Friday 16 January 2009

Heuer 844 French made diver.

This is one of the first Heuer made diver watches. The 844 model was made for Heuer in 1979-80 in France by G. Monnin. This was the first trial run for Heuer into the divers watch market. Heuer did not think it would be worth while tooling up for something like that so they purchased already existing models in France. As you can see the divers watch market was very successful, that they started to gear up in 1980's with swiss made movement.


The dial is printed with "MADE IN : FRANCE" on the bottom, and say : "METRES" and : "PROFESSIONEL" as opposed to : anglicized "METERS" and "PROFESSIONAL" versions of that. The hands are of cathedral type. There is also red 24 hour numeral on the dial. The case back is plain with no Heuer logo. And is stamped 844 rather crudely. "ETANCHE ACIER - 20 ATM - AUTOMATIC" is also stamped around the edge.The movement is Felsa FE 4611A and is signed G. Monnin France on the rotor. Later Swiss made Heuer divers have movements from ETA.

Inside of case back is signed G. Monnin France.

It's a full size 42mm big diver with 24hour dial and screw in unsigned crown. I like it a lot. Looks cool on a NATO strap.
kl.

26 comments:

  1. Unknown20 March 2009 at 22:02

    I really want one of these.. and the orange dial is indeed very,very cool.

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  2. Jarl Fr. Rehn-Erichsen28 March 2009 at 21:29

    Thanks Marius, the French diver has now got a new home. But the orange one is a keeper. I will not sell that one.

    I have now made a post about the orange diver.

    Regards
    Jarl

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  3. Anonymous15 September 2009 at 01:46

    hello Jarl.
    timothy alicea (huxtable32) i just bought one> in real nice condition's i hope all is well with it.
    Cheer's
    USA

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  4. Jarl Fr. Rehn-Erichsen18 September 2009 at 23:09

    Hi Timothy. Congrats, great watch. I'm shure you will enjoy it.
    It's been a long time since you have posted at the heuer forum.
    Cheers
    Jarl

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  5. Unknown19 December 2009 at 12:16

    Jarl- some very nice photos here of the 844- I used one in a post on my blog about the 844/ 980/ TAG Heuer 1000.

    Regards

    David

    http://www.calibre11.com/tag-heuer-1000/

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  6. Stew7 June 2010 at 13:56

    Jarl,
    I'm not 100% certain, but I've recently learned that the movement might not be a Felsa, but a French Ebauche - hence the 'FE' in FE4611.

    I've been told that Felsa was a Swiss manufacturer. Maybe the confusion comes from the 'FE' being mistaken for Felsa Ebauche?

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  7. Anonymous6 August 2010 at 19:10

    Hello:

    I have a "Heuer" diver that's quartz, marked "844". Orange 24 hour markings, with the French Professionel etc. One the back is the same markings as the Automatic, execpt "Quartz", but marked 844 nonetheless. It must be the prototype Quartz watch

    Barry

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  8. Anonymous6 August 2010 at 19:12

    I have a Heuer diver's, Quartz marked 844. Same as automatic, with French markings, orange 24 hour, series 844, but quartz. It must be the prototype quartz watch.

    Barry

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  9. Anonymous29 September 2010 at 05:36

    HI, I have a Heuer French 844/12049 and learned alot about it from your site. My problem is that the bevel is missing and my jeweler told me he couldn't get a replacement. Do you know where I can get a bevel for my watch. For the short time I've had it, it seems to run very well so I would really like to get the right bevel for it. Can anyone direct me to a source to obtain. Thank you. Jerry S.

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  10. Anonymous29 September 2010 at 05:40

    I have the 844/12049 I learned a great from your site. The one I have for only a short time seems to be keep accurate time but the bevel is missing. Can anyone direct me to a source that I can obtain a bevel for this French dive watch? You can email me at jersstep@hotmail.com

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  11. Unknown1 December 2010 at 18:29

    I have a 844 automatic from 1979 with the Monnin movment. The crown was replaced, now I cannot set the time or date.
    Are crowns available?

    Brad

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  12. Selling My Rolex Watch21 December 2010 at 20:59

    A typical Tag Heuer design, I've seen some of variation of this... in any case you're lucky coz' you have this collector's item.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Unknown1 January 2011 at 18:51

    Hi in 1979 i bought my Heuer i cant see any name on rotor and in the back i have the brevet+ bit but not the makers name but i do have a tiny inscription above right of + it is so small even with a magnafing lens i just cant work it out i can see letters and numbers on two lines.

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  14. ottercreeken23 January 2011 at 05:22

    can some one help me need to get one repaired need stem and crown please help

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  15. Andrew E26 February 2011 at 10:02

    Got one of these as a gift from an auction Heuer 844 8499 (i am assuming the later is production number).. finally decided to dust if off and look it up.. looks like i found a gem! Crystal is scratched but everything else is good.
    Face has cathedral arms, Heuer lgogo , 200 Metres Professionel, Made in France (small along the bottom).

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jarl Fr. Rehn-Erichsen17 March 2011 at 23:51

    Hello, it is possible to buy correct crown from http://www.cousinsuk.com/

    Best regards
    Jarl

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous5 May 2011 at 21:55

    Hello Jarl,

    I just bought an Alfex 844 quartz.
    It looks EXACTLY the same as the Heuer 844, except for the hands and ofcours the Heuer logo. On the back of the case I see etanche acier 20atm, 844 and the serial number. Can you tell me something more about this watch?

    Regards André, The Netherlands

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  18. Chris USA9 July 2011 at 00:45

    Heuer Swiss made diver. The back is marked 6130 W 20 and 980.006 20 atm quartz acier etanche. Can you give me any information on this watch please?
    Thank you
    Chris
    USA

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  19. Renee8 October 2011 at 01:54

    I have a Heuer quartz acier etanche 20ATM, 980 025, 6298W20 black ladies watch, purchased early 80's, never used, would like to know value? Email me: Renee_Camarillo@yahoo.com. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Jarl Fr. Rehn-Erichsen12 October 2011 at 01:37

    André: Your Alfex is most likely the same watch as the Heuer made by french watchmaker Monnin. Monnin made these watches for several different watch firms.

    Chris: You have one of the most popular big sized vintage Heuer divers. The black dialed 980.006 is the most common one, but none the less popular among collectors. The was made in the early 1980s. There's also a TagHeuer version from the late 1980s.

    Rene: Ladies diver watches is not very popular among collectors. I recon around USD 200.00 at the most. More if you have the Heuer box.

    Best regards

    Jarl

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  21. joy18 November 2011 at 23:24

    Hi,someone help me please,I have a watch that was given to my Mom over 20 yrs ago.It has a black leather starp,a black face with what I belive to be diamonds all around the inner face.and some gold accents,the velvet case says emile renaud montres quartz watches,the name on the inner face says either Za dastille or Za bastille!! I dont know if it is french made or from south africa...hopefully someone will know thanks Joy

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  22. joy18 November 2011 at 23:27

    Hi,I have a watch that was given to my mom around 20 yrs ago or more.It is has a black leather strap.and a black face with what I belive to be diamonds all around the inner face and some gold accents on the outside too.the velvet pouch it came in says Emile Ranuad montres quartz wztches,and on the watch face it says either Za Bastille or Za Dastille,can someone help me find out if this watch is french made or from south africa and is it of worth...thank you so much Joy

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  23. Anonymous30 November 2011 at 23:26

    I purchased a Heuer Acier 980.014 quite some time ago. I have enjoyed it for well over 10 years. The back says etanche, quartz, acier. serial number 226400
    any idea of value? thanks John in Houston....

    ReplyDelete
  24. Watch winders7 December 2012 at 06:51

    how much this watch cost ?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous23 June 2013 at 10:44

    I have a "Le Forban''. I would say that is exactly like Heuer (in fact Heuer is exactly like Le Forban). The case back inscription, movement, case, crown, etc etc everything shows that Heuer bought the entire watch from French. My question is: which watch is worth more? Heuer (which is a replica of Le Forbam, or Le Forban which is in fact the original?

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  26. Jerry28 June 2013 at 15:22

    Hello everybody !

    The origin of this watch is the Yema firm. The first watches with this case have been made by Yema for Elmic, then for LeJour (Yema trade mark for the US market). Despite it is in French, I invite you to have a look on two posts on Forum à montres (FAM) Where you will find
    1st : the history, written by a french Yema expert [url=http://forumamontres.forumactif.com/t79211-la-yema-prodiver-heritiere-de-la-superman-grossiere-erreur-cest-la-seacolt]
    2nd : the restore of my own LeJour [url=http://forumamontres.forumactif.com/t146679-revue-yema-lejour-seacolt]

    I confirm what I have read above "FE" means "France Ebauche". And by the way, pictures on your site are great !

    Sincerely,
    Jerry

    ReplyDelete