TAG Heuer - Monaco Grand Prix F1 NEW
The 2012 new official watches of the Monaco Grand Prix
The quest for excellence and performance.
TAG
Heuer partners with the
Monaco Grand Prix and the Automobile Club de
Monaco for the same reasons it is ineluctably linked to the other two
“Triple Crown” races of motorsports, the Indy 500 and the 24 hours of Le
Mans — because of a wealth of shared values and history. Motor racing
and sports timing have been in
TAG Heuer’s blood since it invented “Time
of Trip”, the world’s first dashboard chronograph in
1911. Today, it
calls the winners of the world’s fastest races with an unrivalled
precision of 1/10,000
th of a second.
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The role
TAG Heuer plays in the prestige and glamour of Monaco is
unparalleled in the Swiss watchmaking world. Official Partner of the
Automobile Club of Monaco (ACM), the organizer of the Grand Prix,
TAG
Heuer is also Official Partner of Monaco’s most winning team — Vodafone
McLaren Mercedes (15 victories), and sponsor of more first-place Monaco
drivers than any brand in history.
TAG Heuer ambassadors who have
crossed the checkered flag first at Monaco include Niki Lauda, Jody
Scheckter, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen, David Coulthard,
Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. And
on the wrists of every one of these driving legends, another legend – a
TAG Heuer watch.
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The iconic timepieces of modern motorsports
TAG
Heuer’s first Grand Prix Ambassador was the Swiss driver Jo Siffert,
whose maiden
F1 voyage was the Monaco Grand Prix in
1962. The Swiss
driver, a close friend of Jack Heuer and the first
F1 driver to sign an
endorsement deal with a watch brand, was the go-to man for another
TAG
Heuer icon, the American actor and driver
Steve McQueen. When
McQueen
starred behind the wheel of Porsche 917K in the
1970 film “Le Mans”, he
drove Jo Siffert’s car and wore his complete driving suit, with a red
“Chronograph Heuer” crest on his chest and a blue Heuer Monaco
chronograph on his wrist. Before the shoot, Jack Heuer had a case of
Heuer watches sent to
McQueen to choose from. The actor took one look at
the unusual square shape and colors of the Monaco — nothing short of
radical for the time — and made his choice. Watch and racing fans have
been making the same one ever since.
When in
1969 Tag Heuer launched the Monaco which had an innovative
design and was technically ahead of its time, it would turn out to be a
commercial failure for the company, this even despite
Steve McQueen
wearing it in the famous movie Le Mans. At that time
Tag Heuer already
had 2 models with this new movement, the Carrera and the Autavia. But
Jack Heuer wanted a 3rd model which looked as innovative as the new
movement technology itself. There was a patent on square cases that were
waterproof but Jack managed to negotiate exclusive use of this case for
his new model, so the Monaco was born. This shape of a watch was too
radical for most watch buyers but what also didn’t help was that
Japanese manufacturers started to compete with the Swiss watchmakers at
very low prices. Also the
US dollar was losing alot of value which
caused the prizes of Swiss timepieces to basically double in the
US. Tag
Heuer tried to fight back by making a lower cost
Caliber 15 in
1972 but
with no luck. In
1975 the Monaco dissapeared from the market and it is
estimated that there were only 4000 to 4500 sold of them.
More then 20 years later, in
1997 the Monaco was relaunched by
TagHeuer when they decided to issue some of its famous models from the
past. The relaunch of the
Monaco made it one of the most wanted models by collecters today.
Today we continue to tell you about the history of
Tag Heuer, we left
off in
1969 last time so that’s where we pick it up again. In that year
Tag Heuer released two wrist chronographs fitted with automatic self
winding movement available through a micro rotor. They were called the
Carrera and the Autavia. In
1970 Steve McQueen wore the Monaco watch in
the movie Le Mans and made it famous. Also in that year the Hollywood
movie directors started using the Film Master model when making their
movies. After sponsoring Formula 1 driver Jacky Ickx in 1970 they went
on and sponsored the whole team of Ferrari from 1971 to
1979. In the
year 1975
Tag Heuer invented the world’s first
LCD pocketsize stopwatch
which was accurate up to
1/100th of a second. In
1976 they came with
another new thing, the transponder technology for race cars which
allowed them to record laptimes of cars easily. In
1980 they were
introduced as the offical timekeepers of the
Olympic Games of
Moscow.
TAG Heuer - Monaco - Twenty Four McQueen Calibre 36
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A super-charged and super-tough reinterpretation of the square-faced
Monaco first seen on
Steve McQueen’s wrist. The blue dial is a
combination of the traditional
McQueen template with racing suit white
stripes. The award-winning construction, tubular design and extreme
shock-protected components are directly inspired by
F1 racecar
technology. The manifold arms, visible through the crystal caseback,
collect vibrations and direct them away from the movement and into the
composite filter, which absorbs and dissipates their energy. This is a
chronograph is for ultimate precision, with unmatchable
Steve
McQueen-vintage flair.
TAG Heuer - Monaco – Steve McQueen Calibre 11
A glamorous redesign faithfully based on the watch
McQueen chose for “Le
Mans” — one of the most sought after pieces on the international
vintage market. The first watch with a waterproof square case, the first
automatic self-winding chronograph, the blue dialed “McQueen Monaco”
completely broke with tradition inside and out. The
New Monaco Heuer
Calibre 11 Chronograph is perfectly in line with the series’ iconic
heritage. Standout features include a dark blue perforated leather
strap, a stylish blue dial with vertical white stripes inspired by the
stripes on
Steve McQueen’s racing suit, red hands, the
HEUER logo at 12,
and the famous crown at 9 o’clock.
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TAG Heuer - Monaco Automobile Club Monaco Calibre 12 Limited Edition
Tag Heuer introduced the first square-cased watch on the market in
1969,
breaking a long tradition of watchmaking. It was in honor of the
Monaco Grand Prix and they called it the Monaco.
The original timepiece runs on a
Calibre 11 heart and was the very first automatic watch in the world.
In
1971, actor
Steve McQueen made the watch famous when he wore it in the movie
Le Mans.
It became an icon for watch collecters after that. On June 11,
2009 the
original watch he wore was sold at an auction for
$87,600!
Although This model was discontinued in the mid-
70s, the Monaco was
relaunched with a new design in
1998 and with an entirely new mechanisms
in
2003. The latest model we can see in the above picture. Gorgeous!
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A limited edition Monaco of
1,200 pieces honoring
TAG Heuer’s ongoing
partnership with the Automobile Club de Monaco. Founded in
1890, ACM is
one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious motoring clubs and the
organizer of the
Grand Prix de Monaco
F1 and the equally glamorous
Rallye de
Monte Carlo. This luxury-level tribute watch has silver
sub-counters with exquisite scratch-brushed finishing and a black “soft
touch” alligator strap with orange stitching.
The MONACO and
TAG Heuer
logo appear at 12 o’clock, balanced by the iconic ACM crest at 6. The
orange sub-counter and second hands complete the authentic motor-racing
allure.
TAG Heuer - Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph Day Date Monaco Grand Prix Limited Edition
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Based on the
1964 Jack Heuer tribute to the grueling Carrera
Panamericana Mexico road race of the 50’s, his 3,000 numbered and
engraved limited edition
CARRERA has Monaco
Grand Prix red lettering on
the bezel and tachymetre scale, a vintage
F1 rubber tire strap, inspired
by
Carrera Panamericana car, red touch on the hands and pusher, a large
43mm case, and a
Monaco Grand Prix logo on its scratch-resistant
sapphire caseback. It pays Carrera-inspired homage to Monaco — modern
motor sports’ most exciting, prestigious, dangerous and glamorous race.
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