102nd Auction
2020/6/29
Lot 495
Heuer, Swiss, "Autavia", Case No. 96196, Ref. 3646, Cal. Val 92, 39 mm, circa 1968
A vintage wrist chronograph – a true cult piece - with 45 min. counter and extremely rare bidirectional rotating tachymeter bezel - second execution
Case: steel, screw back. Dial: "Third Execution", black.
This Heuer chronograph Autavia reference reference 3646 is fitted with an extremely rare, rotating tachymeter bezel calibrated for 60-300 mph. Heuer’s novelty feature now allowed the racing drivers to calculate their average speed over consecutive miles.
For the first Autavia series Heuer used bezels with hour or minute divisions. The rotating hour bezel could be set to a second time zone, making the Autavia simply a GMT chronograph. The minute bezel was used for timekeeping during races.
Due to their longtime experience in motorsports, Heuer introduced the first chronograph with rotation bezel with the second execution of the Autavia cases around 1967 and improved the watch’s functionality for racing trememdously because average speed could now be calculated over consecutive miles - while other big brands such as Rolex and Omega used fixed bezels that would only calculate the average speed over one mile.
The rotating tachymeter bezel became the trademark of the Autavia models and was used for various models until the early 1980s.
A vintage wrist chronograph – a true cult piece - with 45 min. counter and extremely rare bidirectional rotating tachymeter bezel - second execution
Case: steel, screw back. Dial: "Third Execution", black.
This Heuer chronograph Autavia reference reference 3646 is fitted with an extremely rare, rotating tachymeter bezel calibrated for 60-300 mph. Heuer’s novelty feature now allowed the racing drivers to calculate their average speed over consecutive miles.
For the first Autavia series Heuer used bezels with hour or minute divisions. The rotating hour bezel could be set to a second time zone, making the Autavia simply a GMT chronograph. The minute bezel was used for timekeeping during races.
Due to their longtime experience in motorsports, Heuer introduced the first chronograph with rotation bezel with the second execution of the Autavia cases around 1967 and improved the watch’s functionality for racing trememdously because average speed could now be calculated over consecutive miles - while other big brands such as Rolex and Omega used fixed bezels that would only calculate the average speed over one mile.
The rotating tachymeter bezel became the trademark of the Autavia models and was used for various models until the early 1980s.
Sold
estimated
9.000—12.000 €
Price realized
10.700 €