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  1. CajunTiger

    CajunTiger Cajuns and Gators can't read newspapers! Apr 4, 2015

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    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?
     
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  2. Calibre11

    Calibre11 Editor of Calibre11.com Staff Member Apr 4, 2015

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    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:
    x580x9999_2x_1000w.jpg

    10115-1.jpg

    and this fantastic Chronomatic Carrera (via HeuerWorld)
    ChronomaticCarraera.jpg

    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
     
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  3. CajunTiger

    CajunTiger Cajuns and Gators can't read newspapers! Apr 4, 2015

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    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.
     
  4. Calibre11

    Calibre11 Editor of Calibre11.com Staff Member Apr 4, 2015

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    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.
     
  5. dsio

    dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Apr 5, 2015

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    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
     
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