Vintage Watches: The Heuer Skipper Ref. 7764
Today we’re sharing images and information about a Heuer Skipper ref. 7764 sold via Hodinkee Private Sales. If you’re interested in vintage classics or other hard-to-find watches like this, please reach out to Rich directly at rfordon@hodinkee.com.
The Heuer Skipper is always on our mind and even more so after TAG Heuer announced the newest iteration last week. Just as with the Limited Edition Carrera Skipper For HODINKEE, TAG’s latest Skipper takes cues from the Carrera-cased “Skipperera,” undoubtedly one of the most recognizable models from Heuer’s history, but there is more to Skippers than the aqua blues and orange accents.
As we’ve done with other recent installments of Vintage Watches, sometimes a watch passes through the Hodinkee office that we just feel compelled to show off – this time, let’s take a closer look at the sophomore Skipper reference 7764.
Throughout his “In-Depth” article on the ref. 7754 Skipperera the ever-knowledgebale and gracious Jeff Stein of OnTheDash.com details the time period from which the first Skipper is born. It was the 1960s, a decade of recreational drugs and rock n roll, and the Carrera-cased Skipper reflects a feeling of this time period that is palpable at just a glance. Watch design, specifically Swiss watch design, very rarely succumbs to cultural moments like this, which is part of what makes the Skipperera so unique.
In tandem with free love and bright colors, there was a much more serious side to the Swiss watch industry in the ’60s. For the first time, innovation, production techniques, and design made it possible for hard-wearing wrist watches to be made and marketed to professional and recreational adventurists at accessible prices. They did not call them “sport watches” then but the 1960s are when legendary models that we now know to be designed for specific purposes were born: the Submariner for diving, the Speedmaster for driving (at first), or the GMT-Master for flying – all exploded in popularity. The purpose-built generation of sport watches that took hold in the 1960s shapes much of what we think of as an “everyday” watch today. I called out the big brands but this trend was prevalent in every corner of the watch world from brands like Aquastar, Zodiac, Nivada Grenchen, and, of course, Heuer.
A 1970 Heuer catalog showing the ref. 7764 Skipper courtesy of OnTheDash.com
Back to the Skipper, these first two iterations of the Heuer model serve as a perfect microcosm for the dueling free spirit and serious sport watch design trends of the decade in which they were produced. Both were made for only one year: 1968’s Skipperera is recreational drugs fun while 1969’s 7764 is serious Swiss practicality. Tying back in Rolex, this is not dissimilar from an exotic “Paul Newman” tri-color dial and the shrewd readability of a black dial in the reference 6239 of the same few years as our Skippers.
Look no further than the color palette change from the first Skipper to our 7764 for proof that Heuer found a corner of the market to target in a serious manner. The Skipperera took color inspiration from team Intrepid and the winning boat at the America’s Cup in 1967 but the 7764 dials things back to a much more standard yachting chronograph color scheme in red, white, and blue. This same, simplified color scheme is used by other yachting watches at the time such as Yema and Gallet. The Skipperera is a novel, celebration Carrera with an over-the-top dial dropped in, the 7764 is a real attempt at playing in this budding market by Heuer.
Put simply, Heuer was the best sport-focused and tool-leaning chronograph maker in the world at this time. The Skipper served as its yachting chronograph option with the 7764 taking the whimsical feeling of the Skipperera and evolving the model into a more serious and robust watch. Switching to the larger, 40mm Autavia case with an external bezel not only improves usability and allows for more dial real estate for the oversized regatta register at three o’clock but the case construction is superior to the Carrera. The Ervin Piquerez S.A. (EPSA) supplied compressor case of the 7764 is more water resistant than the screw-down caseback Carrera. The compressor technology works by further compressing the gaskets as the water pressure on the outside of the case increases, meaning that the case becomes more water resistant the deeper it goes.
Both the Skipperera and the 7764 are found in a tight case serial number range of about 200 each. We don’t know if every case in that range is a Skipper, but, roughly, it seems that Heuer produced a similar amount of the first two Skippers. Yet, for every one Skipperera known to the market, there are two 7764s. On top of that, the dial condition of 7764s is regularly much better. To me, this is thanks to EPSA and the compressor case. Given that the buyer of a Skipper made a distinct choice and often used the watch for what it was made for, these watches were around water a lot. Reference 7764s survived the (ab)use aboard. The dial on the watch we have here is a great example of this, nearly flawless with naturally aged patina to the lume plots.
While I am clearly guilty of doing the same, the constant comparison of these first two Skippers clearly holds the 7764 back in terms of popularity and collectibility. They were produced in successive years and have the same model name of the dial, but are entirely different watches speaking to two different trends in 1960s watch design. All that to say, should the second Skipper be a nearly $100,000 watch like the Skipperera? No, but it is worth another look.
Hodinkee
