Signed, Heuer, Autavia, Ref. 2446, Case No. 52'855, Circa 1964

The present watch is an extremely rare Transitional Autavia reference 2446. Discovered in 2014 by Paul Gavin, these "transitional" cases are identified on a small number of watches with most possessing the "Third Execution" dial found on "Jochen Rindt Autavias", which are named after the famous Formula One racing car driver. The notable difference on these transitional cases is that the lugs do not have the bevels found on other manual-wind Autavias from the 1960s. They also possess wider bezels like those found on First Execution Autavia cases, but in the Type 2 bezel version without a solid triangle at 12 o'clock rather than an indented triangle to hold lume as found on the Type 1 bezel versions.

Quite unusually, the serial number on this watch is extremely early, placing it among Autavia reference 2446 First Execution watches known to the market, however it has traits of later watches, including the Third Execution "Jochen Rindt" dial, the Type 2 bezel (those Autavias known in that range all have Type 1 bezels), a Heuer-signed crown (those in that range have unsigned crowns), central hour and minute hands with the black stripe down the center, and a bridge signed "Heuer-Leonidas", whereas other bridges on that serial range say "Ed. Heuer". Furthermore, it features luminous dots on the dial similar to those found on early Heuer Carreras and Rolex Daytona and different from the rectangular luminous plots found on other "Jochen Rindt" Autavias.

The watch is preserved in outstanding condition with a seemingly unpolished case. For collectors of Autavias, this is a rare opportunity.