As always, Mark provides some excellent context. Indeed, the cases came from one manufacturer, the dials from another, the hands from another, etc., and it was Heuer that assembled the elements to produce the completed chronographs.

When you look at a brand like Zodiac or Dugena, in the 1960s, you will see that their catalogs included nice lines of dress watches and dive watches, for example, but very few chronographs. Brands like these did not have the capacity to work with chronographs -- you see, even after the watch company received the Valjoux movement, considerable work was required to adjust and fit the chronograph, etc. So when these other companies wanted to add some chronographs to their catalogs, they would call on a company like Heuer to produce some chronographs under the recipient's name (Zodiac or Dugena, in this example). A brand like Zodiac might have offered a few different chronographs in its catalog, some made by Heuer some made by other manufacturers.

Jack Heuer has often referred to the fact that there were hundreds of Swiss watch brands in the 1960s, but very few that produced chronographs . . . perhaps in the 12 to 15 range.

Interesting stuff, in my view.

Jeff

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

: ... watchmaking industry worked in the period, and very far from
: being a mind-blowing or face-palming moment.

: While many watch houses did start out making pocket watches with
: nearly everything done in house, a cottage industry of
: specialist suppliers soon grew up to support them. And why would
: you shell out on a dial press when a Singer, for example, could
: do it for you at greater volume, lower cost and better quality?
: Even now, when more is done in house, suppliers like Artecad
: still make a living.

: And this is by no means unique to Heuer. It's how the majority of
: the industry worked in Switzerland - vertically-integrated
: operations along the lines of Seiko were very rare on Swiss
: soil.

: It's not really very different from the car industry either. Does
: anyone think less of a Ferrari for using Weber carbs or Magneti
: Marelli parts?

: The art, the design, was in selecting the better parts, the parts
: that fit best together. And it seems some parties liked the way
: Heuer did that, and wanted to get their names on the dials too.
: It's not always the cheap stuff either - Autavias, Carreras and
: Monacos are amongst the models white labelled like this.

: With references and serials intact, as if they were a Heuer. You
: can make it a semantic argument - did Heuer make all the parts?
: No. No one party did. Ok, it was a collaboration. But the
: controlling, selecting and finally assembling party was Heuer.
: Did Dugena select the same parts across the board, the same
: numbering schemas and assemble their "Autavia"
: separately from Heuer? Occam's razor has been mentioned on the
: forum before and that surely favours the Heuer connection, as
: confirmed by Heuer's then president.

: And, honestly, that's all the energy I am prepared to expend on
: this topic. Come back cogently and I may discuss, trot out the
: same spiel again and I'm done.