Ever since “The Autavia Cup” designs campaign in March 2018, watch lovers have been excited about the re-issue of the TAG Heuer Autavia. The idea was to allow the public the chance to select from a long list of historic Heuer Autavia replica watches that the fake TAG Heuer of today would produce and launch just one year later. The summation of that is here, available for promotion and a rather particular item if you understand it for what it is. I will say that while the TAG Heuer Heritage Autavia Calibre Heuer 02 is undeniably lovely, it takes a certain perspective of understanding to really appreciate what the fake TAG Heuer did correctly here. 
Much of that is thought to now be resolved under the leadership of Jean-Claude Biver—modern hero of the watch industry. As the guy responsible for running the watch division of LVMH, he is the name in charge of the replica TAG Heuer. Jean-Claude has proven to be very open-minded as well as grand in his vision toward rebuilding the TAG Heuer brand.
The CH 80 was later renamed for a third time to the Calibre Heuer 01 and given a new visual look to make it feel even more modern. Look through the caseback of the Heritage Autavia and you won’t see something that looks even remotely old. On the contrary, you’ll see one of the most modern-looking Swiss mechanical movements available at this price, though it still has hallmarks of industry tradition such as decoration on the movement bridges in the form of Geneva stripes. The exposed column wheel for the chronograph is painted in a sport red—just for fun.
TAG Heuer fake watch is borrowing intellectual property from itself for this project, and I applaud them for making good use of it. Let me be sure to remind you that this is by no means TAG Heuer’s first attempt at making a re-release of a vintage fake watch. As a matter of fact, the fake TAG Heuer was re-releasing vintage watches since before it was popular back in the 1990s. TAG Heuer doesn’t always communicate about it, but the brand has a lot of trailblazing in its DNA. The Autavia isn’t about trailblazing, but rather proof that the TAG Heuer replica isn’t just a watchmaker, but capable of producing design icons. In that sense, the Autavia is almost a statement to the rest of the high-end watch industry from TAG Heuer saying “we own this look,” implying that no “respectable brand” can appropriate it for their upcoming watches. 
The least vintage thing about the Autavia is the case size. While it is the best size for me at 42mm wide and about 17mm thick, actual vintage watches were typically much smaller. The reason this is important to talk about is that vintage watch proportions don’t always translate when ballooned. That isn’t an issue here because the Autavia appears to have been designed from the ground up as something new—rather than just something that follows visual themes found in older designs.