TAG, Monaco & McQueen

One of the more interesting things to emerge from BaselWorld was TAG Heuer’s new Monaco Twenty Four Concept Chronograph, billed as the watchmaker’s most advanced timepiece to date. The square-faced instrument was created in homage of actor Steve McQueen, who wore the original Heuer Monaco in the classic 1971 racing film Le Mans, and features an oversize “24″ at 12 o’clock and the emblematic blue and orange livery of Gulf Oil, which McQueen (and his Porsche) sported in the flick. The watch is powered by TAG Heuer’s Calibre 36 Movement, running at 36,000 beats/hour or ” as relentlessly as the engine of a Le Mans prototype running at 350 km/h,” visible from the front and through its sapphire crystal caseback.

The Monaco Twenty Four’s unique tubular design and extreme shock-protected components – they “float” inside the case to ensure shock absorption even in a 20 meter fall – are directly inspired by GT racecar technology, but if you’re only interested in the real thing, take heart: Meanwhile, McQueen’s original Monaco is being auctioned off on June 11 by Antiquorum in New York. It’s being offered along with the actor’s equally cool 1967 Rolex Submariner. Both watches have ridiculously low estimates of $10,000 – $20,000 USD. And if you think you can win ‘em for that we’ve got a nice bridge to show you as well.

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Tags: BaselWorld, Tag Heuer

This entry was posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 12:28 pm and is filed under Watches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.