"Techniques d'Avant Garde"

ED. HEUER & Co.
 
From TAG HEUER website – “The company established by Edouard Heuer in 1860 would rely on two foundations – family leadership and technical innovation.”
 
TAG Heuer is a well-known Swiss watch brand that was founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer. At 20 years old, Heuer's passion for precision and innovation led him to establish his watchmaking workshop, on his family farm, at Saint-Imier, a village in the Swiss Jura region. Four years later, in 1864, he moved the company to Brugg, where it operated under the name “Edouard Heuer & Compagnie.” Finally, in 1867, Edouard Heuer moved his company to Bienne. The company would remain in Bienne for well over 100 years.
 
At the beginning, Edouard Heuer produced pocket watches, mostly in silver. His workshop would later become one of the most renowned watch brands in the world with a rich history and reputation for high-quality timepieces. The company has also been involved in many significant advancements in the watch industry over the years.
 
In 1869, Edouard Heuer present his first patent, also a popular innovation – covering a crown-operated, keyless winding system. This new winding crown replaced the separate key that had been required to wind a watch. Edouard Heuer & Cie. changed the course of watchmaking and continued to innovate in the areas of design, engineering, and manufacturing, driven by his instincts as an entrepreneur and his strong vision of the future.
 
In the 1880s, the company began to produce large quantities of pocket chronographs. Edouard Heuer recognized that accurate pocket chronographs were important to sporting competitions, which became popular in the era. The chronographs were used to time races on roads, cinder running tracks and over water. “The chronograph, perhaps in a silver case, became a status symbol for enthusiasts of horse or greyhound racing, as well as other sportsmen.”
 
Edouard Heuer focused on chronographs, in 1887, introduced a patent to improve the “oscillating pinion.” This improvement allowed the chronograph to start and stop instantly with the use of a push-button. By streamlining the movement design, the oscillating pinion simplified the chronograph’s assembly and maintenance. Edouard Heuer deemed this innovation “the perfected chronograph,” and it is still used to this day.
 
By 1933, the era opened with Heuer having a catalog os stopwatches and pocket chronographs, but only a limited selection of wrist chronographs. By the following eras, Heuer expanded the range of wrist chronographs, to become the leader in these instruments. In 1949, The Solunar wristwatch took place; hunters, fishermen and sailors may derive important information by tracking the phase of the moon, as well as the time of high and low tides.
 
The year 1950 marked Heuer's 90th-anniversary, and with that the launch of the Heuer Triple Calendar wristwatch reference 1806 that they marketed as the "Half of a Millenium" watch.


1950s HEUER
Bumper Automatic
Triple Calendar
Wristwatch
Ref. 1806
 
Today we are presenting a timepiece that is unique in many ways. Marketed as the “Half of a Millenium” watch from 1950, this is a vintage Heuer automatic triple calendar wristwatch, reference 1806 and dated from the 1950s.
 
It is a self-winding watch powered by an original ED. HEUER & Co. Swiss-made bumper automatic movement, 17 jewels, sub-second, unadjusted and triple calendar complication: day/date window and a central second month indicator/hand.
 
The original two-tone champagne dial is in excellent vintage condition, the inner brushed dial is a simple dress watch design featuring applied gold Arabic Numerals and the sub-second dial at 6 o'clock. This complements the outer blue date track perfectly which coincides beautifully with the serpent-like date indicator hand. Original gold matching alpha hands as well. The day/date windows are located at 12 o’clock with the Heuer logo/name below and signed Automatic on top.

With a simplistic and charming design this watch is cased in the original 33.8mm stainless steel round case with stepped fixed bezel and fancy lug design. Unique custom modified display back. The pushbuttons on the side of the case operate the date, day and month complications. It comes on a new-old-stock black Eterna signed Genuine Lizard two-piece strap.
 
This watch was one of three very special watches that we purchased on the same day. All three of these watches were stunning but had issues that required attention that went above and beyond what is normally expected. One of the watches, which was a Ulysse Nardin, was missing as a caseback, much like this Heuer 1806. The other watch was a Longines 5017, which you can find in our store.
 
Having searched for over two years for the original casebacks for both of these watches and save for some rough examples where sellers were trying to gouge buyers for $450-700 for a simple caseback, our labors remained fruitless. These two watches were too far nice to let sit around forever, so we made the decision to service them and create “piece unique” custom display back models.
 
The acrylic caseback on this watch was hand fitted to provide a safe and secure fit over the movement. The height is not dissimilar to the original case height, and frankly, it wears as beautiful as it looks. The added bonus here is that you actually get to see and enjoy the beautifully finished Heuer triple calendar bumper automatic movement. This watch can be worn as any other watch, and no additional care should be taken than one would normally take for a vintage watch of this quality level. In other words – wear it, enjoy it, and show it off. The movement was serviced in June of 2023, so you will get a lot of enjoyment out of this piece before it is time to service it again.

Thank you for looking! Please feel free to contact us with any questions, or respectful offers.

Movement:
ED. HEUER & Co.
Swiss
Seventeen 17 Jewels
Unadjusted

Measurements (mm):
Case Diameter 33.8
Case Diameter w/Crown 35.2
Case Lug to Lug 41.6
Case Thickness 12.2
Lug Width 17
Band Width 17

Vintage watches are traditionally smaller than today's watches. Men’s watches typically measure between 29-36mm wide (some larger, some smaller) excluding the crown. In the listing details we typically try to do our best to list all pertinent dimensions of a watch. If you don't see it, or we failed to do so, please reach out to us. Women’s watches from the 1900s-1970s were also much smaller than today's offerings. Please also feel free to ask any questions you have pertaining to size.

We prefer to shoot photographs outside when weather is permitting. However, when we shoot indoors, please be aware that we shoot our photographs inside of lightboxes that are lit with 360 LED bulbs. This indeed magnifies any flaws. Usually, they are much less obvious to the naked eye. Having said that, we never photoshop any of our photography, remove blemishes, etc. We adjust lighting when necessary, but what you see is what you are getting, and we take pride in that.

The condition is pre-owned.
The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear but is fully operational and functions as intended.
Please review the photos and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

It will be carefully packed.

Please view our other listings.
Thank you for looking!

WA-1413