Some Frequently Asked Questions About OnTheDash
. . . based in part on some recent e-mails from Chuck Maddox and questions posted to the Chronocentric Discussion Forum

You call it "OnTheDash" but seem to be covering Heuer chronographs, as well as the dashboard timepieces. What's the story with the name?

OnTheDash was launched in February 2003, with a comprehensive (almost exhaustive) coverage of the dash-mounted Heuers (Monte Carlo, Master Time, Autavia, etc.). We included a relatively small sampling of Heuer chronographs, in part hoping that someone else would take the lead in developing a parallel website focusing on the Heuer chronographs.

What happened next came as a real surprise: Folks from all over the world began submitting photographs of their favorite Heuer chronographs, and within a few weeks we had a great start on the Chronograph section. Bruce Mackie produced the first version of his Heuer Chronograph Master Reference Table, and with that we were well on the way to having the outline of a comprehensive Chronograph section. We also obtained several very interesting Heuer catalogs, so our Catalog section became a great reference. Within a few months after the launch, we had covered most of the major chronograph models, at least from 1960 through the mid-1980's, and were beginning to fill in the pieces on some of the rarer versions. We also had a good sampling of catalogs, which have been of great interest to people researching the history of their Heuers.

We have considered different names, that would suggest a broader focus than the dashboard reference, but our readers tell us that they like the "OnTheDash" / "OTD" references.

Who owns the Heuers shown on this website?

I own most of the dashboard timepieces shown on this website; the photos of the chronographs have come from dozens of contributors. In some instances, owners have allowed me to borrow their timepieces in order to take the photographs.

How did you get interested in dash-mounted Heuers?

My interest in Heuers stemmed from my interest in vintage automobiles, and particularly the 1960's era Mini Coopers. The first dash-mounted Heuers that I saw were pictured in English automobile magazines. The first one that I bought came to me through ebay, in December 1998. I was in Atlanta, Georgia; the seller was in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and when it arrived, it had a mechanical problem (chronograph would not stop). Fortunately, the seller had it repaired, and my collection was off and running.

How many Heuers are in your collection?

In terms of the dashboard timers, let's just say that my objective has been to own one of each of the major models and variations, and to improve the collection over time. OnTheDash comes fairly close to showing the "complete collection" of dashboard timepieces. The only time that I keep two of the same variation is when they are so nice that I can't stand to part with one. Over time, I do manage to part with these especially nice "extras".

In terms of the Heuer chronographs, as of January 2005, I own exactly 44 Heuer Chronographs.. The goal here is to own at least one of each of the major models (Autavia, Monaco, Carrera, SIlverstone, etc), spanning the period from the introduction of the Autavia (1963) through the introduction of quartz, in the mid-1980's.

Which are your favorites?

My favorite chronographs are the Autavias -- whether manual-wind, automatic or the GMTs. I am also fond of the Lemania 5100 powered chronographs, from the early 1980's, and the triple calendar chronographs from the 1950's. For most of the models that were produced over a period of many years, I prefer the earlier ones to the later ones.

Have you ever actually put one on the dash?

My two cars are a 1967 Austin Mini Cooper S and a 2002 MINI Cooper S. The old Mini doesn't lock securely, so I am hesitant to put these Heuers on the dash. The new MINI does have locking doors, but does not have a good location for the Heuers. The solution will be to have some brackets fabricated so that I can remove the Heuers from the old Mini. The vintage Mini Coopers actually used this type of brackets. So, unfortunately, I have never actually put a Heuer "OnTheDash" of an automobile.

Are any of these Heuers for sale?

None of the timepieces that are shown on this website are for sale. Sometimes, I have duplicates or extras, and sell them privately (or on ebay) or trade them for interesting items. I am happy to help enthusiasts find particular pieces. From time to time, I have good leads about collectors who might have some items for sale. Feel free to send me your "wish list" (and budget), and I am happy to try to find a particular timepiece.

Why did you create OnTheDash?

OnTheDash was developed for collectors and enthusiasts. The purpose is to provide information for anyone who might be interested in these timepieces, whether a veteran collector or a novice wanting to start a collection. In looking around the internet, I was struck by the fact that there is so much information on many of the "leading" brands, but hardly anything about the Heuers. Information about the vintage Heuer chronographs was very limited; information about the dash-mounted Heuers was just about non-existent, being limited to some dealer sites and some historic rally sites.

What is the relationship between OnTheDash and www.Chronocentric.com?

Chronocentric was created by Derek Ziglar in 1998, as a non-commercial, on-line resource for owners, collectors and enthusiasts of Omega and other fine wristwatches. The Chronocentric website has focused mainly on the Omega brand, and has an active Discussion Forum, referred to as the zOwie Omega Forum.

Derek lived in Atlanta, I met him in September 2002, and he provided the technical support to launch OnTheDash. He also provided soome excellent non-technicial advice about the "do"s and "don't" of operating an enthusiasts' website about watches. When we wanted to created the OnTheDash Heuer Discussion Forum, Derek did the technical work and we decided to host the Heuer Discussion Forum on his website -- Chronocentric. That was far easier than replicating the Discussion Forum program and incorporating it into OnTheDash. With the success of these two discussion forums, we also added the Chronotrader Forum and the Counterfeit Watchers forum, in June 2004.

Derek passed away in May 2005, and several of us have undertaken to continue to operate the Chronocentric website, as well as its four Discussion Forums (for Omega, Heuer, Chronotrader and Counterfeit Watchers). In November 2005, we re-launched the Chronocentric Omega Discussion Forum with new moderators, Keith Downing and Steve Waddington. With ChronoCentric and OnTheDash under common control, and the considerable shared interests between the Heuer community and the Omega community, we expect that there will be closer integration between the two websites, as well as the development of new content for both OnTheDash and Chronocentric.

Why don't you discuss prices on this website?

There are several reasons that we don;t focus on prices. First, OnTheDash is intended to be non-commercial -- to provide information about the timepieces themselves -- and giving prices might detract from that "mission". Second, it would be difficult to keep the price information up to date. When two guys on ebay decide to battle it out for a particular piece, and bid 50% more than the item has been selling for, does that really mean that values have increased? Not really . . . it only means that two guys really wanted to win this particular piece. Of course, when this happens repeatedly, over the long term, then we can say that the value of that item has increased. Finally, it is very difficult to suggest "market values" for the rarest pieces or for pieces that are in their original "mint" condition. These pieces are getting scarce, and even in the world of ebay, it is difficult to suggest prevailing prices.

For the dashboard timepieces, I hope that the Values section of this website will help people determine what these Heuers are worth. For the chronographs, it is difficult to construct any sort of scale or index of values. Feel free send me an e-mail message if you want information about values.

What are Your Favorite Parts of the OnTheDash Website

• If we could keep only one page of the website, that would have to be the Master Reference Table. It reflects hundreds of hours of work, compiling the table and then formatting it for OnTheDash, and is definitely the one page that I would want, if I could only keep one page.
• I really like the Comparison Pages, where we provide a detailed comparison of two or more chronographs. To me, this is an interesting way to learn about the watches, and you can also see how the models developed over the years. My favorite Comparison Page is probably the one that covers the Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarers, as these colorful chronos are a personal favorite.
• With some trepidation, I would also say that the Gallery of Fakes qualifies as a favorite of our readers. Working on the Gallery can sometimes get tedious and, personally speaking, I am not so interested in the fakes, but I receive many e-mail messages thanking me for maintaining this Gallery. It has definitely helped our readers avoid some bad purchases / complete frauds.
• The "People's Choice Award" would probably go to the page of "Poor Man's Heuers". These watches were made by Hueer, are generally of excellent quality, and allow people to have a collection on a reasonable budget. My favorite of the Poor Man's Heuers would have to be the Clebar Version of the Carrera Dato 12. I bought this one at 33 cents on the dollar, and it is almost identical to the Real Thing.
• to be added

What's next for OnTheDash?

• As described above, we expect to have closer integration between the Chronocentric and OnTheDash websites, and to foster more interplay between the Heuer and Omega communities. The ChronoTrader Discussion Forum has been very successful, and there may be additional discussion forums that would be interesting to the Heuer and Omega communities, as well as other groups fo collectors.
• The Master Reference Table and particularly the Autavia Reference Table have been very well received. We have expanded the Autavia Reference Table to cover approximately 55 versions of this chronograph; though it is a daunting task, we need to make a similar effort to complete the Carrera Reference Table; we will also add a Camaro Reference Table in the near future.
• In terms of the Chronograph section of OnTheDash, it would be good to build backwards (to cover the 40's and 50's era chronographs); we might also make a push to move forwards, to cover more of the 1980's chronographs. There is no present plan to cover any quartz watches or any TAG-Heuer watches (with the possible exception of the re-issues of the Classics).

Will you cover other vintage rally gear (for example, the Haldas and Curtas)?

Probably not. I am interested in this other equipment, but know very little about these items and only own a couple of pieces. There are other sites that cover much of the vintage rally gear, so I will probably add some links, but not cover this equipment.

Why did you include the Hanhart Two-Stop? That seems like a strange item to include in a website devoted to Heuers.

I have been interested in the Ferrari DuoStops since I got interested in the Heuers. I bought the Two-Stop several months ago and, in a certain sense, I would like to use OnTheDash to obtain some information about it. The DuoStops always seemed like really neat pieces. Now that I have seen it "in the metal", I am more impressed with it than ever. It is a fantastic piece of design and worksmanship. I wish that Heuer had come up with this line of timers.

How did you take the pictures?

Most of the photographs of the dashboard timepieces were taken with a Sony MD-95 (most very first digital camera), at relatively low resolution (1024 by 768). Most of my chronograph photos were taken with either a Nikon Coolpix 4300 or a Nikon Coolpix 4500, at a size of 1600 by 1200 (before cropping).

Most of the photographs were taken indoors, in the dark of night, with the lighting being either tungsten (Photoflex Softlite softbox), a halogen desk light or bright flourescents. Taking photographs of timepieces with black dials, silver cases and domed crystals is extremely difficult. After a couple of years of experimenting with these photographs, all I have learned is that there is no one "perfect set-up". It all seems to depend on the shape of the crystal, bezel and case. None of the photographs that I have taken for this website have been color-corrected or touched-up. Of course, some of those submitted by other photographers may have been "PhotoShopped".

What is the best way to view this site?

OnTheDash has been designed for a minimum screen resolution of 800 by 600. At 800 by 600, there should be no horizontal scroll bars. We have tested the site on the most common operating systems and browsers. Please let us know if you encounter any problems in viewing the site. To be sure that you are seeing the entire site, try to work your way through the Navigating This Site page. If you can view the images in the Galleries, then you have navigated the site successfully.

Jeffrey M. Stein
January 4, 2004