I've been a WIS for a while now, and have loved the history of pre-TAG Heuer. I was looking at getting a 1163V, when I came across a listing on eBay for a KAF Autavia. It wasn't listed cheaply (>$1000), so I pulled the trigger. It ended up being a scam, which abrod520 ended up letting me know about immediately, in enough time to get my payment reversed (so a major thank you to him/her).

At the same time, an estate sale listed a 2446C in rather poor condition. After talking with abrod520, I ended up pulling the trigger.

It arrived with the case back popped off, loose register hands on the chrono, and the crystal chipped.

I've dropped it off at a local watchmaker to have it serviced, the crystal swapped, and the case back remedied.

I wanted to know if a Heuer expert here could tell me more about the watch, in general (the case type / generation, etc.).

Thank you in advance (and another thank you to abrod520).

 

Hey man, glad to help - and extra, extra glad that you got your money back! And congratulations on the Autavia.

Sometimes watches do come in a bit rough from estate sales, but then that's sort of part of the charm I suppose - plus, the chances that it was "prepared" by a dealer are slimmer. And you can have your watchmaker take care of it which will give you greater peace of mind.

The good news is the parts on this one look original to me (bracelet obviously isn't, but that's not as important). And it looks to be in pretty good condition, can't quite tell what's happened to the crystal or subdial hands in these photos, but the hands at least look like they could be re-fit rather than requiring new replacements.

This watch is a 2446C (Compressor case), which was the second generation of Autavia after the original 2446. Production of these began around late 1968 or 1969. This is an early one, a Mark I, with the more classic black/white dial (later ones had red accents) and round pushers (the later ones had fluted pushers). You can find out more about the 2446C at OnTheDash here, or check out other examples by searching around for 2446Cs.

Fortunately, the movement is the Valjoux 72, which was a very tough and commonly used movement (Rolex Daytonas of the era used it) and even if it requires parts, they'll be easy enough to come by.

Stick around and show us photos when it comes back!

 

Thanks again Abrod. It's with Jack at IWW, and will post pics as soon as it gets back.

 

Looks like a great pickup. Will be even better after a sympathetic clean up and service. Congrats.

 

A dumb question for the group. It came on a generic beads of rice bracelet.
As far as I’m aware, this has 20mm lugs. Has anyone tried fitting a Heuer 2000 20mm bracelet on one of these? How do the end links fit?