1 minute read
cOVER waTcH
TimE and silEncE
Sharmila Bertin
Two words, which appeared back in the 60s and 70s epitomizing a desire for speed and exploration on land and in the skies, would blend together to breathe life into the name of a legend: Autavia. This first wristwatch, imagined by Jack Heuer back in 1962, based on eponymous horology instruments integrated in the dashboards of automobiles and the panels of aircraft from 1933, which would go on to become a fully-fledged collection over time, is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary this year. To mark this respectable age, TAG Heuer showcases three new Autavia, two chronographs boasting a flyback function, one of which features on the cover of this issue, and a three-hand piece equipped with a date and GMT. The Autavia 60th Anniversary, highlighting a panda layout face with two dark patches illustrating the chronograph’s snailed hour and minute counters (30 minutes at 3 o’clock, 12 hours at 9 o’clock) set on a sunburstfinish silver face, conjures up a timepiece from the Sixties yet flaunts the best of up-to-the-minute technology. In a nutshell, the Heuer 02 COSC Flyback calibre beats inside the 42 mmdiameter, 15.68 mm-thick stainless steel body, encircled by a black ceramic rotating bezel and emphasized by two piston-type pushers on the caseband. The automatic movement, which beats at a standard frequency of 4 Hz and delivers a comfortable power reserve of 80 hours once fully wound, is visible through the sapphire-crystal caseback. As well as measuring short-cycle time, it drives the running hours and minutes positioned in the centre of the dial and the small seconds, which also hosts the date, at 6 o’clock.
