Brand:
Heuer
Model:
Carrera
Year:
1972
Reference:
1158CHN
Original Box:
Included
Warranty:
12 months
Overall Condition:
Very Good
Wear level Case:
Barely visible
Wear level Caseback:
Barely visible
Wear level Dial:
None
Wear level Crystal:
Barely visible
Wear level Bezel:
Barely visible
Wear level Bracelet Clasp:
Barely visible
Movement Type:
Automatic
Caliber:
12
Case Material:
Yellow Gold
Case Diameter:
38 mm
Bezel Material:
Yellow Gold
Crystal:
Plexiglass
Dial Color:
Champagne
Bracelet Material:
Leather
Bracelet Color:
Black
Clasp Type:
Buckle
Clasp Material:
Yellow Gold
Functions:
Chronograph, Date, Tachymeter, Vintage
The Carrera was introduced by Jack Heuer in 1963 after he saw at the twelve hours of Sebring in 1962 that motor racing was a natural home for a chronograph. He named it after the Carrera Panamericana, the Mexican road race, and gave it a dial with everything unnecessary removed, so that the time could be read in a glance from a cockpit. The reference 1158 followed in 1969 with an automatic movement, which Heuer had developed together with partners, and it stayed in the catalogue until the late 1970s. Because the crown of an automatic chronograph only sets the time, it sits on the left of the case, which is the quickest way to tell these watches from the manual wind ones.
The gold version is the one that collectors call the ‘Ferrari’. Heuer timed the Ferrari racing team from 1971 to 1979, and each Ferrari Formula One driver of those years was given an 18k gold Carrera, among them Niki Lauda. A 2004 TAG Heuer brochure speaks of a limited series of 150 pieces, although some collectors believe that more were made in the 1970s. This one has the champagne dial with two black registers, the tachymeter scale on the ring around it and the original pin buckle in gold, and the back still keeps part of its red Heuer sticker, a detail that is rarely left on a watch of this age.