Heuer Trackmaster Ref. 8042 Chronograph original advertisement from 1969
Heuer Trackmaster 8042
In the 1970s, Heuer sold numerous stopwatches such as the Trackmaster and the Trackstar – including this bright blue Heuer Trackmaster Ref. 8042, a near-new stock (NOS) mechanical 15-minute stopwatch in its original Heuer packaging.
And it all comes just in time for the trailer for the new Formula 1 film: the racetrack that made Heuer famous! Trackmaster movements are extremely precise and reliable, boasting a precision tolerance of +/- 1.5 seconds per hour when new.
Heuer's sporty Trackmaster line differed from the professional stopwatches for industry and science, which featured precise anchor movements (caliber 7700 series with a high frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour and a rate tolerance of 0.5 seconds per hour).
Few of Heuer's colorful Trackmaster stopwatches have survived in mint condition. The example offered here runs like new, and all the color-coded bands on the pushers are intact (usually the first thing to wear out on these Trackmasters). Heuer launched its Trackmaster line around 1969 and sold it until the 1980s. However, with one notable exception, Heuer mechanical stopwatches faded into the background after the early 1980s.
Heuer pioneered electronic stopwatches with LCD displays and sold them aggressively, which meant the end of its stopwatch production, such as the Trackmaster shown here.