The strap
The punched
“automotive” strap in
blue leather with red
stitching recalls the
Monaco’s origins as the
timepiece of choice of
motorsport aficionados.The dial
The grained, rhodium-
plated silver-gray dial
captures the contemporary
style of Nineties watch
design, highlighted by
red index markers and
central seconds hand.The case
Then-company CEO
Jack Heuer wisely signed
an exclusive deal with case
maker ESPA for its
revolutionary water-
resistant square case- a world first.
The design
Launched in 1969 with the
advertising line “Heuer doesn’t
make standard watches”, the
Monaco swiftly became a design
icon, today celebrated in a limited
series of five “decade-correct”
anniversary models.DETAILS WATCHESThis is the RETRO watch withthe biggest STYLE CREDSIt’s not hard to see what drew Steve McQueen to the TAG Heuer Monaco...The self-winding chron-
ograph movement it
contained might not have
been a “first”, but the case that
launched Heuer’s successor to
its fabled Autavia and Carrera in
1969 most certainly was. Unlike
the flat-sided dress watches that
preceded it, the Monaco featured
the world’s first water-resistant
square case, an innovation that
would become an enduring
emblem of the brand long after
it became the chosen wristwear
of Swiss racing driver and early
Heuer ambassador Jo Siffert.
Early marketing materials mighthave boasted that Heuer’s “avant-
garde” timepiece feels “equally
at home behind the wheel
of a formula 1 [sic] and a glass of
champagne at an ambassadorial
reception”, but there’s little
doubt where the wider world
felt it rested most comfortably:
on the wrist of American actor
turned avid motor racer Steve
McQueen. Having picked up on
Siffert’s choice, he opted to gift
the emergent Monaco a central
role in his 1971 film Le Mans.
According to property master
Don Nunley, it had been a con-
tractual Heuer patch on Siffert’sracing overalls that first appealed
to the actor, so he took the pre-
caution of calling in a selection of
Heuer’s latest wrist chronographs,
from which McQueen picked the
Monaco, known as Reference
1133B, instantly recognisable by
its deep-blue dial, white square
registers and horizontal hour
markers. Six identical watches
were used for filming, one of
which fetched almost $800,000
at auction in 2012.
Fortunately, those wishing to
obtain their own slice of horo-
logical – and Hollywood – history
can do so at a more reasonablerate: a limited edition honouring
the 1133B was launched at this
year’s Monaco Grand Prix to
mark the watch’s half-century
and TAG Heuer is presently rolling
out four more anniversary collec-
tors’ pieces, each one alluding to
a decade in the life of the model.
Le Mans might have foundered on
release, and its star not live to see
the success of this true timekeep-
ing original, but 50 years on, the
Monaco continues to stand proud:
a unique if unlikely exemplar of
watchmaking endeavour, forever
linked to a sporting feat with sim-
ilarly few – if any – real rivals. BPTAG HEUER MONACO 1989-1999 LIMITED EDITION, £5,350. TAGHEUER.COMEdited by Bill Prince Photograph by Omer KnazThe movement
Heralding the arrival of the
self-winding chronograph,
the Monaco 1989-1999 Limited
Edition is fitted with the brand’s
emblematic Calibre 11, with
40 hours’ power reserve.09-19DetailsWatch.indd 61 05/07/2019 13:03
56 GQ.CO.UK SEPTEMBER 2019