1969 was a significant year for Heuer. The years leading up to it had seen Jack Heuer reposition the brand as number one in the hearts and minds of motorsports enthusiasts. The company’s name had been placated on the world’s most desirable and fastest cars, most notably on Ferrari’s Formula One cars, and many in the sport swore by Heuer’s timekeeping equipment.

Heuer’s main competition took place far away from the racetracks. Jack Heuer, the company’s then CEO, had heard rumblings about “Project 99”, a rumored collaboration between Breitling, Hamilton-Buren and Dubois Depraz to create the first automatic chronograph and boost sales of Swiss chronographs which were drastically loosing speed since the beginning of the 1960s. Heuer maneuvered quickly to present his own Heuer-branded version, and in March of 1969, the four watch companies held simultaneous press conferences in Geneva and in New York to announce the arrival of their new automatic chronographs.
The present very early automatic Carrera Chronomatic was the first to present Heuer’s new automatic caliber. The word Chronomatic would later disappear from Carerra’s language, to be used solely by Breitling.
To go with the new automatic caliber, the Carrera's design was slightly altered, the crown moving to the left side of the case in order to differentiate it from the self-winding version.
This example is not only a very rare first execution Chronomatic but it is also one of the very few produced fully in gold. Combined with the excellent condition of the watch, this is a very rare opportunity to obtain a piece that played a significant role in the brand’s history.