1971 Heuer Carrera Chronograph Cal. 12 on BOR 1153
Ref: 1153
Specification
Lugs : 19mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : None
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold with a Tag Heuer service case but no original papers. The watch comes paired with an original 19mm Gay Freres "Beads of Rice" stainless steel bracelet with a signed folding clasp and fliplock, this bracelet will fit up to a 7.5inch wrist. The watch is from Circa. 1971 and is in worn, vintage condition, as you can see from the photographs, but overall in fantastic vintage condition for its age. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ujPoFHyPWr37tD4JdeqoN0UxjS7aRjWK?usp=drive_link
4K YouTube video, skip to 4:17 - https://youtu.be/6rqLw18q1Ak
The Watch
Here we have a 1971 Heuer Carrera Chronograph Cal. 12 on a 19mm Gay Freres BOR 1153 bracelet with a 38mm “C” shaped stainless steel case that curves over your wrist with stubby tapered lugs, a lug-to-lug length of 44mm and a case thickness of 14mm give the watch an impressive wrist presence. Down the right side, we have the piston chronograph pushers and on the left side in the centre a signed crown. A smooth polished bezel holds a domed crystal above a sunburst silver bicompax dial, a black Tachymeter chapter ring surrounds a precise minute track with applied baton indexes marking the hours infilled with lume, at 3 o’clock a black 30-minute register and at 6 o’clock a framed date window and finally at 9 o’clock a black 12-hour register, slender sword hands are complemented by an orange chronograph hand, at 12 o’clock we have the CARRERA HEUER motif and at 6 o’clock “Automatic Chronograph” complete this vintage bicompax chronograph sports watch. On the reverse a screw-down case back, inside an automatic Heuer Cal. 12, 17 jewels, beating at 21,600 beats per hour, this early automatic chronograph was released in 1971 and stayed in production until 1980 and improved on the Heuer Cal. 11 that was jointly developed with the help of Breitling, Hamilton-Buren and Dubois-Depraz in March 1969. The watch comes paired with an original 19mm Gay Freres stainless steel “Beads of Rice” bracelet with a signed folding clasp and fliplock, and the watch comes with a Tag Heuer service case.
Personal Note
It's far from every day you get an example like this come across your desk, this 1153 Carrera even features an original "Beads of Rice" Gay Freres bracelet, not to mention the perfect and original dial and hands which look incredible! This model was recently sold by Watches of Lancashire and was fully serviced by them, their card is included, plus a letter presented to them from the original owner with a brief history of the watch, it's always lovely when watches come with these hidden extras!
The Brand
Edouard Heuer founded The Heuer Watch Company in 1860 in St. Imier, Switzerland. Chronographs have been the mainstay for Heuer and later TAG Heuer. They were featuring many models and configurations, expanding the possibilities to the full. In 1958 Jack Heuer, Edouard’s son, joined the company. In 1962 the first generation of Autavia was launched. Famously worn in the 1970s by Formula One drivers such as Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx, Emerson Fittipaldi, Clay Regazzoni and Mario Andretti, and many more. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.A. offered a bid in 1999 that was accepted by TAG Heuer.