Heuer Autavia Chronograph “Orange Boy”

While the Carrera has the beautiful racing name, and the Monaco evokes both the Formula One and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, history shows us that the Autavia was the chronograph most often worn by the racers. Formula One champions Mario Andretti and Jochen Rindt wore manual-wind Autavias in the late 1960s.

Jo Siffert, Gilles Villeneuve, Clay Regazzoni and Derek Bell wore automatic Autavias in the 1970s.

Orange accents were created for the Autavia in the 1163, but carried on by this 11630, 73463, 15630s, and others. Only when the 1163 began to sell at massive premium did people begin to term these other reference as Orange Boys, but hey evolving times and all that. For what its worth, I’m not sure where the nickname’s parlance should begin and end. But I do know that this second generation of automatic Autavia is lot of orange fun for the ask. Two register, twelve-hour Heuer chronographs bring to mind the Carrera. But if one is willing to experiment with a relatively common calibre and 1970s case, there’s a bundle of fun to be had.

Moreover, all the changes that came with the 11630 were purposeful. The outer bezel is wider for legibility and grew a luminous dot. The crystal switched from plexi to mineral. The case is also more robust, to the tune of a 1mm. There aren’t actually as many playful chronographs from the 70s are you think there are from brands you recognize. Heuer really did it best, and somehow they’re in a market that’s totally froth-less today. It’s the anti-Rainbow-Daytona, really. More of that, please.

This example sports a "as new" strong case, and an handmade Rally black cow-hide strap.
The dial is spotless, clear and crisp, all tritium still present and a lovely honey. It comes from a well-regarded Heuer collector.