Rich:

Thanks, as always, for your excellent analysis. I agree that this one is very difficult to value.

You make the point that seller would have been better off restoring / modifying the watch himself, before putting it up for auction. I absolutely agree with this, for this particular watch and just about any other watch that needs repair or restoration.

A run-of-the-mill Viceroy, that requires a $300 repair / overhaul may suffer a $1,000 discount, if listed for sale "as is". So too this Autavia 2446C SN . . . with a little time and patience, it might have looked more like a $30,000 to $40,000 watch than a $20,000 watch, and it would not have cost $10,000 to have made this leap.

Jeff

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

: Hi Jeff

: I agree, Heuer would never had constructed (nor would their
: watchmakers back in the day) this mixture of parts, however I'm
: in agreement that the other picture you show is how it would
: have been constructed, if at all. My opinion is that these are
: test dials (they are definitely original Heuer) and there was no
: std production run, however it is possible one or more 7763cSN
: or 2446cSN was constructed as a prototype watch, but doubt we
: will ever know for sure. I know the story surrounding my
: 2446cSN, which is that an ex Heuer watchmaker contact found the
: dial whilst on a visit to Heuer in America, he then put it in a
: Carrera case where it stayed until it found its way to me. He
: had never seen another (nor when back home) and he spent much of
: his working life at Heuer in Switzerland, then Chronoswiss. I
: have treasured this watch ever since, especially due to the
: story and this direct to Heuer provenance.

: What is fair value on this watch to someone? Well I know that one
: completed in the manner of the 2446C "series" it could
: be worth circa £25-30k, so someone will be happy to pay more
: than $20k for the watch. Whilst getting bezels and hands for
: vintage Heuers is not easy, these would not be the hardest of
: hands to source (we're not talking original 1st execution bezels
: and all lume hands!). You or I may not consider paying such a
: price for this watch, but I suspect someone will...I do however
: think the seller would have been better off sourcing those
: "correct" parts first.

: Although I love my 2446cSN I would not put it in the same bracket
: as a 1st execution Autavia nor for that matter some of the other
: rarer 1st-4th execution dial screwback case models. The earlier
: watches are more historically important and the screwback case
: is (in most collectors eyes) aesthetically far superior to the
: compressor case versions. So if we have a complete
: "correct" watch at £25-£30k, the dial makes the
: watch 10x+ more valuable than the far more common 2446C black
: dial.

: People make there own mind up on what they may be prepared to pay
: for a watch and can spend their money how they like, but as with
: all collecting a certain amount of "bragging rights"
: comes into this, we're always pleased when we find something
: rare and desirable after all. Vintage watch collecting is about
: about passion and rarity and desirability are the drivers of
: value, and you see plenty of Rolex collectors paying $30k for a
: "Blueberry" 1675 GMT, which if it wasn't for the blue
: insert (and sometimes all red hand) be an $8k watch.

: Will be interesting to see the results!

: Cheers
: R

: Ps I actually think the valuations of the 2446cSN make some of the
: 1st-4th screwback case Autavia seem cheap, but that's another
: story...

: :