Here the side view. Thanks for the help.

 

Absolutely surprising. I have no idea how this ended up abandoned in a drawer in my father's desk. Any suggestion on where to have it serviced? Thank you very much for the help!

 

Better tell us where in the world you are then we should be able to find a recommendation for that country.

 

Makes sense . In Portugal, though I frequently travel around western Europe. Thanks

 

Abel Court in Belgium has an excellent reputation, I'm in the UK and Richard Askham looks after things like that for me.

http://www.heuertime.com
http://thewatchspotblog.com

Both have a long waiting list and lots of repeat customers. Also in the UK Nic Green is frequently mentioned for vintage watches. http://chronomatic.com/home.html

Any more European suggestions? SteveP?

 

I think you've covered it Mike. I'm not up with many ex-UK watchmakers generally but Abel in Belgium can certainly confirm if it's genuine or otherwise......but if you're looking for a service, you could be in for a looooooooooong wait. He is at http://www.heuertime.com/?lang=eng&p=home

Yes, Rich Askham would be a great UK bet- http://thewatchspotblog.com/ for excellent work, or Nic Green http://chronomatic.com/ as you say. I haven't used Nic personally but he's incredibly knowledgeable and I only hear good things about his work.
When it comes to Heuers, these are the top guys that I'm aware of!
Good luck with it and make sure to keep us posted!
Steve

 

Thank you all for the help and the suggestions. I'll keep you updated!
Best,
Luis

 

Dear all,

Getting back to you for advise following the feedback I got from Rich and Abel.

Rich, suggests I should look for someone closer to home for the restoration due to the potential high cost of shipping insurance. He also suggests I should ask you guys (Heuer experts ) how far a restoration should go not to end up devaluating the watch.

Abel, as you said, is fully booked until sep’18. On his opinion the Solunar "looks tired, but all original".

Once again, thank you very much for the help.

Best,
Luis

 

Personally I would transport it myself. That's what I do with the Carrera I've worn since 1970, can't insure it for sentimental value. Waiting until you might be on a trip to Belgium (anywhere Benelux really) or the UK won't hurt it. Sorry can't help with a suggestion closer to home for you.

Dial: don't touch.

Hands: Maybe look for "more correct" Alpha hands. Good luck with that! The existing hands are certainly in period and could optionally be re-lumed to the same faded colour as now. The watch I am wearing today has gaps in the lume and I am just going to leave it alone. It is not noticeable on the wrist against a white dial as you also have, but only really shows up in the shadow of the hands under a strong light.

Case: Here you three choices. Leave it alone, re-chrome or clean nickel off and lightly polish as brass. Re-chroming is very tricky and would result in noticeable loss of shape because it would have to be heavily polished. Out! Removing the remnants of chrome and/or nickel would be more in tune with modern fashion. However I'd leave it the way it is, it will look a lot better with that verdigris removed -- which should be easy for a watchmaker. That way you have not affected future options if you decide to sell it.

Movement: Looks very clean. Just a service needed here.

Crown (that's the winder): looks well used, but I'd still leave it alone.

Spring bars: Definitely renew!


But everyone has their own taste.

Mike

 

Thanks indeed Mike for the comprehensive answer. I'll get back to you with the results.

Best,
Luis

 

Greatings!
Found this little one for sale in my area and I don't know much about it. I have only found a couple of examples on the internet for this Grassy watch, but with Heuer automatic movement.
What do you think?
Thanks!

 

If you like it and think the price reasonable go for it. These people may have some historical records about Grassy & Heuer http://www.thejewelleryeditor.com/shop/city-guides/madrid/grassy/

Best of luck with it.

 

Hi all, I've been offered a 60's Heuer Carrera Ref. 3647N (see pictures below). In my opinion this piece looks genuine but Im not sure if the crown is original. What do you think? I know there are early crowns without "Heuer" sign, but this one looks somehow odd to me...

Best regards,
Andreas

 

No expert but I'd agree it does look like it might be a replacement. Of course an original would be preferable but on the other hand, it a sign its been maintained. Even with a non-standard crown, it looks to be a highly desirable piece in good condition.

 

This 3647 crown is also not signed, but it is noticeably thinner than the one in your photos. The illustration in the Crosthwaite & Gavin Carrera book in the background is thinner too. OTOH, it's a minor point when the rest of it looks so nice.

These photos are the same watch despite the different straps.

 

Thanks for your opinions! So that's what I thought, a replacement crown of an earlier service.

But I agree, the overall condition of the watch looks great. Hope I can get it

 

Depending on what the serial number is, a Heuer signed crown might be more correct, and might be easier to identify to replace this one with. As the others stated, the earliest Carreras had a thinner unsigned crown, that, IIRC, had 32 teeth or knurls in it. The rest of the watch looks okay, the only other thing to confirm is the length of the minute hand. It's tough to tell from the angle of these pics, but you want to be sure it's not a shorter one, like used on the models with outer T/D/P tracks.

 

Length of the minute hand is OK, the crown is definitely not original. Crowns for '60s Carreras had less height out from the case, whether they were signed or not - the only difference is that the earlier unsigned crown had a larger diameter.

 

Thanks for the really useful information! I checked my other pics and compared it to some pics of other Carreras, and yes, I think the minute hand is alright.

@gophishin: I haven't seen the serial number yet, but do you maybe have any information for me from which serial on the signed crowns were used? Any ideas where I can get an original part from?