Rare Heuer Skipper 'Skipperera' stainless steel gentleman's ...

Hammer

£30,000

Rare Heuer Skipper 'Skipperera' stainless steel gentleman's wristwatch, reference no. 7753, serial no. 105xxx, circa 1970,  sunburst blue dial with applied polished faceted baton hour markers, black outer 1/5th second divisions on a raised surround, twin subsidiary dials at 3 and 9 for constant seconds and green, mint and orange 15 minute recording, pointed baton hands with luminous inserts and orange centre second chronograph hand, Valjoux cal. 7730 17 jewel manual wind movement, the case with twin-pushers and Heuer crown, black racing style strap, 36mm
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The Skipper Carrera nicknamed the 'Skipperera' was designed and inspired by the 1967 America's Cup winner, 'The Intrepid' for which Heuer were the official timekeepers. The brand provided a full range of equipment for team 'Intrepid', including stopwatches, Navia waterproof clocks, and Aquastar chronographs.
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To commemorate the win, Jack Heuer commissioned the 7754 (based on the 7753), which today remains one of the brand's rarest and most coveted watches with potentially fewer than 30 examples known to exist. The most notable characteristic of the watch being the dial colouring which is directly taken from the 'The Intrepid'.
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Consigned by the original owner who acquired the piece from new in the late 1960’s, who at the time was a director the UK based Heuer distributor, Chronosport Special Watches based in Bath.
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The owner used the Skipper when sailing his Fireball racing dinghy from the Highcliffe Sailing Club near Bournemouth during the 1970’s.
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The Skipper was last serviced by TAG Heuer on 27 November 2008 where the crown, and pushers were replaced but retained and included in the sale.
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The owner visited the Heuer factory in the late 1960’s where he met with Jack Heuer, the fourth member of the Heuer family to head the company, and with whom he liaised to design the dial for a timer which provided average speeds for competitors in the Indianapolis 500, based on the Heuer model 503 220 stopwatch.

More Information

Movement - currently functioning and appearing in very clean condition, last serviced in November 2011 by Tag Heuer.
Dial - a very nice original dial with a nice vibrant blue ground, there is oxidised wear around the rim to the blue with some loss mostly to the marker areas - please view all images for personal guidance.
Glass - several light marks are visible.
Hands - light marks present with some wear to the surface on the hour hand.
Case - typical light marks but generally good for the period, the pushers were replaced during the service with the originals retained and included in the sale.
Crown - replacement Heuer crown which was changed during the service, the original was retained and included in the sale.
Strap - replacement strap.
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Condition reports are provided for general guidance only. Please view images and further information can be obtained upon request. Gardiner Houlgate do not guarantee the working order or time accuracy of any lots. Due to the opening of the wristwatch case backs, it is recommended watches are re-sealed by professional technicians to ensure any stated water resistance is retained