Of Abercrombies and Allstates

In the 1950s and 1960s, Heuer manufactured chronographs, stopwatches and dash-mounted timers for several retailers, the most well-known of which are Abercrombie & Fitch and Sears, Roebuck & Co / Allstate. Other retailers that sold private label Heuers included Baylor, a well-known European jeweler, and Orvis, an American retailer of fishing and outdoor gear. The dash-mounted Heuers were limited to the Abercrombie & Fitch and Allstate brands.

Abercrombie & Fitch.

Founded in New York City in 1892, Abercrombie & Fitch was a store devoted to apparel, equipment and supplies for all sorts of outdoor sports - from fishing to climbing to the most exotic of adventures. By 1917, the Abercrombie & Fitch occupied a twelve-floor building at Madison Avenue and 45th Street, where it stocked exotic sporting equipment that included hot air balloons, yachting pennants, portable trampolines, treadmills for exercising dogs, throwing knives, shirts of chainmail, leopard collars, and everything a person could possibly need for falconry. Not surprisingly, Abercrombie & Fitch looked to Heuer to supply it with the highest quality purpose-built equipment for auto racers and rallyists. Heuer manufactured several interesting chronographs for Abercrombie & Fitch, and the full line of dash-mounted timers was also sold under the Abercrombie & Fitch name.

• Abercrombie Autavia
• Abercrombie Master Time (Hervue)
• Abercrombie Rally Master Pair (Early Version)
• Abercrombie Super Autavia

Allstate / Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Founded in 1886, Sears, Roebuck and Co. was a large retailer, with stores throughout the United States. (Interestingly, the original partnership consisted of Richard Sears, a watch seller, and Alvah Roebuck, a watchmaker.) In addition to its stores, Sears was well-known for its annual catalogs, through which Sears made its products available to people throughout the country. Sears maintained a particular focus on automotive parts and equipment, many of which were marketed under the "Allstate" brand name, and also sold a line of scooters and motorcycles. Allstate catalogs from the period feature a full line of automotive accessories, including many lines of items specifically designed for racing and rallying.

The Allstate line of dash-mounted timepieces consisted of the Autavia, Master Time, Monte Carlo (sold under the "Winner" name), Auto Rallye and Super Autavia. Though manufactured by Heuer, these timepieces were sold under the "Allstate" name, with no apparent reference to "Heuer".

• Allstate Autavia
• Allstate Super Autavia
• Allstate Winner
• Allstate Rally-Master

• The dials on all the Allstate models were marked only with the name "Allstate", and did not include the "Heuer" name.

• Markings on the movements varied from model to model. The Allsate Super Autavia movements were indistinguishable from their Heuer counterparts, including the "Ed Heuer & Co." name and the "Heuer" logo, with the Valjoux "R76" beside the balance wheel, as shown on this Allstate Super Autavia movement. On the other hand, the less expensive Allstate Winner (Monte Carlo) and Autavia movements included no "Heuer" markings at all, bearing only the "Sears, Roebuck & Co." name on the movement.

• Backplates for the Allstates were entirely different from those used for Heuer-branded timepieces, being made of black, anodized aluminum and marked "Sears, Roebuck & Co.".

Values of the Abercrombies and Allstates

For information about the values of the Abercrombies and Allstates compared with other Heuer models, go to Abercrombies and Allstates on our Values page.

Other Brands that Appeared OnTheDash

In addition to Abercrombie & Fitch, Heuer produced dashboard timepieces that were co-branded with the names of several other retailers. These retailers include the following:

• Beyer, the Swiss retailer.
• Meister, the Swiss retailer
• Halls, an American retailer
• Huber, the German retailer