I recently purchased this Autavia GMT. Can anyone shed some light on this GMT. I have seen the Seafarers, but never a GMT. I assume this was sold by A&F...but can anyone supply additional info on this piece?
Good find. Yes, Heuer made a few watches for Abercrombie & Fitch- as you say, the Seaferers/ Solunar/ Mareographe are is probably the best known, but there is also this Autavia: and this fantastic Chronomatic Carrera (via HeuerWorld) So, why A&F? This extract from Jack Heuer's biography explains: "Towards the end of 1955 I found I had some time left over from the military training courses before the new semester started and I decided to go to the US. I had heard so much about the US and thought, well, why not go there? Some time before I had met Walter Haynes, then the president of Abercrombie & Fitch which was one of our customers in the US. He used to visit us in Switzerland twice a year and, as he was a very creative person, would bring his own ideas for new watches. I asked him if I could do a short practical apprenticeship at Abercrombie & Fitch’s store in New York and he agreed. He even invited me to stay at his home until I found my own lodgings. So after a Swissair flight to New York in December 1955 I took a taxi straight to Mr. Haynes’s house. The next morning he took me to the watch department of Abercrombie & Fitch’s store in Manhattan and I was put behind a counter where I sold watches, including our own brand, until January 1956." So it was an unusually strong and personal relationship between Heuer and A&F
Thanks, this is excellent. I need to read his biography. Those are some great examples, I have never seen these before. Are they yours? Thanks for the reply.
Pleasure- you can download a copy of his book here: http://www.calibre11.com/download-jack-heuer-biography-times-of-my-life/ No, these aren't mine....sadly! The Chronomatic Carrera in particular is incredibly rare.
I actually really love the heavily faded bezel on your example, its about as extreme as you could get while still retaining the lettering that makes it usable