Heuer Chronograph 2 Registers Chrome Plated, circa 1970

Identity

Heuer two-register chronograph, chrome-plated, ca. 1970, most probably Ref. 73321. Valjoux 7733 manual-winding calibre, plate signed Heuer-Leonidas SA. Chrome-plated case, screwed steel back, 36 mm diameter, pump pushers, fluted crown on the flank. Silvered dial, black registers — running seconds at 9 o'clock, 30-minute counter at 3 o'clock —, applied baton indexes with luminous inserts, peripheral tachymeter scale, baton hands, orange chronograph seconds and counter hands. Plexiglas crystal. Leather strap, steel pin buckle.

Horological context

Founded in 1860 in Saint-Imier by Edouard Heuer, the maison specialised early on in the chronograph and in sports timing. It patented the oscillating pinion in 1887, a chronograph coupling still in use today, made its name with dashboard timers for motoring and aviation, then introduced the Carrera in 1963. On 1 January 1964, Ed. Heuer & Co merged with Leonidas, another Saint-Imier house that had become Switzerland's leading supplier of sports timers to the American market; movements carried the Heuer-Leonidas SA signature from then on. That merger produced a range of chronographs aimed at a wider public, positioned below the Carrera and Autavia ranges: chrome-plated cases with steel backs, cam-actuated Valjoux calibres, direct two-register reading. Until 1985 these watches carried the Heuer signature alone, before the company became TAG Heuer.

Character

The registers are snailed in concentric circles, the only texture on an otherwise matt dial. At twelve the index doubles, marking where the reading begins. Beneath the tachymeter runs a fifth-of-a-second track — exactly the rate at which the calibre beats.

Serviced. Patina and wear visible. Delivered with the Contre-Temps box and the Contre-Temps 24-month warranty certificate.