You may believe that the Tag Heuer Autavia fake watch is from the heyday of the stopwatch function. That iconic ‘panda’ face has been accepted since its namesake, Formula One driver Jo Siffert, started sporting it back in 1969. That must be familiar to you all. Rolex’s white and black face chronograph, the Daytona, shot to popularity at the same time, as racecar driver Paul Newman began sporting one himself.
While Newman was circling the track in the States, the Swiss Siffert was lapping the competition and securing sponsorships of his own on the other side of the pond. He caught Jack Heuer’s personal focus when he won the Formula 1 British Grand Prix in 1968, and he’d slapped a logo on his overalls by the next year and was wearing the brand new 1163 on his wrist.
Soon, that iconic face and celebrity endorsement drew the world’s concentration and solidified the replica Tag Heuer Autavia Ref. 1163 as one of the holongeries most popular vintage chronographs and race watches.
The luxury replica watch was also groundbreaking mechanically as the Calibre 11 debuted in the Heuer 1163 was the first automatic chronograph movement to affect the market. Breitling replica developed the movement together with the fake Breitling, Hamilton/Buren and Dubois-Depraz to beat out Zenith and Seiko. Project 99, which is also well-known to all today, produced three separate automatic chronograph calibers later that year.
Now, while we might have referred to that popular white and black face as a ‘panda’ before, in reference to Tag Heuer replica, and the 1163 specifically, it’s called a Jo Siffert face. Defined by those two black subdials at three and nine and the date at six, it’s one of the rarest models on the market today. If you look a little closer you’ll also notice those striking cobalt blue accents above the black “ridged” steel luminous baton numerals. The color travels around the face painted on the arms of the hands as well.
You’ll also see that black tachymeter bezel around the face and the stainless steel case surrounding it. Now, you’ll spot those fluted pushers that have a reces cut into the top side, if you lean into your screen a little bit — around the case. Take note, the pusher at nine is always marked with ‘Tag Heuer.’
The handsome, bold look of this fake watch is just as impressive today as it was half a century ago. But while it’s simple to fall in love with this gorgeous replica watch, it’s difficult to get your hands on one. If you’re interested, be sure to check out the Siffert 1163 we recently sold and sign up to get notified when we have one back in stock.