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Available in the Shop: Our Selection of Top TAG Heuer Monacos with Watchfinder & Co.
News
Available in the Shop: Our Selection of Top TAG Heuer Monacos with Watchfinder & Co.
A square, angular, shaped wrist watch the likes of the Monaco had never been seen prior to its introduction. Add to this the fact that the case was made such that the chronograph was water-resistant and that it housed the revolutionary new self-winding Calibre 11. Calibre 11 is what Heuer (TAG was not yet part of the company name at the time) called the movement, but it might be better known to some as the Chronomatic, which was the self-winding chronograph that came from the consortium formed by Breitling, Buren, Hamilton, Heuer and Dubois-Depraz.
In 1970, Siffert served as production support for “Le Mans”, where he met McQueen, who was inspired to play the role of Michael Delaney, thanks to Sifferet himself. For the film, instead of using an Autavia, which was usually worn by Siffert, McQueen chose the Monaco 1133B for its unique and unconventional appearance. It was arguably one of the most critical decisions in the history of watch marketing.
The general formula for the reissued Monaco Calibre 11 from 2009 has remained the same to this day. Only the colour variations in dials, cases and transparent casebacks have been the most important differentiating features from the 2009 ‘A’ model. This includes the 50th anniversary special editions from 2019.
TAG Heuer has another interesting model in the Monaco heritage series in a 39mm steel case. Powered by Calibre 11 movement (with the crown on the left-hand-side of the case), the ref. CAW211D is based on the original Steve McQueen Monaco from the 1970s. The present example in our shop is offered with its original set of box and papers and a two-year warranty from Watchfinder.