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Instruments · Stopwatch

Heuer Monte-Carlo Dash Timer Military Issued, 1970s

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Heuer (maker)
Date
1970s
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Stopwatch
Dimensions
Case 56 mm
Stock no.
39131153
Credit line
Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (39131153)
Catalogue title (original)
Heuer Monte-Carlo Dash Timer Military Issued (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 39131153), this is a stopwatch by Heuer, made in Switzerland, dated 1970s. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Instruments collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 56 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

Sure, Analog:Shift is a business built around the love of watches — mostly mechanical watches. But, in essence, it’s our love for timepieces and timekeeping in general that are the common themes throughout the items we procure. And that includes the love of clocks in general: pocket watches, travel clocks, and more. After all, in the couple hundred years before the First World War, personal timekeeping was all about the pocket watch, and before that, it was larger clocks that were front and center, horologically. We still believe a good clock — especially one that has some military provenance — deserves a place in any watch lover’s collection. This military-issued Heuer Monte Carlo dash timer dates to the 1970s and features a 56mm case with an acrylic crystal. The most notable difference compared to the previous iteration of the Monte Carlo dash timer is that this utilizes a plastic case housing and a two button system as opposed to three. The crown at 12 o’clock winds the Caliber 7714 movement and also starts and stops the chronograph timer. The pusher to the right resets all the hands, as well as the hour aperture at 6 o’clock. The tritium dial has developed an attractive light patina throughout, and features an encircled 'T' signature at the 12 o'clock position, denoting military issue. The ridged bezel on the case remains sharp and crisp with light wear and the bezel is functional. This instrument comes mounted to a metal bracket - which, according to the previous owner, came with it when it was removed from its previous home - an AV-8 Harrier Jet! There’s no doubt it’ll be a conversation starter when someone lays eyes on it.

Historical context

Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)

Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.

Electronic timing replaced mechanical instruments in sport, industry and navigation.

Read the period in the timelineMore instruments from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology

Atlas type guide

Timers, stopwatches, chronoscopes and time recorders

Instruments for measuring short intervals or recording when something happened form a large and practical branch of horology. Sports stopwatches and split-seconds timers, laboratory chronoscopes (such as Hipp's, which measured thousandths of a second for psychology and ballistics experiments), metronomes for music, watchmen's clocks that recorded patrol rounds, and the time recorders that clocked factory workers in and out all derive from clock and watch technology.

These objects matter historically because they show timekeeping leaving the observatory and the drawing room and entering industry, science and sport. Many were mass-produced, and their dials, scales and patents chart the rise of electrification and industrial management.

What to look for

  • Scales graduated in fifths, tenths or hundredths of a second, or decimal minutes for industrial use.
  • Start, stop and reset push-pieces; a second hand that can be stopped independently (split seconds).
  • Recording devices: paper discs or tapes, printing mechanisms, keys or punches.
  • Patent numbers and dates on the dial or case, which give a terminus post quem.

Dating clues

  • Hipp chronoscopes were made from the 1840s into the twentieth century.
  • Employee time recorders spread from the 1890s (Bundy, IBM, International Time Recording Co.).
  • Quartz and electronic timers replaced mechanical stopwatches in sport from the 1970s.

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.

Read next:Flyback chronograph

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