Can't wait to see the watch in all its glory.

~George

: A short, ok, well, long story that I wanted to share. I’m sure
: you’ve all been there, and this may ring many bells..

: A while back in late 2010 I purchased a c1964 Autavia 45, ref .
: 3646M with a Val 92 movement. It was in a lovely original
: condition. It wasn’t acquired from a fellow collector, but
: from a fairly well known vintage watch shop in London, Austin
: Kaye. It came fully serviced and with a one year warranty.
: Great.

:
:
: Here it is, photographed shortly after I bought it.

: The watch was lovely, and my only gripe was that the central chrono
: hand didn’t quite set to zero, and upon starting it,
: registered one minute on the subdial from the off. Not really a
: problem, as it came with a one year warranty, so back it went. A
: month later it arrived back in my hands, I excitedly opened the
: package, only to find hot and cold shivers running down my
: spine. The central chrono hand was completely different, not
: even close to the original design. Where was the original? No
: explanation.
: A couple of phone calls later, I arranged for it to go back. Phew.

: Once again, it arrived back after a month or so, I opened the
: package, and once more, I was greeted with disappointment. The
: hand was incorrect. This time it was the correct shape and
: style, slightly different length tail, but most strikingly it
: was unpainted steel. I was angry, but it was better than before.
: I phoned Austin Kaye back, they didn’t really care, said I
: could return the watch for a full refund. I nearly took them up
: on the offer, but I decided to try to correct it without them.

: I sent the poor Autavia to a well know independent watchmaker (Rich
: Askham), he is brilliant, I know a fair few Heueristas that use
: his services. I asked Rich to paint the hand white. Rich got
: back to me a few days later, with bad news. The hand that Austin
: Kaye had fitted was the incorrect stem size, so they had
: super-glued it on. Rich spent many hours trying to modify it,
: but it was no good. At least I was lucky that the glue hadn’t
: seeped down into the movement.

: So, I started a search for a correct hand, a WTB placed here on OTD
: didn’t yield any results, emails to all my contacts didn’t
: work. A dead end. I forgot about the watch, out of sight, out of
: mind. It’s still in the care of Rich as we speak.

: Nearly a year later (August 2011), I bought a rather nice Skipper
: from a German seller. I optimistically inquired if he had any
: parts, he sent me a list, which included the hand I was looking
: for – woohoo, the cost - €50. Marvelous.

: An international bank transfer costs me £15.. so I sent the German
: dealer the Euros in cash, via recorded mail. (tut tut I know!)
: The cash didn’t arrive. The tracking was stuck on ‘It has
: arrived in the depot in Frankfurt’. Damn. I waited and waited,
: hoping it would turn up, kicking myself for not doing a
: transfer. Eventually I forgot about it, and mentally wrote off
: the money. Once more, I forgot about the Autavia.

: So, cut to a few weeks ago, I remembered the poor Autavia 45, and
: emailed the German seller to see if he still had the hand.
: Communication was basic, as he doesn’t speak English, and I
: don’t speak German, so Google translate was doing the work for
: us both. A reply came back… 'Sorry, sold to dealer in London'.
: Oh well, never mind, my fault for leaving it so long. Back to
: the drawing board.
: With a renewed interest in getting the Autavia back to it’s
: former glory, I posted another WTB ad here on Chronotrader.. and
: bingo, a fellow Australian collector came to my rescue. A day or
: so later, PayPal payment was made, and I’m a happy bunny, hand
: on it’s way…

: Two days later, I kid you not… the German seller emails me. “I
: have your money, it arrived, will send hand”. What? My AirSure
: envelope took 4 ½ months to get to him! Seems he was mistaken,
: and still has the hand.

: So, today, I’m at work, with the Australian hand sitting on my
: desk, it arrived today. Sometime in the next few days, another
: will be sat alongside it, from Germany.

: Seems rare hands are like buses. I can't wait to get the Autavia
: fixed up, I guess it's stuff like this that makes vintage so
: appealing. Where's the fun in walking into a AD & getting a
: modern watch fixed immediately, with no problem!! ;0)

: Cheers
: Stewart