Dear all,

I was fortunate to buy an early 70ies chronograph that belonged to a former owner of the Valjoux SA.

The case of the watch clearly is a gold-plated 60ies style Heuer Carrera case. The correct reference number 2448 and the serial number 120XXX are stamped between the lugs. The HEUER LEONIDAS SA writing inside the caseback has been professionally removed, only SWISS - STAINLESS STEEL BACK remain.

The dial, which features a Valjoux logo, has a stunning dark grey sunburst finish and large, white registers. The hands seem to be generic and have no links to Heuer.

Interestingly the case houses an unsigned Valjoux Cal 726 ébauche movement.

The gold-plating of the watch is somewhat tarnished and shows the age of the watch. Otherwise the watch is in pristine condition.

The only similar watch I have seen so far is shown in the following Hodinkee blogpost: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/understanding-the-earliest-heuer-carreras

Do you happen to know more about these Valjoux Carreras? Were they just Valjoux Prototypes that by chance happened to be housed in Heuer Carrera cases? Or was Heuer maybe testing the improved Valjoux Cal 726 for the use in its Carrera line?

I would be grateful for any information, insight and thoughts you can share about my particular watch.

Thanks a lot in advance and best regards from Switzerland,