: Hello to all.

: I am trying to learn some things about my watch
: and here's the brief story.

: Sometime in the early 70's my father purchased
: an Autavia at a jeweller in the Caribbean.
: (Perhaps St. Thomas?) Anyway, he wore the
: watch for a few years, then it got relegated
: to his drawer and finally given to me.

: I have been doing some reading at onthedash and
: it is EXACTLY like this watch in this
: picture I have attached from onthedash.

: Anyway, the watch has not been worn for years,
: so I have it out at Canadian Watch Imports
: for a "tune-up".

: So...

: 1. The watch has a plastic lens...is it
: supposed to be glass?

Nope. This one came with the plastic crystal, never glass.

: 2. What was the original band and where can I
: get a Heuer stainless link band? Cost?

Original band was leather or maybe Corfam (synthetic leather) . . . difficult to find these. Original bracelet was referred to as "grains of rice"; these are more plentiful, in the $300 range.

: 3. The model is 1163, the case# is 144096 and
: it is a Caliber 11sx

All this are correct references. The Cal 11 means that it is relatively early in the production cycle.

: 4. Is there anyway to get a reprint of the
: original owners manual?

You can get high-quality scans on the web; I have never seen a reprint; you can find the originals on ebay, etc.

: 6. Can anyone tell me the exact age from the
: case #?

Heuer didn't track the case numbers; we can be fairly certain that this is around 1970.

: Thanks for any potential help. Sorry about the
: amateur questions.

: John Kennedy

Fantastic watch you have found; wonderful story; excellent questions . . . welcome aboard. we hope that you will be a regular contributor!!

Jeff