Very cool Orange Autavia high-beat

Calibre11 · Nov 21, 2014

Really special Autavia prototype for sale over at Chronotrader. Watch has the high-beat 28,800 Calibre 11 movement that Heuer was playing around with.

We've seen several high-beat prototypes, but only 1 or 2 of these bright orange dials.

I agree with the analysis over at Facebook that the dial is most likely original- but that the hands are from a later watch and a watchmaker has assembled the parts together. Still, a very, very rare dial!!

dsio · Nov 22, 2014

Very nice, I wonder how it is these actually make it out of the factory given their prototype status, do they just sell off the stock to recover costs of their development or do they just sort of disappear? Wonder if there are any modern CH80s disappearing if its the later 😁

Darlinboy · Nov 24, 2014

Very bold dial and no doubt a rare bird indeed. No doubt a lot of these "experiments" have just been binned back in the day, when no one was thinking of such things as legacy and collecting.

rarebirds.de · Nov 25, 2014

definitely a watch to talk about.. finally it needs one courageous collector to pay the requested price 😉

Calibre11 · Nov 25, 2014

Yes, the price will be high.

To paraphrase what Chuck (I believe) and Jeff at OTD might say: don't confuse scarcity with value. Sure, there are only 1-2 of these, but would you put your money into this or a standard 1st-Gen Autavia? I'd go for the latter.

But if you are a collector who has all the normal Autavias, I can definitely see why you need this in the collection.

rarebirds.de · Nov 26, 2014

you are right D. ..for me it´s just very interesting to watch, because last year there was a similar discussion about prototypes in the rolex collectorsworld. not every guru would have put his money in these pieces, even if all parts of them have been definitely genuine rolex.
the discussion was about if perhaps just prototype parts have been built together to a complete watch. finally there was not enough knowledge about that to fix a clear statement about these watches.. very interesting topic indeed.

dsio · Nov 26, 2014

rarebirds.de
you are right D. ..for me it´s just very interesting to watch, because last year there was a similar discussion about prototypes in the rolex collectorsworld. not every guru would have put his money in these pieces, even if all parts of them have been definitely genuine rolex.
the discussion was about if perhaps just prototype parts have been built together to a complete watch. finally there was not enough knowledge about that to fix a clear statement about these watches.. very interesting topic indeed.

I think that's particularly the case with external features as all too often a franken assembled with unintended spares can can end up being sold as such. The upside down Omega Ploprofs that every dealer tries to claim is a "rare prototype" edition rather than a simple matter of having had its troublesome movement replaced with one that has a standard datewheel that only lines up with the dial when inverted is one that pops into mind in that category. At least with these hi-beats and various other movement experiments you know its not something anyone would have done just for the sake of increasing the value.

abcoro · Dec 4, 2014

As discussed before. I agree it's a very rare and special watch. No question that all parts that build this watch are genuine and original Heuer...indeed not to confuse rarity and value. While I am sure it will sell for strong money, I'd also put my money towards 1st.gen Autavia right now. What intrigues me most about this proto is the movement. I have been looking for one to use in one of my own projects, without succes so far. The difference in sound/ticking of the higher beat is so special. Attached a small detail from another "prototype"

Calibre11 · Dec 4, 2014

abcoro
As discussed before. I agree it's a very rare and special watch. No question that all parts that build this watch are genuine and original Heuer...indeed not to confuse rarity and value. While I am sure it will sell for strong money, I'd also put my money towards 1st.gen Autavia right now. What intrigues me most about this proto is the movement. I have been looking for one to use in one of my own projects, without succes so far. The difference in sound/ticking of the higher beat is so special. Attached a small detail from another "prototype"

tease!