: Hi Mac.

: Nice watch, congratulations.

: As Jeff says, it's a Carrera rather than an Autavia. To be
: specific, it's a 110.255 - that's the model number that is
: engraved on the caseback, and is based on the watch number 3 in
: the catalogue shot below. This is one of the last Carreras to
: use the Calibre 12 movement and is quite a fitting swansong for
: that movement/model combination (the Autavia experts might put
: me straight, but I think various Autavias carried on using Cal
: 12s for a few years longer?).

: The alterations seem to be limited to the dial, moving the Heuer
: shield to above the date window, losing the Carrera name and
: adding the Bahrain emblem. The dial finish itself looks to be
: the same as the champagne dial in the "base" 110.255 -
: I agree with Jeff, it's an elegant-looking dial and still looks
: well-balanced with the Bahrain emblem.

: Heuer were never as meticulous in record-keeping as, say, Omega so
: it's difficult to come up with any conclusive results for
: production numbers, even for normal production runs never mind
: special editions like this. The previous thread Jeff links to
: has a similar watch with serial number 377307, 120 lower than
: yours but the numbers may have been mixed among the normal
: production runs too, so we can't realistically derive production
: numbers from this - though it is a helpful clue!

: So, enough about the watch, some thoughts on the rest of the story,
: which, to me at least, is as interesting as the watch itself!

: The case back is engraved with "Heuer Official Timekeeper At
: The Olympic Games 1980". That was before the Summer and
: Winter Olympics were staggered, so there were both Summer and
: Winter Olympics in 1980, in Moscow and Lake Placid respectively.
: I believe Heuer was the official timekeeper for both, so that
: makes sense for either event. However, not too surprisingly,
: Bahrain were not taking part in the Winter Olympics at that time
: so that only leaves us with the Moscow Olympics.

: Now, the 1980 Moscow Olympics is famous, or perhaps infamous, for
: one main reason. Following on from the Soviet intervention in
: Afghanistan the previous year, some 60-odd countries boycotted
: the summer games as a protest against the continued Russian
: presence in Afghanistan.

: And guess what? Bahrain was one of the countries that joined in the
: boycott.

: The US confirmed their boycott on March 21st 1980, with the opening
: ceremony due on the 19th of July. Other countries signed up to
: the boycott subsequently, though I don't know how rapidly or
: otherwise Bahrain joined - it would be interesting to try and
: find out.

: At this point, it would probably be fair to assume that Heuer had
: already completed however many commemorative watches Bahrain had
: contracted for. So they now have a number of special edition
: Carreras to commemorate an event for a nation that would no
: longer be partaking in the event!

: This is where it would get most interesting but also where it's
: hardest to investigate, unless someone knows someone who was
: involved at the time.

: I guess there are a few options:

: - Bahrain took the watches and presented them to the members of
: their Olympic delegation who would have got them had they
: not boycotted the Olympics

: - Bahrain took the watches and disposed of them in some other way

: - Heuer retained the watches and disposed of them somehow (less
: likely, I feel, the watches are probably more desirable in
: Bahrain at the time)

: I don't think any of this means the watches aren't genuine at all -
: I believe they are but that they've led an even more interesting
: life than might have been expected of them! It would be really
: interesting if owners of these would be able to share their
: experience of how they found them, if that doesn't involve
: revealing private, business or even state secrets ;)

: All in all, a great watch Mac and thanks for stimulating an
: interesting discussion!

: Mark