A few years ago I went into the rabbit hole of Heuer divers. Growing up in the 80’s, TagHeuer was the first watch I aspired to owning. My dad had a 70’s Rolex GMT, but Rolex was for old folks
. As a teenager, my first rep (knockoff is the more appropriate word) was a cheap Tag SEL. Fast forward a few decades, and for fun I bought an old ‘for repair’ Tag Heuer quartz diver from the bay. I did some research and found the Heuerville blog, and from then, there was no escape. Down the rabbit hole I went. My first project was an early Heuer 980.005 Orange diver.
Look at the 6 o’clock on the dial. You’ll notice the “Made in France” text. Later Heuer dials were made in Switzerland. The Monnin case was a common third party case used by several dive watch makers during the seventies. It’s now recognized as an iconic design, and old cases that a few years ago fetched less than a hundred dollars, are now much much dearer.
Here’s the donor watch. An old Herma diver I picked up at ChronoTrader from a Danish collector.
Here’s the FE4611 movement. FE stands for France Ebouche if I recall. The movement is correct for the 980.005. The screw I’m pointing at is the screw for releasing the crown.
I took apart the case and bezel assembly for cleaning. I also planned to replace the bezel insert.
I re-did the brushed-steel finish on the top side of the case with the aid of masking tape and a foam file. The brushed finish will contrast nicely with the polished sides of the case.
The refinished and ultra sonic cleaned case parts. I also installed a new insert courtesy of jkbenn, a well known Heuer after market parts supplier. He was a member in the old HF.
New sapphire crystal also courtesy of jkbenn.
My crystal press
The awesome dial with “Made in France” text that is the anchor of this build. I bought a few of these from a French dealer on the Bay. He quickly sold out after my original post.
Installed the period correct black handset with tritium which came with the dial.
Cased and on the wrist.
There are still a lot of good deals on the Bay for Heuer and TAG projects. And if you need some parts, check out jkbenn at chronotrader. The old Heuer divers are a great entry point. Before you know it, you’ve slipped deeper to skindivers. Just look at all the re-editions of skindivers coming out. What’s old is new. What’s new is old. Thanks for looking
