Founded by Heuer in 1933, the Autavia name, a contraction of Automobile and Aviation, was first used in dash counters for racing vehicles from cars to aircraft.
Beginning in 1962, Jack Heuer created the Autavia chronograph, one of the first watches with a rotating bezel, leading to a wide offering of styles from racing chronographs to GMTs. To this day, the Autavia and Heuer names remain tied closely to competition, especially in motorsports.
The Heuer Autavia Olive PVD utilizes the caliber 12 movement, based on the Buren 1282, and placed in a 43mm case. The movement was not designed to attach a chronograph, necessitating the placement of the crown at the 9 o’clock position instead of the usual 3 o’clock. As a result of the high costs involved in building this movement, the quantities of ref. 111.603 remained low.
