I’ll just come out and say it – I am a sucker for retailer stamps. Vintage replica watches for sale are so much more about the life the object has lived prior to your ownership than following it. Retailer stamps are the most tangible and ever-present reminder of a watch’s previous life. When a watch like this crosses my timeline or desk, I immediately find myself day-dreaming about the first owner walking into a Gübelin showroom (hopefully, the legendary Lucerne location) browsing the Swiss made fake TAG Heuer‘s case and making their pick.
For a manufacturer to allow a retailer to stamp its name right on the dial means something. There is a reason that we see these stamps on some of the best replica watches uk created during the vintage period – a retailer that was allowed to stamp dial inherently carried the best watches from the best brands. The only way a retailer had enough pull to stamp dials was by being one of the best places in the world to purchase a watch. Legendary watches also being retailer-stamped is a self-fulfilling prophecy in that way.
For Gübelin, in particular, there is even more romanticism for me due to the watches we find with this stamp. I immediately think of the first Nautilus references, the 3700 and 3800, elegant dress models from Audemars Piguet, and, of course, 1960s 1:1 fake TAG Heuer chronographs. This retailer, in particular, seemed to have an excellent eye for watches that they bought and offered – I would love to meet Gübelin’s buyer from the 1960s and ’70s.
While a few AAA replica TAG Heuer Autavias similar to this one have surfaced, it is more common to find Gübelin-stamped Carreras from the 1960s. This again speaks to what Gübelin was buying back in the day but also to the rarity of our watch. “Rare” is a word I try not to use, but I am comfortably doing so here.
Outside of my long-winded romanticism with retailer stamps and Gübelin, and outside of rarity, this Autavia has so much going for it as a watch you can simply wear. The Swiss made replica TAG Heuer Autavia was Heuer’s flagship sport chronograph (sorry, Carrera) and the earlier, screw-down caseback variants are really those to go after in collecting. This particular example has the extra sauce of the “Andretti” nickname, coming from Mario Andretti’s wearing of this same execution back in the ’60s and ’70s. His two super clone watches for sale are heavily featured in our Talking Watches With Mario Andretti.
Condition here is really clean with nice architecture present on the lugs, no major flaws, and a great, dark cream patina to the luminous material on the dial and hands. Clearly, I am a big fan of this high quality fake TAG Heuer– check it out in full, right here in the Shop.