11630 ‘Orange Boy’ Heuer Autavia

In watches, as most luxuries, there is often an asymptotic relationship between the amount a watch commands and the extra value you receive. In tangible terms, it means this: a 20K watch will not give you twice the enjoyment of a 10K watch, often it will give you about 1.5x as much additional enjoyment than a 10K watch. Perhaps a 30K watch will give you 1.7x the additional enjoyment. But eventually, these additional benefits converge at some point that does not exceed some Y-asymptote of new watch enjoyment, wherever that lies for you. I find often 300K watches are far less interesting than watches costing one tenth, but with a story. All of which is to say that, if you want an Orange Boy, you’ll get a lot of thrills out of examples that aren’t the 25K collector’s reference 1163.

The ‘Orange Boy’ moniker was officially coined for the 1163 Autavia, but the theme sold well enough to be continued across multiple dial variations and references. 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.

This example is in decent shape all considered. Its dial is lovely, full marks with only partially degraded tritium. Same can be said of its handset. The case had seen a light polish, but nothing abusive. The top surface radial brushing is still visible all round. It comes on an aftermarket mesh bracelet, recently serviced in 2021 from a private collector. I find the ask quite reasonable, all considered.

Find this 11630 here on Watchuseek forums for 8500 AUD.