A chromium plated, two register, manually wound chronograph by Heuer. When you look back at the history of the chronograph wrist watch, Heuer plays a very important role in its development and production. The Swiss brand produced a large number of these two and three register chronographs during the middle of the twentieth century. References such as the 2402, 2433, 333 sat along side their three register counterparts such as the 345, 2433 and 2437 to name but a few. These were all the predecessors of the Carrera's, Autavia's and even Monaco's that really placed Heuer on the map for being one of the finest chronograph makers in the world.
This particular example is a very fine and rare watch. The black dials are less common and more desirable than their silver dialed siblings. This classic two button, two register layout is both easy to read, and easy to use. As a result of this these models were very popular with the armed forces during World War Two. Many of them found their way on to wrists of servicing officers, and there is no reason to believe that this also did not have such a back story.
The dial has two large sub-dials at the three and nine o’clock positions. These dials have been given the moniker "big eye" chronographs for this reason. The original blued steel hands are present, and the correct sub-dial hands are also still in place. The dial itself is in superb original condition. A gilt printed set of text and numbers sit onto this glossy black background. This is also a luminous dial, and so has both luminous material in the frames of the hands, and also the Arabic numbers that sit around the dial layout. The logo is the classic squashed Heuer logo in the frame that eventually gave way to the larger one that one can see through the 1960's and onwards. There are some spots on the dial, but nothing that is distracting on the eye, the wear is commensurate with eighty years of age.
The watch is powered by the Valjoux 22 caliber, manually wound movement. These watches from Heuer, as well as other Swiss watch makers making chronographs often opted for either Valjoux or Lemania movements. They can be found in early Breitling's all the way up to watches like the Vacheron Constantin Cal. 434 and the Rolex chronograph ref. 2508.
Overall, the condition of this watch is very good. The case remains unpolished, which is key for these plated cases. The edges are very clean. There is pitting to the underside of the lugs, but nothing that is visible when it is on the wrist. There are two scratches to the left side of the smooth bezel. Nothing too bad, but mentioned for transparency. The original pillow shaped pushers are present, and the watch is working well having undergone a recent service. If you are looking for a period, large size case vintage chronograph, it is hard to find a better looking more handsome example. The beauty of watches like this, being vintage, is that they can look god when dressed up, as well as more casual.
