TAG Heuer

Heuer Mareographe ref. 2446C SF from the early 1970ies. Special, beautiful, rare. A bit of history and a series of picutres incl. macro shots.

Abercrombie & Fitch, back then a sporting goods store offering fishing, camping, climbing and other gear, commissioned Heuer in the late 1940ies to produce a watch that would allow to follow the tidal movements. The story goes that young Jack Heuer, only 15 years of age, collaborated with his physics teacher to calculate the wheels and cogs needed to show the times of the tides at a specific location.

The tidal chronographs were introdced in the early 1950ies and remained in production until the 1970ies. Heuer produced most of them as "Seafarer" for Abercrombie & Fitch or as "Solunargraph" for Orvis, another retail business specialized in high-end fishing equipment.

Given the high degree of specialization, only very few of these tidal watches were produced and only very few survived to the day of today. And whilst most of those few watches were branded A&F and Orvis, the number of Heuer-branded Mareographes is the most limited. Less than 15 Heuer Mareographes have surfaced until today according to a promiment watch auction house.

My hunt for one of these Heuer tidal watches has been very long. Many of the few ones that appear on the market are in very poor condition, most of them with past water leakage and hence severe dial issues.

Cheers, HSTE