I started collecting Autocourse (a motorsport annual that's been going as long as the Formula 1 World Championship (i.e. 1950) if anyone is unfamiliar with it) long before I started collecting Heuers. It's cheaper for a start, although an early 60s annual with mint dust jacket (which sadly rarely exist any more) would cost about the same as a Viceroy did not very long ago at all! It fuelled an interest in Formula 1 that still goes strong today, and my colours have always been nailed firmly to the Ferrari mast - though I have dallied with the occasional non-Ferrari pilot as my favourite driver from time to time. Too young for the usual Heuer-related drivers (I had my first birthday 12 days after Jochen Rindt had sadly been killed at Monza), I settled on my favourite driver the best part of a decade later - the force of nature that was Gilles Villeneuve, also sadly to die in an F1 car a few years later. So I guess that implanted the Heuer shield somewhere in the base of my (collecting-prone!) mind.

At that time, Heuer and Ferrari had a close relationship (thankfully I'm just old enough to remember that and not just make the association between Tag-Heuer and that awful "grey" team ;) ) and every season the Ferrari drivers (and a few more who had a relationship with Heuer) were presented with a Heuer Carrera - the 18K gold 1158 CHN:

It's also a personal favourite of Jack Heuer - the relationship between Heuer and a driver seems to be synonymous with the relationship Jack Heuer had with same driver.

And I've now managed to get one, just a couple of weeks after just missing out on another! This one comes from its first owner (via a dealer), complete with original papers from 1975. Hence the 1975 edition of Autocourse. Coincidentally a year in which Ferrari won both constructors and drivers championships (with Niki Lauda). The 1158 was actually made for a remarkably long time for a Heuer, but only ever in pretty small numbers - the number TH give is a total of 150 made. There was a version with champagne registers too (1158 CH) but, for me, the most desirable has to be this 1158 CHN with black registers in an early edition with white-on-black date dial - later ones reverted to a more familiar black-on-white, which I personally find less attractive.

The watch is in great condition, even down to the lume on the hands. I'm so happy to have one because of the resonance it has for me - I'm sorry to have wittered on for so long about a tool watch in gold that many of you may not even like, but I'm quite excited by it :)))