1971 Heuer Autavia Manual-Wind (Ref. 73363) "Jo Siffert Colors"

The Heuer Autavia came into production in 1933 as a dashboard timer for automotive racing and flying, where the Autavia name is derived, Auto and Aviation. The Autavia was then later introduced in 1962 (The same year Jo Siffert entered Formula One) as the wristwatch we know today, and soon became the flagship for the entire Brand.

Jo Siffert wore an Autavia 1163, which featured an automatic movement with a date function, a white dial with black registers, and blue accents. Approximately 1 year after Jo's tragic accident during the World Championship Victory Race of 1971, Heuer introduced a new line of manually wound chronographs, including the ref. 73363. These manually wound chronos continued in the steps of their older siblings with the cushion style case that was initially introduced to house the Cal. 11 movement, but were redesigned for the Valjoux 7733 movement and to also feature the crown on the same side as the chronograph pushers.

Although the ref. 73363 isn't technically the "Jo Siffert" Autavia; it shares the same color scheme and is considerably rare. During its era of production, Heuer produced only a very small number of manually wound chronographs, this is partially in part to them offering these watches as a "more affordable" timepiece compared to their world-renowned automatic chronographs, but also to meet the specifications for military application, as an even smaller number of these watches were military issued.

With the gorgeous dial presentation of a "Jo Siffert" Autavia, the slimmer profile as a result of the manual-wind movement, and being one of the lowest production timepieces offered by Heuer, the ref. 73363 is one of the most wearable and sought-after chronographs produced by Heuer.