1950s steel vintage Heuer ‘Pre-Carrera’ Chronograph watch Ref.404 (4234)
£2,865.00
Date: 1959
Case: Stainless steel, 34mm
Movement: Valjoux 23
Dial: Champagne, 2 subsidiary dials
Lugs: 18mm
A ‘Pre-Carrera’ vintage Heuer Chronograph watch, ref 404, retailed by Baylor, from the 1950s!
A 1959, stainless steel vintage Heuer ‘Pre-Carrera’ Chronograph watch, reference 404. The case measures 34 mm in diameter with 18mm lugs. The case is signed ED Heuer & co., Swiss. The manual wind, Valjoux 23 movement is signed ED Heuer & Co., Switzerland, with 17 jewels, unadjusted, with two ‘spillino’ pushers control the start-stop and flyback function. The champagne dial has Arabic numerals, with two subsidiary dials recording minutes and continuous seconds, fine lumed minute and hour hands, with blued steel hands to the minute counters. The dial is signed Baylor, Heuer above the centre.
Heuer Chronograph, Reference 404
This Heuer and Baylor chronograph watch, reference 404 is in excellent condition, a ‘Pre-Carrera’ or ‘big eyes’. The 404 was introduced by Heuer in 1959 and produced roughly until the introduction of the Carrera in 1963 catalogue, for a relatively short production run. Among other 1950s and 1960s Heuer Chronograph references, the 404, in any dial variant, is quite uncommon, but along with Baylor on the dial, a rare piece indeed.
Not only is Baylor printed above the Heuer logo at 12 o’clock but additional ties to the US market are found on the Valjoux caliber 23 ticking inside. The ‘ZOA’ import code stamped on the movement is the American import code for Baylor Watch Company, confirming the provenance through Zales that is plainly stated on the dial.
Heuer has a lengthy history for watches it produced under agreement for various retailers around the world. The watches Heuer created under the Abercrombie & Fitch branding may be the best known, but the Swiss firm’s work with Zales, The Diamond Store– and the Baylor Watch Company should be no less appreciated. In the way that Abercrombie & Fitch provided New York City’s elite with all their outdoor wear, Zales retailed some of the best jewellery and watches in the world to American customers specifically in their home state of Texas. Baylor Watch Company was the in-house line of Swiss watches at Zales, many of which were manufactured by Heuer.
