A few days ago, Crown & Caliber, an online marketplace for preowned and vintage watches, announced its “Heuer 100” sale, to be held in September 2016. Crown & Caliber is headquartered here in Atlanta, and I have known the firm for over three years, so I have received a fair number of questions both about Crown & Caliber and about the Heuer 100 sale. Let me share some thoughts about the firm and the Heuer 100 sale in this posting.

Crown & Caliber – Crown & Caliber is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of pre-owned and vintage watches. Essentially, the firm offers consignment services to sellers, including valuation, inspection, authentication, preparation of watches for sale, photography, listings, shipping, etc. In the process, Crown & Caliber has developed an incredible platform for buying and selling vintage and pre-owned watches . . . a place where buyers can find a great selection of watches.

I first visited Crown & Caliber in early 2013, when the firm had around eight employees. On my first visit, they were proud to show me a handful of watches that had arrived that week. Now the firm has approximately 50 employees, spread around 13,000 feet of office space. Included are six full-time watchmakers, as well as valuation specialists, researchers, social media experts, photographers, etc. Crown & Caliber has become a fantastic place for me to drop in and see some amazing watches!

Hamilton Powell is the founder and CEO of Crown & Caliber, and over the years he has developed a genuine interest in vintage watches and chronographs, and specifically the old Heuers. Yes, I am guilty as charged, in infecting Hamilton with this disease, and it has been fun watching him build his knowledge about the brand and his personal collection.

The Heuer 100 – The idea for the Heuer 100 appears to have had its origins in May 2015, when Crown & Caliber sold a collection of approximately 25 vintage Omega and Zenith watches, known as the “Carlo Collection”. Over the last year, as interest in the vintage Heuer chronographs has exploded, Hamilton and I have been discussing how Crown & Caliber might offer a unique group of these watches, in an innovative format. While we were brainstorming, Hamilton and his colleagues at Crown & Caliber have gathered 70 vintage Heuer chronographs, that will form the core of the “Heuer 100” sale.

The First 70 of the Heuer 100 -- A few days ago, I visited Crown & Caliber and looked through the first 70 watches that will be included in the Heuer 100. To describe them quickly in this posting, I would divide them into three tiers of watches – The Grails; The Great Ones and The Groups.

The Grails – Glance at the photo above, and you see at least four watches that belong at the top of the marquee for any sale of Heuer chronographs. The silver-dialed 7763C Autavia is one of two or three that our community has seen; the Autavia with the Tachymeter scale on the dial looks absolutely amazing; and the “Orange Boy” Autavia has been one of the “Hot Heuers” over the last year. To round out this group of grails, there is a spectacular black Monaco 74033. Many of these “Dark Lords” are compromised, with loss of lume on the dial or worn coating . . . this one is dead mint . . . period.

The Great Ones – Just below the Grails are a group of great vintage Heuers, that anyone in our community would be thrilled to own. A Transitional Monaco, a plain old-fashioned McQueen Monaco, in perfect condition; a 113.603 Black coated Autavia in mint condition . . . Autavia Diver 100 . . . Autavia 2446C GMT . . . second execution screw-back Autavia . . . and probably at least 20 more. While they may be a shade below "grail" status, they are rare models in top condition. Yep, at least 20 more of the “Great Ones.”

The Groups – The first 70 of the Heuer 100 are impressive in another respect – they represent a deep collection of the vintage Heuers chronographs. All three of the Caliber 11 Silverstones – red, blue and fume. Five different Autavias in the Siffert colors. Your choice of six Monacos – blue, gray or black; Cal 12, Cal 15 or manually-wound; on the strap or on the bracelet. You want to see a Seafarer . . . well, how about four different versions. The Heuer 100 will offer the enthusiast some fantastic choices, an incredible cross section of the Heuer catalog.

But Wait, There’s More -- When Crown & Caliber announced the Heuer 100 sale, they took an interesting approach. Yes, they had the first 70 “in hand” and committed to the event, but being the ambitious, aggressive, optimistic, entrepreneurial characters that they are, Hamilton and his colleagues announced that they were seeking another 30 vintage Heuers, to complete the “Heuer 100”. Think of this as a “knock out” competition. In order to make the field of 30, any watch submitted to Crown & Caliber had to be better than another one seeking to join the group.

Today, I had a sneak peek at some of the watches in this 70 to 100 group, and they are fantastic. They add a lot of variety, some with fascinating logos on the dials and others with genuine racing provenance, and give the Heuer 100 some real character. Crown & Caliber has not released the details regarding these additional watches, but I can assure you that there is no dilution from the quality of the first 70 . . . and that, my friends, is high praise.

My Role -- Several people have asked, so let me provide some simple answers.

• I have not entered any of my watches in the Heuer 100 field, and do not expect to sell any of them in the event. If the field grows to 98, and Hamilton begs me to send him a couple, maybe I would . . . but that’s not part of the plan right now. Hey, this market is just starting to move, and I am not quite ready to sell!!
• I may bid on a couple of the Heuer 100 . . . yes, folks, there are some that I missed over the years, and how often do we get this sort of second chance?
• Crown & Caliber will not pay me anything for my coverage of the Heuer 100, for writing about the event, or otherwise . . . This has been a passion hobby for the past 13 years, and there’s no need to change that now.

Jeff