The Skippers bear several similarities to the Seafarers: (a) they are colorful, (b) they are intended to be worn for boating, fishing or other water-related activities, and (c) saddest of all -- like the hermit crabs we see at the beach -- they never had shells (cases) of their own. You see, the poor Skipper had to find a home in the case of the 1960s Carrera, as well as a progression of Autavias (borrowing from the References 7763, 1563, 11630 and 11063. [Like the hermit crab, that must seek larger shells over the course of its life, the Skipper also moved to increasingly larger cases, as it grew over the years!!]

But rather lament that the Skipper never had a case of its own, as we approach the Memorial Day weekend (in the United States) and the start of summer (anywhere in the northern hemisphere), let’s celebrate the Skipper!! I have dome some research, spoken with The Master, and used all this new information to reorganize the Skipper section of OnTheDash.

My research shows that there were exactly seven executions of the Skipper, as follows:

(1) our beloved SkippeRrera (case borrowed from 1960s Carrera)

(2) Ref 7764 Skipper in “compressor” case (borrowed from Autavia Ref 7763)

(3) first automatic Skipper, in low-profile case (borrowed from Autavia Ref 1563)

(4) manual-wind Skipper in low-profile case (borrowed from Autavia Ref 73363)

(5) higher-profile automatic Skipper, with blue dial and bezel (case borrowed from Autavia Ref 11630)

(6) higher-profile automatic Skipper, with black dial and bezel (case borrowed from Autavia Ref 11630)

(7) largest automatic Skipper, with black dial and bezel (case borrowed from Autavia 11063).

Next project: put all this into the reference table for the Skipper.

After that: we attack the first “hermit crab” of the Heuer world, the Seafarer . . . another nautical chronograph that was never lucky enough to have a case of its own.

In the meanwhile: visit the vastly improved Skipper section of OnTheDash, and send or post any photos (or information) that you might like to contribute.

Thanks to Laurent for the fantastic photos of the Ref 7764, which you can see here, as well as all our other contributors!!

Here’s wishing everyone a great Memorial Day weekend and a fantastic summer.

Jeff