Recall that the original Caliber 11 from 1969 was a collaborative project between Heuer, Breitling, and Hamilton-Büren in addition to the module specialist Dubois Dépraz, which contributed the chronograph mechanism.

With automatic Caliber Heuer 02, TAG Heuer is now using a fully developed, in-house chronograph movement in its Monaco line. Including the small seconds display at 6 required moving the “Automatic” lettering upward and placing it between the two registers.Ĭhanges to the dial layout are based on a fundamental innovation. With its use of the new movement, TAG Heuer designed a clear layout of the displays, but this also involved a compromise. The running seconds indication is now placed at 6 o’clock - a clever solution even though every minute the seconds hand sweeps across the date window for a period of several seconds. Here’s another update: the symmetrical arrangement now shows elapsed minutes and hours rather than minutes and seconds. The once-flat registers are now slightly recessed, giving the design more depth and interest. The newest version, the TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre Heuer 02, our test watch, offers these same visual features, all of which TAG Heuer has continued to refine based on the earlier Monaco Calibre 12 model. A 1971 Heuer Monaco 1133B worn by Steve McQueen, that sold at auction in 2012 for $799,500 USD.Fans of the Monaco racing watch – introduced in 1969 as one of the world’s first automatic chronographs – love its blue sunburst dial and contrasting silver counters, red hands, and square shape with its expansive sapphire crystal and faceted edges. The original 1969 Monaco was also released in a grey-dialled version, the 1133G. But it’s in fact modelled on the “McQueen” version, which had a subtly different dial, from a couple of years later.

The Calibre 11 looks to be a carbon copy of the very first Monaco, the 1133B, pictured, from 1969. Not for the faint-hearted, but for those at the crossroads this video should help. But the Calibre 11 is pretty much a dead ringer for the 1971 McQueen… decisions, decisions, decisions! I used the backdrop of the city of Monaco – thanks to TAG Heuer, who hosted us there for the 2017 Monaco Formula One Grand Prix – to dive deep on this one. So you’re getting a Monaco – great! But are you sure you’re making the right choice about which one – the Calibre 11 (left) or the Calibre 12 (right)?īoth have their merits, and both have a surprisingly legitimate connection to the original model, so which one would it be? The Calibre 12’s metallic starburst dial is more faithful to the very first blue-and-grey metallic dialled models in 1969. The only problem was, when I went to pull the trigger, there was an unexpected dilemma, a crossroads with two signposts – one pointing to a version powered by the Calibre 11 (reference CAW211P) and the other running off the Calibre 12 (reference CAW2111). How’s that working out for me? Hmmm, there have been occasional slip-ups, and some redefinitions of what is “iconic” (Nomos makes modern classics, right?) but acquiring a TAG Heuer Monaco was to be a satisfying tick of the square-watch box. Watches whose aesthetic, technological and for-the-good-of-humankind breakthroughs still resonate today. The unquestioned cornerstones of modern watchmaking. At some point on my watch journey, I made a resolution to resist all the shiny new things that get paraded in front of us daily and just start collecting the icons.

Tag heuer monaco calibre 11