Heuer’s Monaco was an admired but somewhat unloved watch for the brand in the early years after its 1969 launch, but that all changed in 1971 when Hollywood icon Steve McQueen posed with the square automatic chronograph on the set of motor racing movie Le Mans.
It was fitting, therefore, that the second of five Monaco styles being launched to celebrate the watch’s 50th anniversary this year was unveiled at the 24-hour Le Mans motor race.
Steve McQueen’s son, Chad McQueen, joined TAG Heuer for the launch and a special screening of his late father’s film.
The watchmaker says that each of the five limited editions launching this year will take inspiration from one of the five decades since the first Monaco.
The Le Mans version, said to be a tribute to the 1980s, comes in a stainless steel case with a hot red sunray dial and black and white accents. It is worn on a black leather driver’s strap.
It houses TAG Heuer’s Calibre 11, a modern version of the automatic-winding chronograph movement that made its debut inside the original Monaco in 1969.
There will be 169 of the red Monaco made.
