Swiss chrome plated watch with race timer Circa 1945

Rare dashboard race timer with lever escapement
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A rare first generation dashboard race timer Autavia and Hervue, made by the Uhren Manufaktur Heuer AG in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, circa 1945. Both, the numbered case of the watch and that of the Autavia race timer, were chrome plated. The eight day Hervue watch features a dial with an outer minute and hour track with luminous  Arabic hour numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o’clock, hands made of brass covered with luminous paint (hour and minute hands) and a painted or polished steel seconds hand. The black Heuer Autavia dashboard stopwatch dial features 1/5^th  of a second track markings, an outer minutes track with large Arabic numerals, a 60 minute register at 12 o’clock, a 12 hour register at 6 o’clock and a smooth, rotating bezel. Both dials feature a stamped brass dial plate coated with a matte black painted base finish. The Valjoux chronograph movement in the Autavia and the Revue Thommen clock movement in the Hervue are equipped with a fundamental Swiss lever escapement and both utilise synthetic, friction set ruby jewels at critical high wear contact points.
The dials of the watch and timer are signed.
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Diameter: 44 mm
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Thickness: 15 mm
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Weight: 130 g
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Signed: Hervue
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Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer AG

The company was founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. In 1985, Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG) purchased a majority stake in the company, forming TAG Heur S.A. In 1999, French luxury goods conglomerate Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) bought nearly 100 per cent of the Swiss company. Although best known for its chronographs, the company also manufactured stopwatches.

Today it operates as a major subsidiary of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH with headquarters in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.Core.

They continue to manufacture high end sports chronographs, smartwatches, and precision timing instruments.