Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Seafarer ref. 2443 'Second Execution', Silver Dial

Dealer description — Oliver & Clarke

Abercrombie & Fitch Co., long before its modern reinvention, was one of America’s preeminent sporting outfitters. From its midtown Manhattan flagship, the firm supplied serious outdoorsmen with the finest equipment available, often commissioning bespoke products from respected manufacturers to meet the specific demands of its clientele. Watches were no exception. By the mid-20th century, A&F had begun offering co-branded timepieces tailored to sportsmen, and when customers began requesting a watch capable of tracking the tides, the company turned to one Charles-Edouard Heuer to bring the idea to life. Commissioned at A&F’s request, the Solunar was introduced in 1949 and advertised as the only watch to display both 'Solar' and 'Lunar' time. Produced in a limited run of just around 1,000 pieces, it was a highly specialized instrument and ultimately a niche offering. Still, its innovation laid the groundwork for the Seafarer, which paired the original tidal display with one of Heuer’s signature complications: the chronograph. Retaining traditional hour and minute counters, the Seafarer replaced the running seconds register with a tide indicator at 9 o’clock, which was directly adjustable via a left-side pusher and synchronized using published tide tables. Produced from the 1950s through the 1970s in several case configurations shared with other Heuer chronographs, the Seafarer remained a distinctive but specialized entry within the broader catalog and saw a handful of different variations over that time. The example that we have here, a Ref. 2443, dates to the 1950s and is offered in excellent, beautifully-preserved condition. The case comes in at 38mm in diameter and features nice thick lugs with sharp undersides, along with small 'pump' pushers, and a 'stepped' top case. Inside, the silver dial shows light aging throughout, retaining nice colors in within the subsidiary registers and beautiful gold 'foil' indices with a correct gold-tone handset. The movement powering this piece is a modified version of the famous Valjoux 72 which of course, is manually-wound. For the most part, all Abercrombie & Fitch Co. timepieces have become collectible to an extent, but it is the Seafarer that is at the front of the pack in both desirability and collectability. This is the first time we have had the pleasure of offering on for sale on the website and we could not be more happy about it.