Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Heuer Autavia 'Viceroy', c. early 1970s
- Maker / attribution
- Heuer (maker)
- Date
- c. early 1970s
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 42 mm
- Stock no.
- 40991055
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40991055)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Heuer Autavia 'Viceroy' (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40991055), this is a wristwatch by Heuer, made in Switzerland, dated c. early 1970s. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 42 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Analog/Shift
It's no secret that the team at Analog:Shift is partial to all things motorsports and racing, and there are few brands with as strong a motorsports connection as Heuer. The 1960s and 1970s were boom times for sporty wrist watches with color and a little flash, and Heuer was no slouch in their offerings - take the Autavia for example. This particular example from circa the early 1970s, features an excellent, sharp 42mm cushion case with excellent factory finishing, a crisp matte black dial with applied 'white line' indices, a 'reverse-panda' layout with red accents, a matching handset with red accents, a date window at 6:00, and a bidirectional rotating tachymeter bezel. If you haven't ever worn one, you are truly missing out. Pair a contemporary sized steel case with a rotating bezel, twin subsidiary registers and a date function, and power it with the an automatic winding chronograph movement, and you have yourself a sporting timepiece for the ages. While Viceroy Autavias are relatively plentiful on the market, finding good examples that have been serviced and maintained properly and haven't had their cases overly polished is difficult. This is an excellent opportunity to snag this fantastic example offered here!
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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