Of course the focus of many collectors is on the best of the best, and many of the top collectors have been pursuing the best pieces to add to their collection with a great vigour! However there continues to be more focus on Heuer as a brand in general (particularly the watches that fall between the golden years of 1962-85) and new collectors have been buying up watches further down the “food chain” to start collections as many of these watches still look value. It is worth noting that the market is dry of quality pieces, certainly the once reliable output of eBay has dried up compared to even a year ago, with very few “collector grade” watches coming up for sale. But also a general search of the internet vintage watch retailers often shows little reward, with what does appear often selling quickly and strongly.
Of the top pieces that seem to continue to gather momentum, early Autavia are being sought, and interestingly this has started to filter down to 2nd and 3rd execution dials now (all screwback case). Anything with the words Chronomatic and the likes of Monaco 1133b Transitional and the 74033N PVD (so the rarest of the rare), especially mint examples are red hot but good luck trying to find one! As usual there is high demand for the cal15 Exotic model and “Orange Boys” (yes, I’ve finally succumbed/conformed to calling it that). However remember the “OB” moniker refers to one black dial (with white subs) and one white dial (with black subs) 1163 model only and not just any old 11630, 1563, 73463 etc etc that happens to have some orange highlights on the dial. As far as 1960s Carrera is concerned the 2447SN, 2447 “Sailing” and the 7753 “Skipperra” are being hunted and of the 1970s variety, the 18 CT Gold 1158 models remain hot property. However, more so than ever condition remains paramount, on all but the rarest and most prized examples (where beggars cannot be choosers!), and on Autavia, mint original bezels are highly prized and assumed for strong values.
This guide sees no downward revisions, which amply highlights the strength of the market in general and I see no sign of weakness in the vintage Heuer brand on the horizon.