I'm rearranging my collection, and lately I've really focused on 60s/70's pieces. The lure of a 1st gen Autavia is strong.. but unfortunately for me.. and for all of us, every man and his dog wants one too. Even if you have a money mountain on standby, trying to find one is a grail-esk type hunt. So, what to do? Well, I've been hunting around for similar non-Heuer watches. This is not easy, but easier than hunting a 1st gen Autavia, not to mention far easier on the wallet. Until then, I can console myself with these.. so its not all bad..

My search led to to find some photos of Fortis' 1970 Marinemaster.. a handsome looking watch, 39mm case, valjoux 72, pointed lugs.. it was ticking all the boxes. They come in two flavours, with blue accents (ref. 8001) and with yellow/orange accents (ref. 8002). I placed a WTB message over in the trader section for a 'yellow version'.

Our own Jamey S came to the rescue once again, but with a blue version.. I wasn't sure, but it looked good, and Jamey's price was very tempting.. so I said yes.
It arrived yesterday, in lovely condition - very clean and sharp, but not a safe queen.. perfect - but I still wasn't sure about the blue, thinking I should have held out for a yellow example.

I tried it on a few straps, it looked great.. but I wasn't 100% convinced. I wore it all day. As time went on, it quickly grew on me, and any reticence I had melted away. Last night I suddenly remembered that I had an old unbranded Beads of Rice bracelet that I bought on ebay years ago for £30ish.. it has never fitted any Heuer properly.. but I gave it a shot.. and guess what? It fits almost like a glove!

I note that Fortis re-issued this model last year, but despite this, information on the original 8001 & 2 is sparse. I contacted Fortis, who kindly got back to me with a catalogue scan, but said that they too had little information on production numbers, and associated information. They said it was likely to have been released in early 70's, probably '72. Kudos to Fortis for getting back to me so quickly.

Anyway, a big THANK YOU to Jamey for being such a gent, yet again.
That's not the end of it though... Like buses... another one popped up whilst I was waiting for this one to land, so I have bought that too. Why? well, I also found a spare yellow dial.. so a swap around will be done, plus a handset change and I'll hopefully have a yellow and a blue variant!!

I'm pretty fire Noodia had one of these too, a search threw up an old OTD thread.. I thought that if it's good enough for Laurent, it's good enough for me. :0)

So here is my latest.. c1972 Fortis Marinemaster 8001, WR 200m, Valjoux 72, 39mm case...

Stewart
- Heuerville