Mysterious day-date chrono AMI prototype

A dealer has been offering this on Chrono24 and ebay recently. I got really enthusiastic about it and asked him lots of questions because his description didn't seem plausible. He said it was a 1972 Heuer-Leonidas with a 7750. I think it's a real watch because I've seen it appear two other times on the internet. I was waiting for him to send photos of the movement...then I was going to make him an offer. He was asking £5700. He has a decent track record at Chrono24 and ebay. All of a sudden he withdrew it from sale today - he says it's gone to Christie's and they'll auction it next year. He says he withdrew it because he was getting lots of offers of £2000-£3000. If he'd only sent me some photos of the movement, and committed to a written guarantee that it was made by Heuer, I'd have offered him £4,000. It seems he was fielding enquiries from 5 different people and forgot there was one still 'on the hook'. So now I'm a bit cheesed off. As I am new here I expect you will all be looking rather quizzically at this post. All in all this is very frustrating!

You can still see the ebay listing, item 163833410805. Or you can search for 'Heuer prototype' in Completed Listings. Here are some pics which I saved and put on imgur.




Here are the two other appearances I mentioned:

The youtuber says it has 17 jewels, so perhaps a Lemania is more likely than a 7750.

http://brown-snout.com/horology/articles/heuer_bundeswehr_chrono/

So...if we assume it's a genuine '70s Heuer, in excellent condition, I still want it! And I don't care which movement it has! Does anyone have any opinions?? Is it a bad sign that so little is known about it? There's such a vast quantity of information about vintage Heuers on this site and others that it seems strange that such an interesting model is pretty much unheard of.

I've found another one - auctioned in 2017 for 2200 Euros. And it has a 7750 in it! The date given is '1980s'. I hope I'm not breaking the rules if I post a link https://www.liveauctioneers.com/en-gb/item/50127528_heuer-ami-chronograph-switzerland-1980s

The plot thickens...according to people on an Italian forum it's a Frankenwatch which the Italian air force has no knowledge of https://orologi.forumfree.it/?t=73524668

I think that's probably right. The line between a true prototype (priceless) and a one-off franken (worthless) is pretty slim, especially for companies like Heuer which were not meticulous in keeping their records.

The finishing on this particular watch is quite poor (dial, Heuer logo on the rotor). Take a look at a genuine Heuer with a 7750




Heuer stopped using the 7750 in 1982/3 following the purchase by Piaget/ Lemania, so "1980s" doesn't sound right..

Overall, I'd pass unless you can get it for such a good price that it doesn't matter if its real or not.

Hmmm. If it was made by Heuer soon after the 7750 became available, say in 74 or 75, perhaps they used a standard Valjoux movement because they had not yet made any of their own modifications? I'm clutching at straws here!

Anyway, I think it's a dead duck. I've been asking the dealer for a photo of the movement but he's gone quiet. I find it hard to believe that he's really going to send it to Christie's. If he dropped the price to 750 euros I'd take it off his hands and disassemble it and send photos to Tag Heuer. And probably never hear back!

Photos of the watch are now being used by an ebay seller in Novi Sad. I wonder if the watch is there too. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113897469849

Hmm. I’d steer well clear!

I asked the ebay seller in Novi Sad why the same photos were used by Pawn Deluxe on ebay and chrono24 last week. He claims the photos are his own, and he's never heard of Pawn Deluxe! I've given him a link to this thread.

Now he's removed the listing.