Other brands

Photo credit: Lanny Epperson

Other brand Camaros

As is the case with other Heuer models, the Camaro was released under other brand names to suit the market and price range they were aimed at.

Commonly referred to as a 'Poor Man's Heuer' (a term not so accurate today due to the relative rarity and price of such pieces) these watches were often identical to the original Camaro with merely a different name on the dial and branding differences on parts such as the movement and crown.


Because original 'Heuer' cases were used for these models, you should find the same model and serial numbers stamped on the cases, as if they were released as Heuer. (which is such with these Hamilton and Benrus examples.)

Some further watch producers of the period also used a similar case design to the Camaro, however these were mostly made of lesser quality (such as chrome-plated cases) and are not generally regarded as a 'Poor Man's Heuer' as not having originated (at least in part) in the Heuer factory.

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Co-brand Camaros

During the '60s and '70s, Heuer made certain partnerships with sponsors or other manufacturers (mostly automotive related) which led to an additional logo/brand name on the dial of some models.

Champion Spark Plugs was one of the main partners and these co-branded watches offer an attractive feature to the standard Camaro dial.

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Given the close relationship between Heuer and the automotive/racing world of the time, some Camaros exist that had been given as prizes for races, quizzes or competitions, which sometimes bear an interesting inscription relating to the field in which they were won. (not always for first place!)

Photo credit: Lanny Epperson

Distributors

Due to import restrictions in certain countries, Heuer and other non-domestic watch manufacturers were required to place a mark/name on the dial to show it was not a product of that country. The most common of these is 'Fab. Suisse' which was required for such watches to be imported into and sold within France. Heuer also used distributors to display and sell their watches in other countries and often such an agreement required the distributor's name to be shown on the dial. Examples of these are the retailers Meister, Turler and Gubelin.

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Photo credit: Atom Moore, courtesy Analog/Shift
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Photo credit: Atom Moore, courtesy Analog/Shift

Alternatively it is not totally uncommon to find an extra serial number on the caseback identifying it to be sold in a particular country. The main example of this is the Cxxxx-x number which would indicate sale in the home country of Switzerland, which was the mark of the distributor Cuanillon & Cie.

The final example seen here is currently unidentified but as it is present on a number of models, it is believed to be a different distributor mark similar to that of Cuanillon.

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