Thank you all for your comments! I'm sure you can tell I'm extremely pleased with the result...and grateful some of more experience are too! What a journey it has been. (I think they call it Baptism by fire!)

Thanks again for the support too....without sounding too corny, I (genuinely) couldn't have done it without the help I've had.

I'm glad to be part of such a knowledgeable and passionate community.

Best,

Steve

: Hi all-although I've been present here for some time now, this has
: been a long time coming for me- technically I have owned it for
: the last 6 months but it has only just come together this week.

: During my search for Heuer divers, I kept getting distracted by
: these chronographs. After a while I had to admit to myself, 'I'd
: quite like one of these Autavias, if I'm really honest.' and so
: I began down the slippery slope.

: Its really started when Bernard de Vos agreed to sell me an Autavia
: 11630 case that it started to become a reality. I set about
: asking everyone and anyone for any parts they may have laying
: around and luckily Stewart Morley was able to help me out a lot
: further with some really superb parts I needed-including the
: perfect vivid orange dial I was missing. All of a sudden I had
: most of an Autavia on my hands, but like most things it was the
: final 10% I needed that took 90% of the time! It was quite
: surprising when I realised how far each of the parts had come-

: Case and (original) hands from Belgium, movement from
: Bulgaria-naturally!, dial, crown and crystal from England,
: chrono hands from Japan and all set off by the excellent replica
: Corfam strap from Abel in Belgium.

: As a novice, I was taken aback by the fact that with each part/set
: of parts I bought came a snippet (gem) or two of advice. It
: wasn't a case of 'How much money can I get out of this chump?'
: but a genuine interest in what I was doing and guidance on how
: to best achieve it, which was incredibly humbling.

: The end result then, is my very own Autavia 11630-
:
:
:
: I'm lucky enough to have a wealth of expertise here in England-the
: final efforts were made by James Hyman-who was totally
: invaluable and every bit as good as his reputation; with not
: just his excellent paint and lume work but bringing it all
: together as a finished piece. Fortunately the movement seems to
: be in excellent condition but rest assured, the minute it starts
: to misbehave it's off to Richard Askham, who has been another
: guiding light on the journey. I've tried to keep it as true as
: possible to the original watch. The final piece of the puzzle
: will be back to Belgium for a spa with Abel…maybe during the
: next Blue moon when he can fit me in ;-)

: And yes, you can find a handful of these 11630s for sale at any
: given time on Ebay or similar (of varying quality and
: authenticity to be fair). However I like to feel this one has
: provenance built in. I KNOW all the parts came from some of the
: best sources within the community; and the skills and knowledge
: that have contributed are pretty much second to none.

: I had a lot of help/advice from all across the globe- USA to
: Australia, and including most of Europe too. I've thanked each
: individually but this is also a public thank you to you all-I am
: very grateful!

: I think Jeff coined it earlier this year when he said 'It takes a
: village'. I think it could go one further and sometimes, it
: takes a global village….

: Thanks for looking and a very Merry Christmas!

: Steve