Collector interview : Pascal

1. You in few words

Could you describe you in few words ?

I was born in 1965 and I live in Valkenburg aan de Geul, which is near Maastricht. I’m a retail manager, and former owner of a Bang & Olufsen brand store.

2. Your passions and hobbies

Aside from watchmaking, have your other interests/hobbies ?

My very first passion are classic cars with a specific interest for vintage Alfa Romeo. I use to chat with Alfa Romeo owners on social networks. Getting older I developed an interest for more recent models, youngtimers, because 50’s and late 60’s are more expensive to maintain and their prices are now ridiculous hight. I sold my ‘67 GT model for a 1990 Spider. It’s easier to handle, more affordable and by far more comfortable. I took it for a roadtrip Italy last summer and could drive for longs hours while I felt tired and need a pause after only 3 hours in my previous classic car.

For the Gt model I wanted to put an HEUER timer but could not mount it without damaging the dashboard. So I needed a holder like the Smilodone ones I love. With classic car collector friends who work in CNC (aluminium shaping) and Ceramic coating industry , we decided to make a kind of join venture to produce our own holders.

I also spend a lot of time with my family and my dog ! With my wife and my son I share this passion for motor racing. The last 10 year I visited maybe 10 to 15 (former) race circuits with them during short holiday trips; we were in Monaco, Nürburgring, Spa, Balocco, Reims and many more.

3. Pascal and watches

For how long have you been interested in watches/watchmaking in general ?

It’s a family history. My father was a sports instructor (athletics). He had a lot of analog stopwatches and other measurement tools, like leather cords to measure, for example, the distance jumped by an athlete or starting guns (which were very noisy). So I have always been fascinated by measurement, distance and time. That’s probably the root of my passion for stopwatches and timers.

Does your preference go to mecanical, electronical, connected models ?

I prefer mechanical, automatic watches and of course stopwatches, because of the movement and the look and the feel. However I have few electronic vintage watches including this one, switching its screen off automatically because the led technology used too much energy from the battery (Pascal speaks about a red case Richard Sapper 4xx model).

1. The beginning of a passion

When and how did it start ?

Around early 80’s, when I had my first car and drove to Zandvoort, Spa Francorchamps and Zolder, which were receptively at two hours from my house. With other Alfa Romeo addicts, we enjoyed these tracks. I really loved these old races and this atmosphere. The HEUER atmosphere.

2. Relation with HEUER (Tag HEUER)

Saying HEUER or Tag HEUER which words/ideas/value come to your mind ? And according to you, what is the biggest innovation HEUER (Tag HEUER) has ever made ?

I’m a HEUER addict. TAG Heuer is something a little bit too « avant garde » and new for me. I love watches and stopwatches. HEUER makes me feel the connection between stopwatches, chronographs and cars. it’s something I 100% enjoy. Jack Heuer perfectly linked his brand to motorsport world. I really appreciated how he managed it, naming his chronograph after famous tracks and of course developing for Ferrari the most innovating timing products the company has ever released. He is a speed and car enthusiast, driving for races and maybe without this passion he could not bring all these values. By the way he also used his own personal racing experience to develop devices like the monte carlo timer which improved dial legibility for pilots.

3. Pascal stopwatch collection

How many HEUER stopwatches have you  got in your collection ?

I’ve got 42 HEUER stopwatches in my collection.

Do you remember the first HEUER stopwatch you bought ?

I don’t remember exactly what is the first HEUER stopwatch I had because, I already had Elka stopwatches (a Dutch brand) from my father who were pretty similar to HEUER ones. I probably bought the first one in the 80’s or the 90’s when I owned a HEUER watch.

What is your favorite one ? Why ? What is your HEUER (Tag HEUER) grail stopwatch ?

My favorite model is the Autavia, designed for use in aviation and cars. I love the dial, and its robustness; it feels heavy and rugged when you hold it. I also appreciate the ring master which is my holy grail.

What do you look at when you buy a vintage HEUER stopwatch ?

Now I look after stopwatches I can use on a dashboard with classical 60 second recorder. I have a few scientific stopwatches as well, but graduations are not convenient to be used in a car.

1. Reedition

What is the HEUER or Tag HEUER vintage device you would like to be re-edit ?

I love tributes and re-editions. One of my favorites is the HL 880, a re-edition of the famous rally master set, combining a monte-carlo and master-time timers. I think you don’t need to make new watches because there are so many at the moment on the market… and few vintage models are just unbelievable, like the HEUER Bundeswehr-models, made for the german army.

2. Tag HEUER device of your dreams

If Tag HEUER had to developp a new measurement intrument from scratch, what would you except for ? 

Maybe an electronic HEUER dashboard timer with the look and feel of a classical, mechanical one where you can read your kilometers, your distance… It would also be interesting it to offer the possibility to detach easily it from the dash to use it outside a car; for that the old school big screws could be replaced by a velcro attach system (like the road master).