Hi All,

After my father passed away I have been clearing out the house and I came across a bag of old watches, mostly cheap Casio's etc, but among them I found the a Heuer watch, no Autavia written on the front, but it does show that it is a Autavia on the back. The only numbers I can find on the watch itself are "96917"

I have been searching the internet and all the Autavia's I find have it written on the face - I also cannot find any reference to "96917". I guess my questions are: is this a genuine Heuer, and if so would it be worth while fixing it up.

As I have no idea what this may be worth I am currently unable to make a decision. The watch itself does seem to work as when you pick it up and move it around the hands do move after it has built up a bit of energy.

Thanks for your time.
Nick

 

Hi Nick,
Both watch and bracelet look genuine to me, and definitely worth getting a watchmaker to check it over.

 

I believe the dial has been refinished, but the rest is genuine. It's a 3646 Autavia and 96917 is its serial number, dating it to late 1968 or early 1969 or thereabouts.

 

Thanks for the response, just out of interest if you had it would you get it done up or leave it as it is?
if it's not worth a huge amount of money I would like to do it up and wear it. but if it is 10k plus I think I may have to sell it.

 

It'll require a crown and perhaps a fairly extensive overhaul, but the watch isn't going to be worth 10k. You may have to spend up to $1,000 to get it to a usable condition though

 

Just curious. $1000+ worth of labor aside from the cost of replacement bezel, crown, and dial, right?

 

No, assuming he wants to keep the parts currently on the watch, I'd think he could get a new crown and a service for 1k if he was willing to ship it out. But if he wanted to bring it back to fully proper spec, it'd cost more for sure.

It's a 3646 dial (see the markers) but Heuer did not produce "economy"-line Autavias without the name on the dial (or any at all with the V92; those were all 7730s) so my best guess is refinished or at the very least, the Autavia name has been scrubbed off

 

Got it.I'm always itching for a resto project like this but never go through with it because of the unknown costs. Experience like this helps. Thanks!

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'm going to take it to a restorer that has been recommended to me to see what he can do with it and how much it will cost. I'll report back with pictures when if anything has been done.

 

I did see on chrono24 someone selling a 3646 without the Autavia name on it. and they were saying that it was a Prototype. whatever that is.. could that be possible?

 

You make a good point Nick. I also remember seeing another example of this type of 3646 here-
http://www.chronocentric.com/forums/heuer/index.cgi?md=read;id=95348

I'm inclined to think they/yours are correct....although I wonder why the serial on yours is so 'late' if it's a prototype...
Steve

 

Hmm, intriguing.... I wonder then if it might be some kind of service dial.

 

After reading the post that SteveP linked to, mine also has no 3646 engraved between the lugs, and like the one on that post it hasn't just worn off, it was defiantly never engraved.

This is why I was wondering if it could be a model of the 3636 before it was named 3646 if that makes sense?
abrod520: sorry for my ignorance as I am very new to the world of vintage watches, but what is a "service dial"?

As I have been doing research on this watch I am becoming fascinated by the subject.

 

Also this is an interesting read, very similar to the one I have found:

https://www.fratellowatches.com/antiquorum-geneva-may-2018/

Scroll down to LOT #39 there is an interesting write up about the dial and the missing 3646

 

Reference numbers weren't engraved between the lugs on the Autavia before the second-generation 2446C models were introduced in 1969, so that's neither abnormal nor telling for your watch.

A service dial is one that is fitted when the watch is sent in for service, usually if the original dial shows some damage or other deviation from the manufacturer's specification. Sometimes they have differences from the original dials.

I'm not sure even whether it's a service dial, and maybe instead it's a blank that was intended for use in a retailer-stamped watch (like the "Gubelin" in the Fratello article - it seems these Autavia-less dials are most often found with a retailer stamp)

 

Originally I thought it had a reapplied dial. Specifically because the Heuer logo is different from all other Heuer logos of that era. The letters are just off in comparison. Most notably the small leg of the R. It begins at the far right side. On period watches, including all 60s Carreras and Autavias, the small leg starts in the crossing. But it turns out the above mentioned watches on Chronocentric and the Gubelin piece all have that logo.
Digging a bit deeper I found this is simply an older logo most seen on '40s and '50s Heuers. The service or co-branded dial is very plausible but why would they stamp a logo from a decade or so ago? Intriguing

 

1000 € restauration only if you keep the part
Strap is 19 mm right ?