Though seldom seen, most vintage Heuer enthusiasts (or just vintage tool watch enthusiasts) have likely come across a photo or an article on the Orvis Solunagraph, the true tool watch for the outdoorsman. Like many other watch brands during the 70s, Heuer produced a number of different watches with specific applications for different brands that wanted to offer a reliable and trustworthy timepiece to their customers with their brand name on the dial. The Solunagraph for Orvis, much like the Seafarer for Abercrombie & Fitch, is a manual winding chronograph with a specific complication solely for tracking the tides of the Ocean.

The Orvis Solunagraph is based on the EPSA designed compressor case Heuer Autavias of the late 1960s to early 70s and utilizes a Valjoux Cal. 723 chronograph movement. The grey sunburst dial is accented beautifully by the white and blue accents of the sub-dials and hands, the rotating bezel can be seen with either an hours/minutes scale or a tachymeter scale. The 9 o’clock sub-dial is for tracking the tides of the ocean which is set with the additional pusher on the left side on the case.

Orvis was established in 1856 in Manchester, Vermont, and has continued to be a well-respected outdoor equipment company ever since. Heuer was already well established in creating tide tracking watches dating back to the 1950s with the Mareograph. Orvis decided the Mareograph would be the perfect watch for their clientele, albeit with their own name and branding, as the ability to track tides offers a slew of practical applications for fisherman, hunters, and adventurers to help guide them along their journeys.

CASE & BRACELET

The beautiful compressor case appears to have been very lightly polished in the past as it retains most of its case profiling, chamfers, and dimensions with light signs of honest use. The tachymeter bezel is in superb condition and displays only minimal signs of use and has taken on a charming dark grey fade. The case retains all of its original fluted pump pushers and its original Heuer signed crown. The unsigned case back is original and correct for this watch. The watch will come supplied on a 2pc handmade leather strap. 

DIAL & HANDS

The grey sunburst dial is simply gorgeous and the blue and white accents of the sub-dials coordinate perfectly. The dial itself is in impressive condition with the only sign of age being a light speckled patina around the edge of the sub-dials, which is common for this dial variant. The sub-dials remain very clean and bright, showing a small amount of speckling from age. The tritium lume plots all remain present and have achieved a very attractive golden patina, under U.V. light inspection there is some very minimal degradation in the 4 and 12 o'clock markers however it is not visible to the naked eye. The original tritium hands have aged to a light green coloration which is very common for this reference, under U.V. light inspection the hour hand shows no degradation, the minute hand shows some very minimal cracking and remains stable.

ACCESSORIES 

None. The watch was recently serviced and is keeping excellent time and functioning perfectly, backed by a 1-year warranty on accurate timekeeping.