Serviced 1940's Vintage Heuer 345 Big Eye Chronograph Valjoux 71 Pre-Carrera

Having a love for complications and complicated watches, makes me love Chronograph watches. At first two register chronograph for simplicity of the dial and providing chronograph functionality for the most. Then the three-register chronograph for the complication of movement and the history of the movements, like of the iconic Omega Ref. 321, Ref. 861 (used in famous moon landing), Zenith El Primero, Venus mostly used in Breitlings, Landeron, and one of the most well-known movement makers Valjoux. With their famous Valjoux 72 put in the vintage Rolex Pre Daytona’s and of course the big dog Patek Philippe reference 2499 using Valjoux 88 my favorite which sold in auction for $3.30 Million in 2018.  I also love the Heuer Caliber 11 first micro automatic chronograph movement with date.

A Chronograph is simply a watch that combines the function of a stopwatch with a timekeeping display watch, by utilizing an independent sweep second hand. Chronographs often have complications on the face of the watch which can be used to record different time measurements, moon cycles, heart rate and more. Chronographs have usually have a separate buttons to stop, start, and reset (unless it is an monopusher) the stopwatch complication, with the start button typically at the two and four o’clock position.

The name Chronograph is derived from the Greek words ‘Chronos’ – the personification of time – and ‘graph’, meaning to write. The first modern Chronograph was created in 1816 by French watchmaker, Louis Moinet. Invented solely for use in union with astrological equipment, Moinet’s Chronograph could measure time accurate to 1/60th of a second – an unrivaled degree of precision at the time of its creation.

"poor man's" Heu-ers represent an interesting facet of Heu-er's history and also provide a sensible way for individuals to collect these chronographs on a more reasonable budget. The term "Poor Man's Heu-er" only to refer to chronographs manufactured by Heu-er for other brands one of which is Zodiac & Clebar, which is one of my favorite brands. Please note on ebay there are few brands that are not made by Heu-er and still refer to as Poor man which is not true.

This is a lovely and clean example of a circa early 1940s Heuer Reference 345 chronograph, often referred to as a “Pre-Carrera”. They were made in a variety of sizes and came in 2 or 3 register set-ups, and formed the basis for the iconic Carrera line.  This particular example is powered by the legendary Valjoux 71 movement, which was movement prior to our famous Valjoux 72 used in the later Heuer Carrera and Autavia watches, and features blue hands, with Arabic numerals. 

 One of the rare movement were of  the Valjoux 71 due to limited production of the movement.  plus as the teardrop chronograph pushers which is my favior it. version similar to REF. 346 and  350.  White dial; Radium -- has a white dial, with painted numerals (radium); military style hands (radium filled). The case appears unpolished with normal wear and nice sharp edges.  The dial shows some wear and aging but great condition for the age, has patina .  Original radium lume on dial and hands..   Watch is running & fully serviced, chronograph starts, counts down, stops, and resets to 12.

For more reading on the history of these watches, head on over to On The Dash website.

This is a beauty. It is very rare to find a watch this old. Defiantly a collector watch. Please look at all the pictures, as they are part of the description. The watch is working and Serviced. This is a highly collectible watch. Very few left with this rare movement. Sure, to increase in value overtime, and a great addition to your collection. The condition of the watch is the same as it appears in the photos.   The watch is working and is part of our new Certified Pre-Owned CPO.  Contact me if you have any questions first.