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JAC Chronograph 7750 (Cuanillon & Cie)



JAC Chronograph, Valjoux 7750 (Cuanillon & Cie), c1983/5

JAC was a sub-brand of Cuanillon & Cie, who were Heuers Swiss distributor. This makes sense, as this JAC’s design is very similar to the Heuers of the time, like the Valjoux 7750 driven Pasadena & Montreals. The design was very popular in the 80′s, with many brands building similar watches with a 7750 heart – like the Le Jour and Porsche Design variations.

I’ve never seen another JAC branded watch, and identifying this one took some time, with nothing showing up after hours of Googling. Thanks to the guys over on TZ-UK, a match was eventually found… JAC and it’s connection to Cuanillon & Cie can be found here and here.

This is a very looking watch, with white on black day/date and blasted finish case sitting on the original unsigned bracelet. It’s a big ol’ hefty piece too, I’ll have to check, but I think it’s 44mm across, not including the crown and pushers. It has a real solid tool feel about it, it’s big monotone dial only highlighted by the crisp orange chrono hand. Even the logo is kinda looking – in that bold solid font. Plus it is unknown to most, so the watch projects no assumptions about the piece, or wearer, but still looks like it means business. It still looks fresh and modern, but with a vintage twist – right up my street.

More reading on the history of the Val. 7750 here.

Below is a shot of the (date only) Heuer Pasadena 750.501, you can clearly see the similarities..







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Heuer Autavia 30 Ref. 7763c MH



Heuer Autavia 30 Ref. 7763c MH, c1968-71. Valjoux 7730, Compressor case.

I picked this up last year, and I’ve grown to love it a lot. It’s got a nice amount of wabi, with its faded minute/hour bezel insert, which is a beautiful blue grey that gradients paler towards the coin milled edge of the bezel. The majority of the hour baton lume had disappeared, so it went away for a minor refresh, courtesy of James, who has expertly relumed the stunning wide hour batons and hands in a perfect vintage cream colour.

It’s a big watch for it’s period, being 44mm with the crown. The (20mm) squared lugs are beautiful, they have a crisp, strong architectural quality, and the design shrugs off it’s years, it has a very modern look and feel about it with that added magic of it being 40 odd years old. This model, as referenced by the ‘C’ is the compressor snap-back case, which is signed with an large engraved Heuer logo and the Autavia lettering. (I really should have taken a photo). Shown here on a traditional style rally strap, it looks very business-like, but it also looks great on a battered pale honey strap, giving it a very relaxed ‘off-duty’ feel about it – great with lounging around on the weekend in those knackered old comfy jeans.

Although considered more of a vintage dress chrono nowadays, it was originally considered tool watch.. shown in Heuer (& Chronosport) catalogues from 1968 to 71, and has a depth rating of 330 ft. The 1969/70 Chronosport catalogue listed it (maybe a little generously) under its Diving Watches section, subtitled “Especially selected for their rugged reliability and waterproof qualities”, and describes it as…

“A top quality water resistant chronograph fitted with a rotating minute and hour bezel. 17 jewel precision movement with incabloc shock absorbers and specially treated hairspring and strengthened mainspring and glass. All stainless steel case and bezel. The 1/5 second flyback push-button operated stopwatch is fitted with a minute recording dial, and the mechanism may be stopped and restarted without zeroing the recorder. Black low-reflection dial, high retention luminosity and contrasting white secondary dials make this chronograph ideal for conditions where quick readings must be made accurately. Complete with leather strap this watch is both attractive and very strong”
See it here in the 1969/70 Brochure and description here on OTD.

This model was also available with a Tachy scale, which connects it more to it’s racing roots, and also available with a rice grain stainless steel bracelet. The Chronosport description mentions a leather strap, this is plausable, although it’s more commonly known to have been offered with a corfam strap…
It can also be seen here (bottom left) in the 1970 catalogue on steel bracelet on OTD, where the corfam strap option is mentioned.

NB. Commonly referred to as an Autavia 7763, I’m not entire sure of the absolute correct name.. the catalogue of the day list it as ‘Ref. 7763 MH Autavia 30′. Collectors seem to add the ‘C’ to denote the compressor case. It is simply stamped 7763 between the lugs. This particular example is probably early, as it’s serial no. is 112XXX.











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Heuer Autavia 11630 Tachy Black/White (Viceroy Colours)



Heuer Autavia 11630 T Black/White, Cal. 12, c 1973-8

I already have in my collection a regular 1163V Viceroy model, so when I decided to go for a 11630 version, I knew what I was getting, so there wasn’t a great deal of excitement waiting for it to arrive… how wrong I was. I love it, it really is a very handsome watch – it oozes , fullstop. Yes, they aren’t rare, or hard to come by, but it is a beautifully made and just goes to show that you don’t have to spend years hunting a rare piece, or a pay a kings ransom to really enjoy a vintage Heuer.

What’s really pleasing about this one, is that the surface ‘gloss’ on the tachy bezel insert has worn away over the years, leaving a very deep matt grey-black, which is just sublime – the silver tachy scale really ‘punches’ out against the matt backdrop. I hadn’t planned to put it on a ‘perlon’ NATO strap, but I think it looks wonderful on it.

This has the more common Schmitz case, with the deep-dish caseback . The Piquerez cases has more shallow stepped caseback. More info on case differences can be seen here at OTDs Viceroy guide.

Although I mention Viceroy, this model actually falls outside of the promotion dates. This model has no ‘V’ stamped along with ‘11630’ on the case, Serial is 300950, located low on the lug end, (as is the ’11630′ on the other side). Mark Moss, a renowned Heuer specialist, has undergone a large amount of research, as yet unpublished, into the serial numbers of the Autavias – his best guess is that this particular watch was not part of the Viceroy promotion, and was produced much later. Heuer continued to sell this model long after the promo ended in late ‘72, the design carrying on into the 11063 cased Autavias. Despite this technically not being a Viceroy, these watches are still referred to as such or as ‘Viceroy colours’, as it immediately identifies the colourway from other 11630s.

Despite this model being very well known, and not exactly a rare piece, the odd thing is that (as far as I know), it doesn’t appear in any catalogues that are online at the usual places (OTD or Calibre 11). The earlier 1163 and last of the Autavias, the 11063 are seen, but not the 11630. What is slightly confusing to the layman, is that the 11063 model is sometimes referred to as the 11630 in some catalogues. This is a known error amongst the Heuer community, and is attributed to an art dept. error when designing the catalogues.





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Heuer Carrera 510.511 PVD



Heuer Carrera 510.511 PVD, Lemania 5100 powdered c1983-5

I finally managed to bag one of these uber-cool Lemania 5100 driven Carreras. I have to thank a fellow Swiss collector for allowing me to get my grubby mitts on this mint example of this bad-ass tool watch. The size is perfect, it’s no oversized beast, being 38mm across without the crown. Even though many tool-esk Heuers are bigger, this Carrera is surprisingly well balanced and comfortable, especially shod with a DD handmade strap, (those in the Heuer community know how charming they are.) You really don’t notice you are wearing it, and it can be worn slightly loose on the wrist without the head slip-sliding around.

I find the overall design and case fascinating, the case is unusual in its shape for a Heuer, sort of flat and squarish, imagine a flattened Autavia case, not that dissimilar to the cushion cased/turtleback divers from the 70’s. It’s very utilitarian, it means business, yet at the same time, quite elegant and minimal. The PVD is immaculate, the matt finish soaking up any light.. this gives it a very mil-look appearance, it really is jet black – hold it against almost anything else that is black, that it makes stuff look like a deep grey washed-out black. And lets not forget this is a Carrera, a legendary name, this model coupled with a legendary movement – the Lemania 5100. Add to the mix an iconic dial design, handset and sublime high acrylic crystal.. and, well.. to be honest, there’s not a lot more you’d want from a watch. Interestingly, Chuck Maddox notes that this was Heuers first use of the Lemania 5100 movement.

Released in c1983, this continued to be available until 1985, so was among the last in the line of the ‘Named’ Heuers. This one has a signed Heuer crown, which I believe is unusual.. in an article by Chuck Maddox, he waxes lyrical about this Lemania driven Carrera, as it was one of his favourite chronographs, being a daily wearer for him. He writes that they do not have a signed crown – whereas my example does.. maybe it is a late model, or the crown was fitted as that was all that was left, who knows, but I’m not going to worry about a Heuer signed crown.

Article on the Carrera Lemania 5100 by Chuck Maddox.

This model was available in two variations, this one with the PVD finish, and the stainless steel model (510.523), which had polished sides and a sunburst brush finish to the upper case.. this is now on my hit list too.

Seen here in the Heuer 1983 Catalogue, and the 1984/5 catalogue via On The Dash.













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