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The place for discussing 1930-1985 Heuer wristwatches, chronographs and dash-mounted timepieces. Online since May 2003.
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Re: FORD/HEUER digital watch
In Response To: Re: FORD/HEUER digital watch ()

Hello Jon,

It's nice to know there is another Heuer digital enthusiast out there! I posted a message about three weeks ago asking if anyone wanted to start a discussion on these and got one reply!

Anyway, following is an update since I first posted my enquiry about information on the FORD/HEUER. Firstly I wrote to Ford USA and Ford Germany for information and received no reply. I then contacted Pieter Doensen the Dutch author of "WATCH - history of the modern wristwatch" (only covers electric, LED and LCD watches) the most comprehensive book on the subject. He says it is an extremely rare watch and the example illustrated in his book which is also used as an illustration in most of the Japanese books on LED/LCD watches does not work.

Of the watch manufacturers that I mainly collect ie. Longines, Braun, Omega, Heuer and Junghans LCD watches (plus a few LED) I have found that Heuer (TAG/Heuer of course) cannot provide any information about their digital watches. Longines and Braun are the complete opposite and have given me dates, production figures etc. for the watches they produced. These figures show it was not unusual for a model to be in production for a year or less and only around 2000 examples produced. It was a time when technology was changing quickly with the modules being improved quickly also. When the first LCD watches were produced they could not even show running seconds!

My guess is that the FORD/HEUER had a very small production run of a few hundred only for the following reasons. Firstly, as you have already discovered you cannot find them! Secondly, I believe they were available in Germany only - Cologne was the European HQ for Ford Motorsport in the 1970's and as the advert posted on this forum shows that is were you got them from. I have the original box, key for the battery hatches and instruction book with my example. The instruction book is in German only. Thirdly it was extrememly expensive at the time.

I know this does not help you find one but explains the lack of examples being offered on ebay.

Let me know if I can help in any other way.

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