Some of you may have seen my ad - I was trying to sell my 1st execution Autavia 2446cGMT with original GF bracelet and papers.
Some background:
I had bought this from Ebay at the end of last year - in correspondence with the seller Exxx, I had found out that this was his grandfather's watch.
He was a pilot and had apparently bought this watch new in 1969.
When it came, the instruction pamphlet had a date penned in black ink: 15.6.68 - presumably 15 June 1968.
I emailed the seller, but he had no idea what that date meant.
So since the pamphlet was already marked, I penned down next to it, in blue ink, the serial number: 110353.
All along I thought the service booklet was unfilled, as was mentioned by the seller.

Since putting up my ad, I've had some offers that required me to break up the set - some wanted the papers, some wanted just the watch.
So this morning I took out the papers for a closer look, and to my surprise, it wasn't unfilled as I had originally thought!

The service booklet is indeed filled, but most of it is in pencil and very faded.
I can just about make out the name of the purchaser Sxxxxxt E Wxxxxxxt, with street address and all.
Date of purchase: 12-25-68!

So I email Exxx, the Ebay seller, to share the information with him.
Within an hour, I get an email from Lxxxx Wxxxxxxt, Exxx’s father, and the son of Sxxxxxt Wxxxxxxt.
I’ve copied and pasted it below:

Ben...This is Lxxxx Wxxxxxxt...Exxx's father. ..my father, Sxxxxxt Wxxxxxxt originally purchased the Heuer watch for himself as he was an avid pilot and always owned and flew a number of aircraft throughout his life. He was a US Navy pilot during WW2 and flew Catalina PBY torpedo bombers in the Atlantic and Pacific...
After the war he went to University of Oregon then USC and became a teacher...He re-joined the US Air Force as a reserve officer during the cold war and flew a variety of transport aircraft in support of the Berlin airlift and other missions throughout the late 1950s and 1960s...back then they did not have gps or Loran navigation. ..they did it with a watch and sun shots with a sextant...so he wanted the best available chronograph of the time...He bought the Heuer that you now have. I was away at college in 1968 when he bought it...He said it was a Christmas present to himself... so the watch flew in many US Air Force missions. He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1984 and began flying his own private aircraft which he did up until his death in 1996...from leukemia...He was 71. I inherited the watch thereafter and already owning a more modern TAG, I decided that someone else who collected and appreciated Heuer watches would better appreciate it...so I asked my son, Exxx to sell it for me on Ebay as I do not have an Ebay account. I hope that this info helps you to understand the history behind the watch...If you have any further questions I would be glad to assist you with answers if I can.

I thought that was a wonderful story, and it adds just so much more sentiment and history to this Autavia.
The bezel may be faded, the hands may be wrong, and I still don't know what 15.6.68 means and who wrote it, but no matter, this 2446cGMT is now not only a first owner vintage watch, but it's also a family heirloom as well.
It'd be crass for me to try to sell it now given it's provenance, so now this is officially off the market.

Just wanted to share this story with the folks here - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I suspect many will like the bit about 'the best available chronograph of the time'! =)

ben
Singapore