My policy:

Don’t buy any orange dial automatic Heuer at market value unless it has 980.005 on the caseback. Period.

If it says “Made in France” on the dial one can only assume it is an assembled watch and at that point I only value it at parts value as these dials were not installed by Heuer (that anyone can prove).

I hear a lot of conjecture and stories about these coming from a French watchmaker and they think that this means they are legit. To me, this in itself indicates that they weren’t ever installed in a factory watch but by others who bought the dials from said watchmaker.

That said, Heuer 844 cases aren’t exactly cheap. Just make sure they say Heuer on the inside as a lot of manufacturers had 844 on the backs of their watches.

If anyone has proof of the “Made in France” (aka Ebay dials) watches being in a catalog or being sold as 844s rather than 980.005s I am all ears.

This is my policy because it isn’t worth the risk of paying a large sum of money for a watch with stories. Those can be had for much less money.

Expect to pay $4k+ for a 980.005 and $1000-1500 for an 844 with the Ebay dial in a real Heuer case. Sure, there are plenty of sales of the Ebay Dial watches to say they are worth more but that would ignore the notion that potentially uneducated buyers paid more for something they thought was original.

Thanks,

Justin
www.TAG1000Diver.com