The Bundeswehr chronograph, reference 1550 SG, is the flyback pilot’s watch Heuer supplied to the West German air force from 1967 into the 1970s. It uses a 42 mm stainless-steel case about 13 mm thick with 20 mm lugs, a black dial with luminous Arabic numerals and hands, and a domed plexiglass crystal. Inside is the Valjoux 230, a manually wound flyback chronograph with hacking seconds: pressing the lower pusher restarts the chronograph instantly for a new timing run, and pulling the crown stops the balance so the watch can be set to the second — both requirements for military aviation timing.

Issued examples carry German service markings and were delivered on a plain strap or bracelet according to unit practice. The design is utilitarian to the point of anonymity, which is exactly why it worked in a cockpit: large luminous numerals, thin hands, no decoration. Beyond the Luftwaffe, the same reference was supplied to the Norwegian and Yugoslav air forces, making it one of the most widely distributed military Heuer chronographs of the period and a regular find with mixed patina, replaced crowns and hand-engraved unit numbers.

Among collectors the Bundeswehr is the entry point to military Heuer chronographs — cheaper than a comparable civilian Carrera or Autavia, mechanically identical in spirit, and with a documented issue history. Prices have climbed steadily as clean, unpolished examples with original dials and correct movement stamps have become harder to find; watches with replaced hands or refinished cases trade at a steep discount. Heuer built the reference into the 1970s before the Bundeswehr replaced it, and it has since become a fixture of military-watch auctions alongside the contemporaneous British and American issued chronographs.