My Three Favorite Heuers? This Baker's Dozen!

A couple of days ago, over on our discussion forum, David Howlett posted the question, “If you could only have three Heuers in your collection, what would they be?”  This kind of question comes up from time to time, in a variety of formulations, so rather than posting my response on the forum, let me do a quick posting here, so that this response will have a more permanent home.

The Classics.

The first response that comes to mind is the three “classic” Heuers from the 1960s and 70s — the three register Carrera from the 1960s (Reference 2447), the “Steve McQueen” Monaco  from 1970 (Reference 1133B), and the Viceroy Autavia from 1972 (Reference 1163V).  These are the three Heuers that are probably most widely recognized as vintage Heuer chronographs, and as representing Heuer chronographs, in popular imagery.  There is certainly a big “gap” between these three watches, and whatever might be number four on the list.  The Carrera is the design icon with the clean style and the beautiful name; the Monaco was Steve McQueen’s watch in the filming of Le Mans (and his image has been reinforced through numerous “McQueens” sold by TAG Heuer over the last 15 years; the “Viceroys” popularized the black-with-red color scheme, and put tens of thousands of Heuer chronographs onto the wrists of racing enthusiasts, in the early 1970s.  So that’s the path of least resistance, the default setting . . . the three iconic executions of the “big three” — Carrera, Autavia and Monaco.

The “Classics” that I Enjoy Wearing.

But wait a minute.  This is not a popularity contest, this is the question of which three Heuer chronographs I want to own.  And, according to my collecting standards, if I own it, then I wear it.  So I need to think about the three Heuers — for now, within the Carrera, Autavia and Monaco model lines — that I really, really like to wear.  If this is the test, then I will go with a different list of three – (1) a Carrera with contrasting registers (black dial with white registers is the favorite right now), (2) a GMT version of the automatic Autavia (the one with all 24 numbers) and (3) the very rare black PVD Monaco.  As of this writing, these are the three models of the “Big Three” that I am enjoying most, when they are on my wrist.  I am happy to have three very different shapes / looks; the Carrera on a stainless steel bracelet and two on leather straps; some variety of colors, even if all three have black dials.

The tough calls here were the Black PVD Monaco and the Autavia GMT.  The blue “Transitional” Monaco (Reference 1133B) is a fantastic watch, that I enjoy wearing, and the blue Monaco is definitely one of the “classics”.  But the Black PVD gets the nod, as a fantastic, dramatic looking watch.  On the Autavia front, I am really into the 1163 MHs and Viceroys at the moment; still, the GMT is the choice, as it will also give me this “second time zone” complication (and a fantastic custom leather strap, by David DeVos).

If You Will Allow Me To Add a Couple More.

If you were kind enough to allow a couple of additional Heuers, then I would venture beyond the Big Three (Carrera, Autavia and Monaco), and add (1) an Italian Air Force (AMI) chronograph — it’s just such an amazing lump of steel and that Lemanis 5100 is a great movement and (2) my Caliber 12 Silverstone, in red.  These two chronographs are definitely not for “every day” wear, but when you are in the mood, then each of these chronographs is fun to wear.   And since we are going above the limit of three Heuers, let me add a third one to this group, the 18 karat gold automatic Carrera, Reference 1158 CHN.  As with the AMI chronograph and the Silverstone, it’s not to wear every day, but it’s a special watch for when the mood strikes..

And Thanks (for Allowing Unlimited non-Heuers)

Thanks to David for phrasing the questions in terms of our Heuers.  Although he has limited me to three Heuers, I will also enjoy three of the Sinns (156, 144GMT and EZM-1) and then there’s the good old reliable Rolex Explorer (6610), not to mention the Breitling Unitime and maybe a Zenith or two.

All This, as of June 29, 2011

Let me close by pointing out that these are the watches that I am enjoying most, as of Wednesday, June 29, 2011.  They are not the rarest; they are not the most valuable; but they are the ones that are getting the daily duty, most often.  Ask me tomorrow, or in six months or two years, and the list(s) of my favorite watches may be very different.