Second Execution 2446 Heuer Autavia

One of the most revered vintage chronographs Heuer ever made, the manual, screw-back Autavia is at the height of many collector’s Heuer lists. With a tri-subdial Valjoux 72 layout, rotating luminous bezel, and 39mm case, it’s a Daytona of the people. And it’s properly proportioned, thin—even a bit contemporary. It’s the kind of thing TAG have tried innumerable times to resurrect the magic of and failed. The 2446 is arguable the most beautiful Heuer that’s been made. And now’s still the time to act if you’ve been hearing the siren song of 60s F1 watchmaking.

This and headline lifestyle image of separate 2446 examples in the same specification, courtesy of Phillips. 

The 2446 Autavia began in 1962 with slightly larger subdials than we see here and entirely luminous hands (edge to edge) that rarely hang together. It was the first model that Jack Heuer designed personally at 30 years of age (alongside the dual-subdial 3646). Three years later, the model landed here with applied steel markers that also happen to mark the second generation dial. Many consider these first two iterations to be the most beautiful Heuers ever made, myself amongst them. Two bezel types were offered in the early years, this 60 minute demarcation and a 12 hour divison for two time zones (made famous by Rindt). The Autavia was accessible and well made, which in addition to sponsorship saw it spread across the F1 and Le Mans paddock to the extent that Jochen Rindt and Mario Andretti were both rocking manual screw-back Autavia in period.

The automatic Autavia with its far more playful and robust 42mm case took over in 1969, leaving just 7 years of this slightly more graceful production that collectors love. You’d expect them to be Daytona values, right? Not at all, even these very collected variants live largely under 50K USD today. If Heuer had evolved down a different path as a brand, this could’ve been a Daytona-level-value watch. But the modern lens frames these amazing vintage offerings. They’re no less storied and beautiful than Daytonas, only lesser known by nerds like us who love this stuff.

The actual example in market today, linked below. 

The example on market today is transitional, which we do occasionally see, it features a second execution dial with an early case and that can be correct. It's very lovely and appears altogether quite original. It hails from a California retailer, watch only.