Heuer, "Autavia Chronograph", Ref. 7763C. Circa 1960's. Fine, water-resistant, stainless steel wristwatch with round button chronograph, date and register. MH bezel
Case: Three-body, polished and brushed, lapidated lugs, graduated bidirectional revolving black bezel for the decompression times, snap-on case back.
Dial: Bicolor black and silver with baton indexes, outer minutes/seconds divisions, subsidiary guilloche dials for the seconds and the 30 minutes register. Luminous steel baton hands.
Movement: Cal. 7730, rhodium-plated, 17 jewels, straight- line lever escapement, monometallic balance, shock absorber, self-compensating flat balance spring.
Ref: 7763C MH bezel
Size: 40mm Thickness: 13mm
SOLD
In 1968, Heuer redesigned the case used for the Autavia from a screw-back to a snap back compressor case. A compressor case was a patented case designed by Ervin Piquerez who sold these cases to a few watch manufactures, the compressor case has a unique seal construction which ensures water resistance through pressure on the gaskets and the crown. The principle is rather simple, deeper the watch was immersed, the more pressure on the case, the tighter the case and more water resistant the watch.However, despite the new case, the Autavia retained its original water resistance of 100 meters or 330 ft. the case was larger at 40mm.
The Autavia 7763C, was the snap back evolution of reference 3646, a two subdial manual wind caliber Autavia with a screw back case which was often worn by Mario Andretti.
Mario Andretti was the 1978 Formula One World Champion, a won many famous car races in the USA including the Indianapolis 500 in 1969 and the Daytona 500 in 1967 most likely wearing a Heuer Autavia.
This 7763 Compressor here Autavia is in splendid condition with beautiful patina on the tritium markers. the dial has some gloss. the case and bezel appear untouched and are very sharp. the Bezel teeth are particularly sharp. A classic example of an Autavia for the most sophisticated collector.
