maddox and Jeff Stein (OnTheDash);
: Unauthorized use is prohibited.
: Contact Jeff Stein for information about
: authorized uses. Copyright © 2003 by the
: above. Last Updated:
: 2003.05.16.09.58.55 - CM3
: Yup, those are the three...

: From your picture, I was able to go over to the
: MOAT (Mother of All Tables) which is
: officially called the Chronograph Master
: Reference Table and eliminate all of the
: autavia's that didn't have a 45 minute
: register. The subset of the table that
: contains possibilities is what you see
: above.

: Since the watch you included a picture of
: appears to have Larger Registers, I'm pretty
: confident that it's a 1st execution Dial and
: caseback, meanting it's the same model as
: the first entry. If you scan over to the
: right, you'll see a column heading "
: Catalog Dates "... Under that column
: you'll see which catalogs we have
: (either on-line or in the collective
: libraries of forum regulars who put-together
: the MOAT tables) which have listings for
: this particular model. The next column
: " Price New " will tell you the
: MSRP for the watch for the dates indicated.
: So to revisit your original queries:

: I wrote to LVMH Watch & Jewelry in New
: Jersey (the Tag Heuer retailer in the US)
: but all they can tell me is they think it
: may have been made in the 1930s. They
: are incorrect. I would wager a dozen Krispy
: Kreme Donuts that the watch was made in the
: 1960's and most likely in the mid
: (1964-1967) epoch.

: I would like to find the manufacture year and
: anything I can about what it originally sold
: for and what it might be worth today.
: Most likely your father's Autavia was made
: in the middle 1960's, and originally was
: priced at $99.50 (before discounts).

: As for what it's worth today. That's hard to
: say without having a watchmaker go through
: the watch. What many people here in the
: forum do is to watch eBay's completed
: auctions and look for what similar models go
: for. I personally believe this is the best
: idicator of current range of
: "street" prices. The 45-min
: Autavia is an unusual model, not many were
: made, but most chronograph collectors prize
: the 3-register chronographs with hour
: recorders. So that part of the equasion
: equals out.

: That's as good of detective work I can do with
: the current state of our available records.
: It's pretty easy to do on your own, there is
: a maddness to our methods, but we don't
: really have a good tutorial as to how to
: make the most of the information here on
: OnTheDash, so don't be surprised if your
: queries are used to illustrate how to use
: the resources here!

: I hope this is helpful!

: -- Chuck

:

Wow! I can't tell you how cool this is to find this stuff out!

According to that picture it is definitely a Autavia 45 model 3646H, and I am hypothesizing that it is the middle selection in the chart above - I measured the "pushers" with a caliper at 4.3mm (narrowing it down to the bottom two choices) and there are "dots marking the hours" and the hands are not "square" as described in the lowest of the three. If I read the chart correctly that means it was in the 1966 catalog, which is very cool since that is the year I was born.

Chuck, I can't thank you enough for all this cool information. Next time I'm in Chicago I owe you dinner at Pizza Uno!

Thanks again,

Mark