A short, ok, well, long story that I wanted to share. I’m sure you’ve all been there, and this may ring many bells..

A while back in late 2010 I purchased a c1964 Autavia 45, ref . 3646M with a Val 92 movement. It was in a lovely original condition. It wasn’t acquired from a fellow collector, but from a fairly well known vintage watch shop in London, Austin Kaye. It came fully serviced and with a one year warranty. Great.

Here it is, photographed shortly after I bought it.

The watch was lovely, and my only gripe was that the central chrono hand didn’t quite set to zero, and upon starting it, registered one minute on the subdial from the off. Not really a problem, as it came with a one year warranty, so back it went. A month later it arrived back in my hands, I excitedly opened the package, only to find hot and cold shivers running down my spine. The central chrono hand was completely different, not even close to the original design. Where was the original? No explanation.
A couple of phone calls later, I arranged for it to go back. Phew.

Once again, it arrived back after a month or so, I opened the package, and once more, I was greeted with disappointment. The hand was incorrect. This time it was the correct shape and style, slightly different length tail, but most strikingly it was unpainted steel. I was angry, but it was better than before. I phoned Austin Kaye back, they didn’t really care, said I could return the watch for a full refund. I nearly took them up on the offer, but I decided to try to correct it without them.

I sent the poor Autavia to a well know independent watchmaker (Rich Askham), he is brilliant, I know a fair few Heueristas that use his services. I asked Rich to paint the hand white. Rich got back to me a few days later, with bad news. The hand that Austin Kaye had fitted was the incorrect stem size, so they had super-glued it on. Rich spent many hours trying to modify it, but it was no good. At least I was lucky that the glue hadn’t seeped down into the movement.

So, I started a search for a correct hand, a WTB placed here on OTD didn’t yield any results, emails to all my contacts didn’t work. A dead end. I forgot about the watch, out of sight, out of mind. It’s still in the care of Rich as we speak.

Nearly a year later (August 2011), I bought a rather nice Skipper from a German seller. I optimistically inquired if he had any parts, he sent me a list, which included the hand I was looking for – woohoo, the cost - €50. Marvelous.

An international bank transfer costs me £15.. so I sent the German dealer the Euros in cash, via recorded mail. (tut tut I know!) The cash didn’t arrive. The tracking was stuck on ‘It has arrived in the depot in Frankfurt’. Damn. I waited and waited, hoping it would turn up, kicking myself for not doing a transfer. Eventually I forgot about it, and mentally wrote off the money. Once more, I forgot about the Autavia.

So, cut to a few weeks ago, I remembered the poor Autavia 45, and emailed the German seller to see if he still had the hand. Communication was basic, as he doesn’t speak English, and I don’t speak German, so Google translate was doing the work for us both. A reply came back… 'Sorry, sold to dealer in London'. Oh well, never mind, my fault for leaving it so long. Back to the drawing board.
With a renewed interest in getting the Autavia back to it’s former glory, I posted another WTB ad here on Chronotrader.. and bingo, a fellow Australian collector came to my rescue. A day or so later, PayPal payment was made, and I’m a happy bunny, hand on it’s way…

Two days later, I kid you not… the German seller emails me. “I have your money, it arrived, will send hand”. What? My AirSure envelope took 4 ½ months to get to him! Seems he was mistaken, and still has the hand.

So, today, I’m at work, with the Australian hand sitting on my desk, it arrived today. Sometime in the next few days, another will be sat alongside it, from Germany.

Seems rare hands are like buses. I can't wait to get the Autavia fixed up, I guess it's stuff like this that makes vintage so appealing. Where's the fun in walking into a AD & getting a modern watch fixed immediately, with no problem!! ;0)

Cheers
Stewart