A big part of the history of the Heuer Skipper is corresponding with the early Heuer Carrera Yachting dials are the tide watches.

Starting with the early 1950s Heuer Solunar was it the Heuer Mareographe as know as Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer that today count as the high end of nice watches made by Heuer.
Abercrombie & Fitch was the distributor in the U.S.A. and they took not the french name Mareographe for the market, the watch was named Seafarer.
The latest edition was launched too for the brand Orvis as Orvis Solunagraph.

Enjoy this little overview with the known examples and lets try to work out the different types of dials etc.

“Seen till now” means that different watches are found on the internet or private collections, not all are proofed with serials so there might be some intersection.

1950´s Solunar (1 subdial for tide)

The first tide watches named Solunar from 1949 got 1 subdial over 6 o´clock to show the Solar and Lunar time to read the tide on the place you be. The late edition of the Solunar with automatic movement got a special bezel to read the tide and was introduced in 1976.

credit: TAG Heuer

Interesting fact is that Jack Heuer named the developement as his own and first project for the family watch factory in the age of 15. Here is the read from the book “Jack Heuer – The Times of My Life

My first contribution to watchmaking

One interesting thing that happened during my school days was that around 1947 or 1948, when I was 15, I made my first professional contribution to 27 the family watchmaking business. One day my father came home from work and said that Walter Haynes, who was then the president of upmarket sporting outfitters Abercrombie & Fitch in New York, had asked him to create a watch which could display the time of tides. Funnily enough, some years earlier my father had thought it would be useful to have a watch that showed the phases of the moon because while mushroom hunting he had observed that morels seemed to spring up in greater numbers during a waxing moon. But a watch that could display the time of tides really stumped him. He had not seen the sea for quite a few years and was not at all familiar with the subject of tides. He scratched his head and admitted he had no idea how to do it. I told my father that my physics teacher at school, Dr. Heinz Schilt, was a genius and I was sure he would be able to find a solution. Indeed he could and he performed all the calculations for the wheels and cogs needed for a watch to predict high tides at a given location. Thanks to him and my intermediation we were able to create our first tide watch, the “Solunar”, and later the “Mareograph-Seafarer”. This was my very first involvement with the creation of a watch.”

Mr. Jack Heuer started very young with a fine feeling of taste and a lot of creativity to make some of the nicest watches ever made.

Here is the overview of the known Solunar Executions

ReferenceHeuer SolunarAbercrombie & Fitch SolunarDifferent hands or dial executions
Solunar 1st exec

- numbers at inner bezel
(later triangles)
- "airbrushed" color effect tide
(later plain colored
with green-blue/yellow)
Heuer Solunar
#seen till now: 3
Abercrombie & Fitch Solunar
#seen till now: 1
Solunar 2nd exec

- triangle marker at inner bezel
- plain colors at tide dial
- serial 2 batches 905xxx/917xxx
Heuer Solunar
- only 2nd exec with visible colored scale
(triangle markers inside)
#seen till now: 15
Abercrombie & Fitch Heuer Solunar
- A&F + Heuershield
#seen till now: 5
Heuer Solunar "Türler"
- no "Solunar"
- different sweep hand end
#seen till now: 1
Heuer Solunar
- different space between "Solunar" and Heuershield
- different hands
#seen till now: 1
Lyceum
- questionable
#seen till now: 1
Solunar 279.603

- serials 3273xx-3280xx
#seen till now: around 50

Heuer Solunar
- white hands
- color of dial changed sometimes a bit to dark red
Heuer Solunar
- only diff: full yellow hands
seen on many (50%?)

1950s – 1970s Mareographe and Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer (3 subdials – tide, countdown, hour)

 

AFSFFour

2446SF in Autavia compressor case | 2443 | 2447 in carrera case | 234
credit: Lanny

The tide showing subdial got as addition on the right the blue or green color segments for the use at the Regatta start. These are some of the most beautiful watches ever made.

The introduction starts in the early 1950s. Seafarer is the name for the Mareographe in the U.S., distributed from Abercrombie & Fitch.
The Mareographe and Seafarer started in the 1940s/50s Chronograph cases (reference 2443 / 2444), was built with Heuer Carrera cases (2447) and finally at the end of the 60´s in the Autavia compressor (2446c) case with snap caseback in very nice 2 executions.
Only these Autavia compressor case executions were also distributed as Orvis Solunagraph (Orvis as mail order company for fishing equipment, founded in Vermont, USA in 1856).
Inside the Mareographes and Seafarer works a Valjoux 71 in the early ones and later the modified Valjoux 72.

Classification table to make it easy to point the references and differences of the known Heuer Mareographe and Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer / Orvis Solunagraph

ReferenceHeuer MareographeA&F SeafarerDifferent hands or dial executions
346 1st exec

- numerals on dial except 3/6/9
- only 2 segments for yachting
- tide dial visible through 180 degree cut-out
- left pusher for tide dial is recessed
- Valjoux 71 modified
- screw-back case (hex)
#seen till now: 5
Heuer Mareographe
- serial: 80353
A&F Seafarer
serial: 80279
346 2nd exec

- numerals only 11-12-1 on the dial
- 3 segments for yachting
- tide dial visible through full cut-out
(360 degrees)
- Valjoux 71 modified
#seen till now: 5
interesting subdial details see under the table
Heuer MareographeA&F Seafarer
2443 1st exec

- smaller hour subdial
- Valjoux 72 modified
- angular lugs
-pencil hands full lume
- screw-back case (hex)
- serials 716xx/ 719xx
#seen till now: less then 20
A&F Seafarer
- serial: 71660
A&F Seafarer
- diff. dial color change
A&F Seafarer
- running orange second at left subdial (questionable)
2443 1st exec - version 1a

- only AF known
- need to be researched
(typo of A&F
very untypically
not in circle)
- only 12 in numbers on dial
#seen till now: 1
A&F Seafarer
- same untypical typo
- only 12 on dial as number
- different dial finish?
- earlier tide dial
- unclear hands for this execution
-serial 72034 (caseback and case)
A&F Seafarer
- same watch (left one) one year later on ebay
- painted dial now
- relumed hands now
-serial 72034 (caseback and case)
2443 1st exec - version 1b

- only AF known
- need to be researched
(typo of A&F
very untypically
not in circle)
- 11-12-1 on the dial in numbers
#seen till now: 1
A&F Seafarer
- very untypical typo, register numbers direction etc..
- later tide dial
- unclear hands for this execution
2443 2nd exec

- numerals 11-12-1-5-7 on dial
- pusher for tide dial big, full outside
- triangular markers for minutes
(5-10-15-20)
- black needle on minute recorder
- numerals, markers, hands golden
- screw-back case (hex)
- serials 3 batches 91xxx, 950xxx, 954xxx
#seen till now: less then 40
Heuer Mareographe "Gübelin"A&F SeafarerA&F Seafarer
- dauphine hands (questionable)
2444 1st exec

- 3 yachting segments
- 11-12-1-7-5 full visible
- 2-4-8-10 cutted visible
- 3-9 not showing
- smaller pushers
- curved lugs
- screw-back case (slotted)
#seen till now: less then 25
Heuer MareographeA&F SeafarerHeuer Mareographe
- dauphine hands questionable
- fuzzy yachting dial
(waterdamage?)
2444 2nd exec

- blue colored tide segments
- 1 blue yachting segment
- applied steel hour indeces
- smaller pushers
- screw-back case (slotted)
- Valjoux 72 modified
- bridge marked with unadjusted and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. below
- dauphin hands
#seen till now: less then 50
Heuer Mareographe
- serial: 42618
A&F Seafarer
2447 (Carrera style case)

- larger pusher
- angular lugs
- 2447 modified screw-back case (slotted)
- Valjoux 721
- bridge signed with Heuer Leonidas SA and Swiss below
- dauphin hands
- produced 1963/64-68
- serials in three batches known:
68xxx with no T above subdial at 12 (1st)
7xxxx with no T above subdial at 12 (1st)
93xxx with T above subdial at 12 (2nd)
#seen till now: less then 35
Heuer MareographeA&F SeafarerHeuer Mareographe
- only Heuershield, no Mareo typo
Heuer Mareographe
- Heuershield + "Seafarer"
2446 (Autavia screw case)

- applied steel hour indeces
- larger, round pusher
- Movement Valjoux 721
- screw case
- rotating bezel
- dauphin hands
- 39mm diameter
- production ca. 1963
- never shown in cataloges
- serials: 5289x-5290x
#seen till now: less then 10
A&F Seafarer
- serial 52907
- for sale in Crosthwaite & Gavin 2017
- only 3 known
2446C 1st exec (Autavia compressor case)

- polished steel hands, with luminous inserts
- fluted pushers
- compressor case with snap back
- serial range known
111xxx
145xxx
197xxx
- Mareographe cobranded with MEISTER known
#seen till now: less then 100
Heuer MareographeA&F SeafarerOrvis Solunagraph 1st exec
2446C 2nd exec (Autavia compressor case)

- military hands (like on Bund)
- MH or Tachy 41-120 bezel
- compressor case with snap back
- serial range: 324xxx
#seen till now: less then 70
Heuer MareographeA&F SeafarerOrvis Solunagraph 2nd exec
with special bezel
(scale running from 41 to 120units per hour)

Details on the 346 2nd exec regatta subdial

interesting differences on the regatta subdial on the known 346 2nd exec Seafarer


Whats on the dial?

To know when the tide is coming and going is an essential information at some seas like in the northsea and on the atlantic.

The Marograph/Seafarer got 5 using scenarios:

Use for Yachting

1. Regatta starting time with the colored segments on the minute counter (needs 5/10 or 15 minutes to cross the starting line after the first signal)
2. Tides of the day
The signs with the moon describes the moonphases: Full Moon / Last Quarter / New Moon and 1st. Quarter.
Depending from the local tide table you have to set up the Lunar dial and the tide phase with max. Ebb and Flood are readable with the yellow and blue (green) fields.
3. Duration of a cruise on the chronographs with hour counter

Use for Fishing and Hunting

4. Tides
5. Fishing according to the solunar theory by John Alden Knight developed in 1926 (more to read here)


Here you can find some catalogs and ads from the Heuer Tide watches: Heuer Mareographe, Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer and Orvis Solunagraph. We would love to make a nice gallery of the tide watches, so if you got some please send a pic here.

Jeff Stein – the Mastermind of onthedash.com did some very comprehensive posts about the Solunar and Mareographe/Seafarer, definitely a must read!
Details about the Solunar you can find here at onthedash.com.
Jeff posted an outstanding contribution in 2014 with all the details of the about 10 different kinds of Mareographe and Seafarer.
– He also did a great comparision of Seafarers here at onthedash.


credits: onthedash.com, Lanny, farfo.com, Christian, Nic, Chuck Maddox, Abel, christies.com, Josh, Mika, Paul, Nicholas, James, Jack, mattbaine.com, John, Michael, Ira, ebay, Pier, & Laurent, H. Powell