
Charles Dower
Head of sale, Knightsbridge
Sold for £3,187.50 inc. premium
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In the mid-60s Jack Heuer met with his competitors Willy Breitling and Hans Kocher of Büren and the Dubois-Depraz company, and convinced them to participate in a joint venture to develop an automatic chronograph. It was the start of an ambitious partnership and was soon joined by the American watch producer Hamilton, which had established a major stake in the Büren watch company. The prototypes were promising and the newly named Calibre 11 'Chronomatic' movement; a symbiosis between 'chronograph' and 'automatic' exceeded all expectations. Jack Heuer actually preferred 'automatic chronograph' so gave the name 'Chronomatic' to Breitling.
On all Heuer watches 'Chronomatic' was soon replaced by the individual model name.