BELAIR PEPSI GMT – VALJOUX 724

Up for sale is my vintage Belair GMT Chrongraph.

This is a striking example of a wonderful Sports / Tool chronograph from the Golden age of watchmaking. It’s powered by a Valjoux 724 movement (An adapted Valjoux 72, with the additional GMT 24hr hand complication) I have seen these watches dated as from 1969, just before the Automatic Chronograph Race (Heuer+Consortium / Zenith / Seiko) changed many of the movements powering chronographs – and I believe it’s probably this event that created this unusual watch……

So, This particular watch was produced by a number of manufacturers (Benrus / Concord
/ Felca / Glycine / Nivada / Zodiac) Using identical dials, handsets, Bezels but with some very minor differences to case / lug profiles. (Wittnauer also had a version with a slightly different colourway / Nivada also a 2 crown variant with internal bezel!)

Despite the range of versions / “manufacturers”, this is not a common watch, so what’s the story?

My theory is that Heuer, who made made their popular Autavia Pepsi GMT with a Valjoux 724 movement inside where “upgrading” their watch line up to include their newly developed Automatic “Chronomatic” movements (Cal11 / 12). As part of this update to their range, the Case Shape was also changed.

Would this mean though, that there would be remaining stock of the original Valjoux movements, dials and other components? Probably yes, and Heuer would have been in the worst position to sell these, as it would have just confused their customers on their new Automatic Autavia range – So I guess other Brands picked up the stock and labelled them as their own?

So what we have here is literally a “missing link” Autavia GMT, that Heuer never made! (But sort of did?)

This one is in absolutely amazing cosmetic condition (see photos) – Not NOS (because it has been worn), but a super sharp case, with crisp brushing, a spotless dial and Handset and in full working order.

I imagine that this is one of those watches that remained unsold back in the 70’s and has only seen the light of day on occasional trips out on a vintage watch collectors wrist once it was rediscovered!

I can see 4 of these on the market at the moment, non of which come close to the wonderful condition of this example.

Would love to keep them all, but it’s time to move this on to consolidate Watch funds for future purchases and slim down the herd in general.

This will be one of my first sales here on Chronotrader (I have bought quite a few from here though, from various sellers internationally) So happy to share references. I am also reasonably active on Instagram, and have been sharing my collection for the last 6 years and have sold a few watches in the past through that.

If you have any questions, please ask and feel free to visit my Instagram feed @stealmywrist to see various Photos of this watch (and others) being worn by me over the past 6 years

https://www.instagram.com/stealmywrist/

I am asking a very competitive £4200
Considerably cheaper than others on the market at the moment. I’ve paired this one with new, solid “Flat Link” bracelet which compliments the watch beautifully.

You can see my other available watches in separate listings here, or on my Instagram sales feed @wristwatchzen. - There will be more to come.

https://www.instagram.com/wristwatchzen/

Thanks for looking and thanks to the Chronotrader platform and its host - As a private collector, I will occasionally sell watches from my collection, and while I can’t offer the same service and guarantees as a professional dealer, I’ll always endeavour to ensure that my watches are accurately described and any buyer will be as happy with the purchase as I would hope to be when buying a pre-owned watch. Any queries, just ask.

Best Wishes,

Joe @stealmywrist @wristwatchzen

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