Baylor Chronograph

If you've been lurking around our site for any amount of time, it should be pretty clear that we have a particular fondness for vintage chronographs, particularly of the Heuer (pre-TAG) variety. And if you're cut of the same cloth as we are (that would be the scotch swilling, vintage car driving, championship cigar smoking cloth), you're probably a fan, too. If you're not...well, time to re-evaluate your life.

You may already know that Heuer chronographs were the choice of real racing drivers in the 60s and 70s, and have just recently begun to see a major uptick in value for many models. Experts predict that the vintage Heuer market is on the cusp of a major price explosion. What you may not know is that throughout the 60s and 70s, Heuer was not only making watches for themselves, but also under contract for a number of other brands and retailers. These watches were made on the same assembly lines, used the same parts, and are every bit as cool as their Heuer-branded counterparts. They just don't come with the Heuer shield, or the associated price tag. As such, these off-brand watches have come to be known to collectors as "Poor Man's" Heuers - and we've offered them before.But not one like this!

This Baylor Chronograph is based on the early manual-winding Autavias (such as Reference 2446). Baylor was the house brand for Zales Jewelers, and most of their chronograph models were produced by Heuer. As the story goes, Heuer sold off a large number of their manually-winding chronographs to Zales as they made the switch to automatic wristwatches in 1969/70, and this is likely how this piece came into being.

Featuring a central sweeping chronograph seconds hand, rotating outer bezel, and a "panda" dial with triple subsidiary registers, this pieces is every bit as cool as an Autavia.  Oh, and its less than half the price of the name brand. 'Nuff said.