I've moved

Hi, thanks for dropping by - I've moved over to wordpress and I'm no longer maintaining this one.
Please head over to http://24heuer.com cheers, Andy...

Tuesday 29 September 2009

How to use the automatic AUTAVIA GMT chronograph

AUTAVIA 1163 GMT chronograph instructions...And for those reading in black and white, the red hand is the one next to the yellow :-)

Sunday 27 September 2009

Early Monaco 1133b - The full package!

Early Monaco 1133b - The full package!Early un-modded Calibre 11.
Gloss blue dial and keeps perfect time with the only problem being the date doesn't always change - a common problem which is one of the reasons they were modded by Heuer.
Anyway currently being rectified and back soon...
A keeper :-)

Friday 25 September 2009

Quartz??!!!

Yeah really, Quartz!
This is a great daily wearer.
This boy goes places the Monacos would never dare...no problems working on the Land Rover, doing the garden, even going for a swim.

In fact I was delighted when I accidentally chipped the steel case meaning I no longer needed to worry about scratching or denting it :-)
It's actually a pretty cool watch...look at the length of the tail on that second hand! Magic!
Heuer Quartz 200M Professional - Reference No.980.006

Wednesday 23 September 2009

Autavia 2446c GMT

Circa 1968 Autavia 2446c GMT. The suffix 'c' is for compression type caseback.

Managed to source a box and correct bracelet but on me it looks and feels so much better on a NATO.

I did run into difficulties a few years back tracking down an hour wheel for the 24hr hand.
The V/J 72-4 is quite a rare find these days and I was on the verge of cannibalizing an old Enicar Jet-Graph for spares - fortunately one turned up just in time :-)
Also the same movement in a Zodiac and Breitling of the late 60's.


UPDATE: 23rd June 2010 - Back from service @ TAG with shiny new bezel http://24heuer.blogspot.com/2010/06/2446c-gmt-back-from-tag-heuer-mixed.html

Saturday 19 September 2009

Silverstone 1987, Derek Bell Autavia Bezel Insert(?)

All this stuff about the Derek Bell Autavias at the moment (recent posts on OTD and there are a couple of 'NOS' Derek Bell Autavias for sale just now) brings back memories of 1987.

Here's the infamous MH bezel insert that distinguishes a 'Derek Bell' Autavia.
Yeah I know that's Jackie Stewart in the background!
So, back to 1987...At the time I was sharing a huge house in a small village close to Silverstone.
The other guys there included a French racing driver, Aussie racing mechanic, a couple of hippies, an Aston Martin rep (who once or twice brought back a nice V8 Volante en-route for the German Autobahns to meet some lucky prospective buyer for a proper test-drive), Russian journalist, 2 or 3 civil servants and a Glaswegian couple just back from South Africa.
The car park consisted of, amongst others, a Fiat 126 (which could only be started after pushing it to the top of the local hill and letting go), Lancia Beta, Ford Cortina, Mini Clubman, Citroen Decapotable and my MGB which had a few electrical faults including the embarrassing problem of the horn going off by itself without warning! (not good when sitting in traffic with lots of pedestrians walking by)
Anyway being part of this mad bunch meant the occasional visit to Silverstone and some amazing unrestricted circuit access :-)

So what's all this got to do with Derek Bell?
I was fortunate enough to be there at the time of the 1987 1000km of Silverstone, (May 10th) and see him testing his Porsche.

You can see Derek Bell's name on one of the cars below and that could be him in one of the other shots...
Excuse the quality - this is pre-digital-AutoFocus magic :-)

I seem to remember this was the start of a resurgence from Jaguar.
Here are the stats -
1 C1 4 Silk Cut Jaguar/Eddie Cheever/Raul Boesel/Jaguar XJR-8
2 C1 5 Silk Cut Jaguar/Jan Lammers/John Watson/Jaguar XJR-8
3 C1 17 Porsche AG/Hans-Joachim Stuck/Derek Bell/Porsche 962C
4 C1 18 Porsche AG/Jochen Mass/Bob Wollek/Porsche 962C
Pole Position - #17 Porsche AG - 1:15.110
Fastest Lap - #4 Silk Cut Jaguar - 1:18.120
And get this - Average Speed - 198.627 km/h

Wednesday 2 September 2009

My watch of the summer..11630

I've been wearing this almost all summer now and I love it.
It's so comfortable, hardwearing and reliable.I did some work on the pusher a few months back but when I saw a NOS pair on ebay recently had to have them :-)
I do have other Heuers, honestly!