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FHH | The Quirky Backstory Of The Heuer Regatta
The Quirky Backstory Of The Heuer Regatta_1

Quirky Backstory. Quirky Backstory. Quirky Backstory. Quirky Backstory. Quirky Backstory

Heuer Regatta. Heuer Regatta. Heuer Regatta. Heuer Regatta

22 November 2025

The Quirky Backstory Of The Heuer Regatta

education

by @watches_and_culture

From marine chronometers to regatta watches, watchmaking has been crucial for marine exploration, sailing, and all other types of sea activities. Let’s explore how Heuer became an important player in this field throughout the 20th century.


 

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For Heuer, everything started in the late 1940s with watches featuring tide gauges. Useful to fishermen, these watches indicated high and low tide times for a given location. To this day, the Heuer Solunar or the Mareographe are highly sought after by collectors.


 

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In the 1960s, Heuer partnered with watch brand Aquastar, known for introducing in 1961 the Regate, a regatta wristwatch powered by a modified Felsa 4000N caliber. It featured an original 5-minute countdown display between 10 and 2 o’clock. This display had five round dots that, after a reset, became red while the sweep second hand returns to 0. Each minute, one of the dots passes from red to silver, highlighting the 5-minute countdown before the regatta race starts.


 

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Heuer also started partnerships with sailing teams, equipping them with the Heuer-Aquastar regatta watches.


 

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In 1968, Heuer introduced the Skipper. Available in many different formats, it was a normal chronograph with a specific 15-minute regatta counter divided into 3x5 minutes.


 

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But in 1983, Heuer finally launched the Regatta, our true crush.


 

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The Lemania 1345 that powered this watch was built around the same concept of the 5-hole countdown display from the modified Felsa movement. However, this caliber was specifically developed for regattas. The angular case, integrated bracelet, and dodecagonal screwed bezel perfectly finished the 1980s look.


 

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The Heuer Regatta has many different variants, and all of them are funky and original. Even if you probably won’t use it every day, we believe the Regatta is a fun and unusual timepiece.
FUN FACT:
The Lemania 1345 was also used by brands like Aquastar, Tissot, Rodania, or Rotary.