Bring a Loupe: A Rolex ‘Paul Newman’ Daytona, A Universal Geneve Polerouter, And A Longines Ref. 7413
It’s Friday, and that means we’ve got another handful of the latest and greatest listings from around the web to share with you. There’s a bit of an aeronautical theme going on this week, with the inclusion of an AOPA branded Elgin that predates the Ref. 806 Navitimer, along with a Universal Geneve Polerouter De Luxe, and a Paul Newman Daytona with high flying provenance. If two-register chronographs are your thing, you’re in luck, as we have a Heuer Carrera and the mintiest Ref. 7413 Longines that you ever did see. Time to get down to it.
Heuer Carrera Ref. 3647N
The way I see it, half the fun of hunting down vintage watches is the demanding and unpolished way, so to speak, in which watches are presented and acquired. If you do your homework and dig deep you can strike gold in unlikely places, without the need for a third party’s seal of approval. That’s the difference between a mere purchase and a true find, and believe me, it pays off. A piece that fits this description popped up for sale earlier this week, and if you’ll indulge me, I’d now like to share it with you.
Heuer’s Ref. 3647N Carrera emerged out of the late 1960s, and effectively took Jack Heuer’s desire to produce an ultra-legible driver’s chronograph to the next level. Though it wasn’t capable of tracking elapsed hours, the freed up real estate (not to be confused with free real estate) on its dial made for easier reading at a glance while behind the wheel. Besides, there’s an argument to be made for hours not being of extreme importance in a sport where fractions of a second make or break your success.
Call me crazy, but I kinda love a listing with bad photos. There’s a sort of rush you get when you take an educated leap of faith on a desirable timepiece presented poorly, and it then pays off in spades. Although this seller’s photos are less than ideal, you can still make out the fact that its case remains unpolished, and the dial is seemingly perfect, with all luminous applications matching and intact. Polish up that crystal, get it fitted on a decent strap, and you’ll be off to the races.
An eBay seller based out of …read more
