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Re: My Heuer Verona Quartz Ref. 361.215. Circa 1978/79

Welcome to the forum Steve.

We see the LCD quartz versions of both the Verona and Carrera here from time to time (e.g.
http://www.chronocentric.com/forums/heuer/index.cgi?read=28870 ), but it's rarer to see the timepiece only models. I've been something of an advocate for the LCD variants both because I like them and I think they are historically interesting - nowadays, TAG-Heuer probably produces as many watches as chronographs (I would have said more if I hadn't found out recently via Jeff that the Carrera 7750 chronos are TH's biggest seller) but back when these quartz watches were introduced, Heuer were definitely much more a chrono and even more so a stopwatch manufacturer than one of simple timepieces. So these models sort of begin to set the tone for the current product mix.

I think the sheer cost of these early quartzes contributed to their current rarity too. Whereas we often think of quartz as a "cheap" movement nowadays, a Carrera/Verona Twin with LCD was exactly the same price as one with an automatic mechanical movement back at the tail end of the 70s. The price reduction for the quartz watches like yours over the automatic chronos was miniscule too - barely 5% of the price off. Of course, quartz was the new big thing then, the "Quartz Crisis" was only just beginning to bite in Switzerland and people were prepared to pay for the new technology (but not for much longer, with much cheaper quartz watches beginning to flood the market) but the price points seem incredible to me today. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course :)

A final factor in its rarity is that the Veronas weren't sold in all markets, whereas the Carreras seem to have been available anywhere. The quartz Veronas weren't sold in the UK, for instance, although the Carreras were.

I'm not sure of the numbers Heuer produced, but my two Carrera Twins have serial numbers only 101 apart - coincidence as much as anything, but we really don't see these watches in the numbers we do their mechanical counterparts. That could well play a part in your decision whether to sell yours or not - if you decided to replace it in the future, when would you see another? It might be some time.

To summarise? I'd vote keep :)

Mark

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