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semperfi55

Heuer 1550SG Bundeswehr Build

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semperfi55

2 of my Datejusts builds need movement swaps, the Tutima chronograph needs a service, and my gold plating kit sits half-assembled. Instead of dealing with my outstanding projects, I've decided to take on another one :facepalm:

While researching and building my Universal CP2 chronograph a few months ago, I came across this article on Revolution, and found out about the Heuer 1550SG Bundeswehr.

https://revolutionwatch.com/milestone-military-chronographs/

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The watch has several aspects that kept my attention:

1) Chronograph

2) Vintage

3) Heuer

4) 3H logo (more on that later)

I'm a very simple man.

 

At the time, I was thinking how it shared design elements with my Universal CP2 build.

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I figured that I could use the same case kit to build the Heuer. But of course, you will have see the very obvious obstacle: the bezel.

The Heuer bezel is much bigger and thicker than most chronograph bezels! There was no way I could live with a wildly inaccurate bezel, but I also could not machine out my own bezel assembly. I thought this idea would go nowhere.

 

A few weeks later, I searched online for possible base watches. Anything that has a bezel slightly wider than the Universal would do. Anything!

That's when I found out about the HKED Bundeswehr:

https://www.hkedwatches.com/collections/bundeswehr-pilot-chronograph-v3/products/bundeswehr-black-dial

43mm homage produced by a Hong Kong company, with the characteristic wide bezel and subdial hands. It was perfect!

But alas, the watch was out of stock, and I could not find it anywhere else.

@paccbet who was also interested in the watch, told me it has been out of stock for a while now. Oh well.

I emailed HKED and asked if they planned to restock the watch at some point and was pleasantly surprised to hear that a new batch was planned, but no estimate when. So that was that. Satisfied with the answer, I added the watch onto my projects list. One day it might turn up.

 

And it did. Unexpectedly.

The company emailed me last week, saying they have one in stock. I don't know how they found this piece and I don't want to know.

Money exchanged hands, and a watch made the one way trip to UK.

 

While awaiting its arrival, I read up a bit on the Heuer 1550SG.

Heuer 1550SG

The story starts with a different watch.

The Heuer's predecessor is the Leonidas CP2, and you can see the resemblance.

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The Leonidas CP2 was made in the 1960s for the Italian military. CP2 stands for Chronometro di Polso, or wrist chronometre. It is the designation used by the Italian military for select watches that meet their specifications. Searching for the exact specifications is difficult if you don't understand any Italian, so I would appreciate if anyone came up with the actual list of specs. But I do know that the first version CP1 watches were 38mm in diameter, and the CP2s are made in 43mm.  In the Revolution article, they do mention all CP2 watches have:

1) Three-part case with screw-down case back

2) An inner dust cover

3) Black dial illuminated with tritium

4) Bi-compax chronograph layout 

5) An outer railroad track on the dial

 

Most people are familiar with the Zenith and Universal CP2s, with the A. Cairelli double signature. The Leonidas does not have the double signature and uses a different movement, a Valjoux 222 movement with flyback function. This is the same movement used in the Breguet Type 20 chronograph, made for French military pilots. 

In 1964, Leonidas was merged with Heuer, and that's when our protagonist starts showing up. The Heuer 1550SG was produced for the West German military (Bundeswehr) during the 1960s-1970s. Although it was originally designed as a pilot's chronograph, the Bundeswehr also issued the watch to the other branches.

Interestingly, artillery units received a slightly different version. The 1551SGSZ is regulated for sidereal time, which is approximately 4 minutes faster/day. These watches have "Sternzeit Reguliert"  or sidereal time regulated written on the dial.

Spoiler

 

What's this about sidereal time? In basic terms, viewed from the same location, a star seen at one position in the sky will be seen at the same position on another night at the same sidereal time (23 h 56 min 4.0905 s). Apparently, certain artillery calculations require sidereal time. The whole concept still boggles my mind but this gives a brief idea.

https://manualzz.com/doc/6885946/mcwp-3-16.7-chapter-8--astronomy-for-marine-artillery

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 Anyway, back to the 1550SG, which is regulated to boring, normal time. There are several dial versions about. This one below does not have the red 3H symbol on the dial. The symbol indicated that Tritium(3-Hydrogen) was used in the lume. In the same photo below, you'll see a very tiny "T' just above the 6 hour marker. That does the same job, albeit less visible.

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Generally, these Heuer 1550SGs come in 5 dial configurations:
1) The "classic 3H/T" - a red 3H-symbol appears just below the dial center, and a tiny "T" appears just above "6".
2) The "3H-only" - a red 3H-symbol appears just below the center.
3) The "T-only" - a tiny "T" appears just above "6".
4) No markings beyond the "Heuer" logo.
5) STERNZEIT REGULIERT markings just below the dial center.

And of the ones that have the 3H symbol, there are 4 variations:

1) The "standard" 3H.
2) The "big-letter" 3H - The circle is the same size as standard, but the letters are larger and fill The circle more completely.
3) The "small-letter" 3H - The circle is the same size as standard, but the letters are smaller and there is a small dot in the center. (Photo below)

Spoiler

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4) The "small-circle" 3H - the circle is noticeably smaller and the 3 is stacked over the H to the left. (Most Uncommon)

(The information on dial variations come from the link below, but sadly the photos are gone)

http://www.chronomaddox.com/walter.html

 

In the 1980s, Sinn came in to service these Heuer chronographs. They also acquired the surplus pieces and refurbished them with Sinn dials. More photos and story from someone who actually owns one here:

http://www.roverhaven.com/the-rover-haven-blog/2016/3/6/sinn-dialed-heuer-1550-sg-bundeswehr

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The Homage: HKED

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The watch arrived this week and I started work immediately.Before I dismantled it, I took some photos.

It came with a 5 slot canvas watch pouch, similar to the Dan Henry ones but bigger.

The watch measures:

Case Diameter: 43mm

Case Height: 13.6mm

Lug to Lug: 51mm

Lug Width: 20mm

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The dial

The watch has a glossy plain black dial with 3H symbol, which doesn't mean anything in this case. The font used in the numbers are pretty close to the gen. 

The subdial at 3 is a minute counter for the chronograph

The subdial at 9 is running seconds

What I found impressive was that the subdial size is visually on-point. The "2" hour marker slightly encroaches on the subdial at 3, like the gen. The subdial hands are not just off-the-shelf parts; these hands must have been made specifically for this production. I particularly enjoy the long small second hand that just seems to keep on going.... :drool:

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The Movement

The watch uses a  familiar ST1901 movement, which you can see through the exhibition case back.

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Case and Bezel

The satin brushed stainless steel case looks close enough to the gen and has the same diameter. They even make the crown jut out slightly with the crown tube like the gen!

The matte black (possibly plastic?)bidirectional bezel rotates smoothly, but with enough friction to prevent the bezel rotating  when knocked.

The font on the bezel is close enough to the gen, but it's not exact.

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Strap and Buckle

The watch uses a set of black Hirsch straps made in Germany, with a signed buckle. 

The lugs are drilled through and have those special spring bars that are easier to change. No need for a spring bar tool here.

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Function:

It's a chronograph, it has a nice turny bezel I can use to track the oven.

It's got modern lume.

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Conclusion

I got the watch for GBP 390 shipped. It is good value for what it is, a solid homage watch that someone clearly paid a lot of attention to the fine details, and with a familiar manual wind chronograph movement. What's not to like?

 

Here's one final photo of it before goes into the slaughterhouse workshop.
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The Build

The movement is held down with two clamps and screws, with a metal movement holder.

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I disassemble the watch and measure out the dial.

Then I start designing it on Illustrator. I basically start from scratch in drawing up the dial. I know there are others who use high resolution gen dial photos and tidy them pixel by pixel. I don't know how to use Photoshop, so I do it the dumb way. One consolation of my method is that I can adapt the dial dimensions to fit the watch I have.

E.g. a gen watch might have a 33mm dial in a 45mm watch but I can adapt my design to fit a 30mm dial in a 41mm watch, because I prefer a smaller watch.
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After designing, I do several test prints on basic paper to see if I need to tweak any font thickness. My laserjet printer has its own mind so sometimes fonts that may appear consistent on screen might come out differently on print.

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After several test prints, I print the final version on the decal paper. I spray paint the dial white first (this will be the font colour) and then put the decal on top of the white dial. The decal is baked for 30 minutes at 100 degrees Celcius.

Then the dial and hands are lumed. Still not very good at the luming malarkey. @Theviking likes to point out I use too much patina and @Dr Fun Socks calls out shoddy luming when he sees it :lol:.

 

Once everything is assembled, I've put the watch on a cheapo Bund strap to complete the look. Not too bad :D 

Another military pilot chronograph built.

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Wristshot! Bulky piece.
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NCRich

Beautiful work mate.  Love that watch.

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paccbet

Lovely write up as always! Can't wait to get that "back in stock" email :lol:

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brang1

Outstanding work- wish I had the patience and ability- thats a really nice watch 

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watch.aholic

Great watch... Great story....

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APjumbo

Holy crap, great write up, excellent job.

This looks fantastic. I really want a Heuer, especially like the model pesman has.

I wish they would rep more of these type of watches.

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Dr Fun Socks

Nice piece mate and a great little story to go with it. Nice when a plan comes together! Top work as always. 

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