, short stories and wonderful practical hints of using the bezel etc.

I really enjoy reading you contributions, Heinz!

Kind regards
Henrik

: This is to address Paul Gavin's comments on the variety of BEZELS
: showing up on specific watches. Yes, the owner determines the
: configuration he likes best and therefore we see variations.
: There may be another reason why this happens. In the late
: 1990's, we imported some special Pilot watches and to get the
: know the product line, I had a chance to visit and see the
: production, assembly and testing in various "Ateliers"
: - Factories. Talking to a Master Watch Maker he ask me
: "What watch do you wear? My answer: A Heuer Autavia GMT.
: "Ah, the infamous Caliber 11" his response. I ask WHY?
: He explained : The chronograph is unreliable and has timing
: errors due to the swinging pinion that drives the sweep hand, it
: jumps and loses time." When I pointed out that the Valjoux
: 7750 uses the same concept, he had no answer. I was puzzled.
: During my tour I got the impression that there is rivalry, held
: grudges and a general attitude "Well, we have done it for
: years and so be it", i.e. No thinking outside the box.

: Are some folks still upset that Heuer along with Van Buren and
: Dubois-Depraz produced the first Automatic Chronograph. I
: detected a definite mind set in that industry and this could be
: the underlying reason for deviation in products that don't quite
: make sense. Jack Heuer on the other hand was a visionary in his
: way of DIAL and BEZEL design and this may be the reason for his
: success even tough with the minor inconsistencies.
: P.S. Note : On cal. 11/12/14, if the Sweep Hand Drive Gear is
: adjusted properly, there is no jumping of the sweep hand. (
: Eccentric screw 8412 adjusts the pinion gear 8086 to mesh the
: sweep hand gear 8000). This per HEUER Tech.Manual for
: Selfwinding Chronographs given to me by Jack Heuer in 1978 on a
: visit when I picked up a GMT from overhaul.
: This may shed a little light on your inquiry and once again a bit
: of history might give us some answers. Best regards, Heinz
: Rengel.