Golf Asia – July 2019

LUXESCENE
LIFESTYLE

Strong links to the world of motorsports

Jack Heuer was convinced that motor

racing was the right way to promote

watches, including the Monaco. He wanted

the watches (and dashboard timers) his

company produced to be linked to the

names and places connected with major

races. The Monaco got its name from

the glamorous and well-known Monaco

Formula 1 Grand Prix. TAG Heuer is the

Official Watch of the Monaco Top Cars

Collection museum and has close ties to

the Automobile Club de Monaco.

From Le Mans to The Dark Lord

In 1971, the Monaco shared the cinematic

limelight with Steve McQueen in the movie

Le Mans. In the mid-1970s, the Monaco

received a makeover. At that time, black

was becoming a fashionable colour, and

so the Monaco was cloaked in a black

The Monaco’s daring design made

it instantly recognisable, and it was the

perfect complement to the advanced

technology the Swiss watchmaker

presented at the same time; the first water-

resistant square case and the Calibre 11,

the first automatic-winding chronograph

movement. The Calibre 11 was the result

of three years of close collaboration

between watch brands Heuer, Breitling

and Hamilton, and became the first

automatic chronograph. Jack Heuer, then

CEO of Heuer, was not really a fan of the

watch’s design either, but he believed

the groundbreaking innovations needed

a design that would demand attention,

and the Monaco did exactly that. The

disruptive design was difficult to produce,

and its popularity among watch aficionados

and collectors was not immediate, but it

remained in the collection.

FROM LEFT

Steve McQueen &

JoSiffert

1971 Monaco 1133B

worn by Steve

McQueen in the

movie Le Mans