Humbly sharing my little vintage collection

[browncow]

Hi all,

I've been collecting vintage watches for just over a year, but I'm new to this forum.
Just sharing with fellow enthusiasts my little collection.

I started looking for watches from around my birth year, 1969, so naturally got interested in the 1st automatic chronograph movements released in 1969 by Heuer, Zenith and Seiko, plus of course, the Speedmaster moon watch...

My first purchase, just over a year ago, was an early (pre-Viceroy) Heuer Autavia 1163MH from an Italian collector, cal.11, and dating to 1970.
This was not my first vintage acquisition, but this was the first one I knew was a definite keeper.

[satch]

wow, how did u track down this piece? it's a beauty! and the bracelet too.

[browncow]

Chronotrader is a good place to look for vintage Heuers.
A lot of these vintage Autavias had these beautiful 'Beads of Rice' bracelets from Gay Freres - they are very valuable/ overpriced now - going for 4 figure sums!!!

wow, how did u track down this piece? it's a beauty! and the bracelet too.

[Whatupz]

Wow, love the vintage look.

[browncow]

Next up was to be a Monaco. For the longest time, I had foolishly wondered what the fuss was about a square watch with a blue dial....then I saw a Monaco 73633G in the flesh, and I promptly fell in love....
But the 73633 is manual wind, and a later model.
The one closer to my birth year would be the 1133. The blue is the more famous variant, but I prefer the grey variant, the 1133G.
It took a while to find a decent one within my budget, but when this one came on sale from Denmark, I decided it was the one for me - a 1133G with, once again, a cal.11 movement, and dating to 1970.
The dial has some 'melt' around the edges, but the case has been beautifully restored, and everything about it is just so...sweet!

[browncow]

Next up was to be a Monaco. For the longest time, I had foolishly wondered what the fuss was about a square watch with a blue dial....then I saw a Monaco 73633G in the flesh, and I promptly fell in love....
But the 73633 is manual wind, and a later model. The one closer to my birth year would be the 1133. The blue is the more famous variant, but I prefer the grey variant, the 1133G.
It took a while to find a decent one within my budget, but when this one came on sale from Denmark, I decided it was the one for me - a 1133G with, once again, a cal.11 movement, and dating to 1970.
The dial has some 'melt' around the edges, but the case has been beautifully restored, and everything about it is just so...sweet!

[lefty]

hunting down birthyear watches sure requires lots of patience and research, but ultimately stisfying! Congrats!

[nojo]

Next up was to be a Monaco. For the longest time, I had foolishly wondered what the fuss was about a square watch with a blue dial....then I saw a Monaco 73633G in the flesh, and I promptly fell in love....
But the 73633 is manual wind, and a later model. The one closer to my birth year would be the 1133. The blue is the more famous variant, but I prefer the grey variant, the 1133G.
It took a while to find a decent one within my budget, but when this one came on sale from Denmark, I decided it was the one for me - a 1133G with, once again, a cal.11 movement, and dating to 1970.
The dial has some 'melt' around the edges, but the case has been beautifully restored, and everything about it is just so...sweet!

congrats! thats a real classic, thanks for sharing the poison!

[rsub99]

Both vintage are nice. Thank for sharing.

[browncow]

Next was a 861 Speedmaster ST145.022 (from Ecuador, no less!).
I took a lot of trouble to hunt down a pre-moon 861 Speedy cos that would have been what would have been available for retail in the 2nd half of 1969 - this one was a bit of a beater, but it's got the correct dial, hands, caseback and bezel.
In the end, I was off by a month - this one dates to Jan 1970.
But sadly, I never managed to emotionally bond with the Speedy....

[XD~]

Nice, well thought out collection. Makes it all meaningful. 'Watches same age as me' - thumbs up.

[winster]

Real nice collection of iconic watches.
Let me know if you are interested in Heuer vintages. I could pass on a contact or two in Europe.

The sight of vintage watches gets me exited all over.

[browncow]

So.....when the opportunity came about to trade the Speedy with an Autavia 1163GMT from a local collector, who was I to refuse?
I've always wanted a GMT - the pepsi dials just oozes retro cool, but (thankfully for my wallet) Rolexes never did it for me, so this Heuer 1163GMT with the cal.12 movement and serial number dating to approx 1972 just about fits the bill perfectly for me.
This one, unfortunately, has an over-polished case, but it's got a complete makeover from Tag Heuer, and it's even supposed to be pressure tested, not that I've dared to go swimming with it...
Anyways, it was just too pretty to pass up, plus it was a straight trade with the Speedy - you just can't say no to that, can you!!

[browncow]

Thanks.
I've seen your post on your Lemania collection - fantastic!!
If you have contacts for vintage Heuers in Europe, you're most welcome to share with me!
Also, would like to know where you got your case refurbished...is it locally?

ben

Real nice collection of iconic watches.
Let me know if you are interested in Heuer vintages. I could pass on a contact or two in Europe.

The sight of vintage watches gets me exited all over.

[browncow]

In 1969, Heuer had competition, with regard to the world's first automatic chronograph movement, from Seiko and Zenith. One of my 'themes' of vintage watch collecting was to collect one of each of these 3 'first' automatic chronograph movements.
Thus for the longest time, I was in the hunt for a Zenith El Primero with the cal.3019 movement.
This proved to be a difficult endeavour - many were either period incorrect, or grossly overpriced, or both.
I finally managed to find this one from Italy, a reasonably priced, slightly sun damaged 'tropic' El Primero A384 - aftermarket red chrono hand, scratched up crystal, needed a full service, but otherwise all original - hands, dial, crown, case back, movement...and a nicely unpolished case as well!