Greetings everyone,

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and express my passion for vintage time pieces.

Like many of you, my first experience with a vintage Heuer chronograph purchase shattered my dreams when I later uncovered that it was indeed a franken built piece with mix and match parts from different Heuer and non Heuer chronographs. Like the novice that I was at the time, I thought that because it had a legit signed crown, signed panda dial and signed movt bridge that it was indeed an authentic Heuer. After some time and learning more about Heuer chronographs and spending time talking to other enthusiast, it was blatantly obvious that it was a fake. When I confronted the seller (from another forum) nothing but crickets...... This for me, was a $1900 lesson to be learned. At the time, $1900, was a ton of $$ to spend on a watch, for me at least. Little did I know ....... :)

This just encouraged me to conduct more due diligence and learn as much as I could about vintage Heuer chronographs and just chronographs in general. I'm sure many of you experienced the endless hours of surfing the web, reading articles, comparing pieces, chatting with other members etc to fulfill the need and want to learn. Once you I tapped into this world of no looking back and taking a plunge into the deep end I fell in love. Being able to learn about all of the different models in itself was an experience. After about 4 years, I felt ready and comfortable enough to figure out what I liked and remained patient until I pursued the right piece for me. After searching regularly for a year and a half I found a piece that I was comfortable with and really enjoyed the aggressive yet classy and smooth appearance and fitting on the wrist. For me that was the Heuer Autavia ref. 2446C.

I've collected many different types of chronographs from different makers. But the Autavia 2446C left a lasting impression in my heart. I simply admired and fell for this model. After sometime I began to correspond with a reputable and respected dealer and picked up what I believe is a circa 1971-2 Heuer Autavia 2446C (MH) serial # 196***

The piece is truly a stunner. The moment I picked the piece up, I went home and took its completely apart and gave it a full overhaul and hand cleaning within the first 24hrs of owning it (a bit obsessive, I know) dial and hands are in pristine condition and has its original tritium that still lumes for about 10 seconds before quickly fading. Original plexiglass appeared to be polished at some point and has 2 small nicks from age and wear (which I'm perfectly fine with since it gives it character) signed crown and flutted pushers are nice and tight and in good shape. The case shows signs of wear, but it's not at all abused. Serial number and model number are clearly visible and readable between the lugs. Underneath one of the lugs there are a few small scratches from improper removal of the compression case back. The logo on the exterior of the case back has been worn off and is not noticeable but the interior of the case back has all its proper engravings and marker dates from previous servicing. The MH bezel is lightly faded but very readable and in overall great condition. The V72 is all original and very clean. The piece keeps excellent time loosing 1-2 seconds in a week more or less, chronograph functions work flawless. No matter how many times I tried, the sub dial at 6 that reads hours, the hand is a hair to the right of center. Not at all noticeable, but I can tell and just couldn't get it that hair over to be dead center but I can live with it. Overall I would rate this piece a solid 8-8 1/2. But most importantly, I am happy with it and appreciate its craftsmanship and appeal.

Well........ Sorry for going off on a tangent but I just wanted to say hello, and thank you all for the wealth of knowledge that is shared on this platform. I look forward to reading post about various Heuer topics daily. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments about the piece. Maybe there's something I don't know and I would love to learn about I t. Let me know if you would like me to do a photo op with my cannon, but for now I thought I'd add some iPhone pics.

Thanks again everyone.

Ciao