Heuer Autavia 'Viceroy'

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. Known to collectors as the 'Viceroy', these chronographs take their name from the 'Viceroy' Cigarette ads, where you could redeem one of these for $88 and proof of purchase of a carton of smokes. This particular example from circa the early 1970s, features a 42mm cushion case with 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, a bidirectional rotating timing bezel, and a signed crown. 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. Don't miss this honest example offered here!