In recent years, TAG Heuer has been focusing on the generation change and lineup expansion of the Aquaracer, which is popular as the brand’s representative diver’s watch and entry-level watch, following the successful completion of the iconic Carrera. While we were refining the two collections that had the biggest impact on sales, we didn’t forget to bring Monaco, which lovers especially love. This year, Watches & Wonders Geneva introduced the new Monaco × Gulf Edition with an in-house movement, and today (May 27), about two months after that, the new Monaco Dark Road Tribute Special Edition was also released.
A new product that was first introduced at Watches & Wonders this year. Officially released on May 13th and 15th to celebrate the ‘2022 Monaco Historic Grand Prix’ in which TAG Heuer participates as an official sponsor.
Founded in 1969, Monaco is often best known for the perfect replica watches of Steve McQueen, a Hollywood star of the 1960s and 1970s. This is because Monaco also became famous when Steve McQueen wore the watch in Le Mans (1971), the legendary racing movie. The Monaco (Ref. 1133B), which he wore at the time, sold for $2.2 million (approximately 2.7 billion won) at a Philips auction last year, making history as TAG Heuer’s most expensive watch. It is true that the link with a great actor raised the value of his name, but Monaco has been an important watch in the history of watch even before that. It was the first rectangular watch to break away from the traditional chronograph shape and was waterproof, and, above all, one of the first automatic chronographs to be created in 1969. At the time, Monaco was equipped with the automatic chronograph caliber 11, developed jointly by watchmakers such as TAG Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton. Later, in the 1970s, a manual chronograph was temporarily introduced with the 7736 or 7740 by Valjoux. One of those spin-offs is Monaco’s ‘Dark Road’ (Ref. 74033N), which, thanks to its very small production in 1974, still makes it to lovers’ wish lists to this day.
This isn’t the first time the Dark Lord has been resurrected. Last year, for the Only Watch auction, a Dark Lord armed with carbon came out. The model, which was a trailer for this year, was sold for 290,000 Swiss francs (about 370 million won) at the time and went to the owner. New for sale, the Monaco Dark Lord Tribute Special Edition is literally a tribute to the original Dark Lords of the past. As expected, the design inherited the all-black concept of covering the dial, strap, as well as the case in black. Monaco’s signature square, square case is made of lightweight and durable titanium. The black color, which is the core, was colored with a more modern DLC coating, unlike the past when PVD coating was used. The same goes for the push-buttons and crown, which are angled to fit the case. The titanium surface was polished by sandblasting. The case size is the same as the original 39×39mm. The waterproof specification is 100m.
As for the dial, in the tradition of Monaco, the main dial consists of a circle inside a square. The hairline is processed in a concentric circle in the center, and the outer part with appliqué indexes is made using a special processing technique to bring out the rough texture of the surface. According to TAG Heuer, it depicts the texture of a racing track and tires. The hour/minute hands and indexes are specially made of rose gold to enhance the value of the special edition. The surface of each hand and the round hour markers on the outer scale of the dial were meticulously painted with Super-LumiNova luminous paint as standard. The chronograph-related hands are all red to contrast with the background of the dial and the hour/minute hands. The sub-dial has a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, a small second at 6 o’clock, and a 12 o’clock counter at 9 o’clock. The date window is located at the bottom of the dial. The tri-compax (three counter) configuration sets it apart from the previous-generation Monaco and the original Dark Lord, which were bi-compax (two counters). Because it was equipped with an engine manufactured by TAG Heuer in-house.
The movement is the same automatic in-house chronograph caliber Heuer 02 as in the new Monaco×Gulf Edition. It was developed and produced by the Chevenez Manufacture completed in the 2010s, and has been used in major collections under the name of Heuer 02 since Ottavia in 2017. Following Carrera, he has been active in Monaco since 2019. It has a frequency of 28,800 vph per hour and a power reserve of 80 hours, which is superior to other chronographs on the market. The chronograph control system follows a stable vertical clutch combination on the column wheel, as is the case with today’s movements. The rotor is made of rose gold like the previous hour/minute hands and appliqué indexes, and the movement continues the concept of the special edition. The movement, including its rotor, can be admired through the sapphire crystal caseback.
The alligator strap, which emits a subtle luster, is also all black. The folding buckle, like the case, is made of black DLC coated titanium. Sandblasting is the same.
The Monaco Dark Road Tribute Special Edition (Ref. CBL2180.FC6497), a modern interpretation of the original past, will be produced in a limited edition of 500 worldwide. According to TAG Heuer Korea, the domestic allocation is 10 pieces. The price of the product is 1,080,000 won.