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The Tropical Carrera 2447SNT
The difference time and environment can make to a vintage watch always intrigues me...
Tropical is a word you will hear often in the vintage watch world. It is a term used to describe the pure beauty of a dial or bezel that has aged and faded, normally on the dial from black to brown, however it can be used by some chancers to describe an ugly watch that has seen damage. The latter misuse of the term "tropical" is often covering up for a watch that has seen the dial discoloured due to some kind of water damage, which does not belong in the same category but of course some sellers think this is a way of increasing the price of a watch that may otherwise be almost impossible to sell! This blog refers to a watch that, due to atmospheric conditions (sun, humidity etc), has seen the dial age to a markedly different colour to the original, such as here with this Carrera 2447SNT where you can see that the original black sub registers have faded to a milk chocolate brown. It has been assumed for some time that the process was aided by certain paint batches having failed, however the effect can be seen on such a wide range of dials and over such a wide period of time (30 years plus) that I wonder if almost all vintage black dials had the capability to change under the "right" conditions..?
Heuer Carrera 1963-85 book
We tend to see most tropical dials on Heuer in the 1970s timeframe and normally on the 1163 variants such as the GMTs, but there are very isolated instances of such dials across most references. If we think about the 1960s Autavia and Carrera I can think of only a few watches where this tropical effect has occurred. The pictured tropical Carrera 2447SNT is one such watch where we have seen a handful of examples over the years. This example shows matching patina on the metallic paint, white outer scale and on the dial lume for a consistent look.
Now a little background on the rare Heuer Carrera 2447SN range. They appeared towards the end of the 1960s Carrera production, at the end of 1968 and ran until 1969/1970 when they were replaced by the newly launched automatic Carreras. The most observed of this special series were the plain SN dials without timing scales. The pictured 2447SNT (T for Tachymeter) and the 2447SND (D for Decimal) are less observed in the market, with fewer than 20 of each known, compared to 40+ of the SN. A realistic production estimate for the SND and SNT is likely 200-300 max, with perhaps a little more for the SN. Just for clarity the SN stands for standard noire, standard in Heuer terms actually meant silver or white. Therefore when looking at the black dials, NS stands for noire/standard. Values on this series of watches tend to range between say £10000 for one with significant dial damage and perhaps up to £30,000 for the very best condition non tropical example. At present there is no significant premium for the much rarer scale versions, although that is at odds to the market in general so may not always be the case.
Values of tropical watches are perhaps best described as "fluid"! Each watch needs to be considered in isolation, for a watch that is only seen with a very dark brown shade in direct sunlight and with the help of an Instagram filter is in my opinion not really worth any more than a standard dial. However, once the dial can be obviously seen to be brown (and not just in sunlight), then value depends on just how brown and how pleasing this colour is to the eye. So, giving any hard and fast guidance is difficult because it is subjective. I would estimate that the premium on Heuer for the very best tropical dials might be in the range of 25%+ over the standard dial. Of course, one man's meat is another man's poison, and there will always be people who prefer the original black dial and the lower price. However, demand for tropical dials is at an all-time high; collectors like to have something different and perhaps the fact that each one is unique, compared to the consistency of the dial with the original black paint, adds a little "je ne sais quoi" that collectors are always looking for!
To read more about the vintage Heuer Carrera, click on the link below to view the book, which covers almost all vintage Heuer Carrera between 1963-85.
Note: Please do not reproduce these images without permission.
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