There is no more prestigious event on the Formula One calendar than the Monaco Grand Prix. A fixture on the international racing calendar since the 1920s, this race around the streets of Monte Carlo may not produce the most exciting competition of the year, but the glamour, pomp, and circumstance of the event are second to none. Given this high-profile status and the ongoing popularity of its own Monaco product line, it’s no surprise that TAG Heuer has made releasing a new variant of the Monaco during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend into an annual tradition for the brand. For 2023, TAG Heuer combines elements from several recent reinterpretations of the Monaco together with a strikingly balanced, legible skeleton layout to create three of the most distinctive, futuristic Monaco variants in the modern era. The new TAG Heuer Monaco Skeleton collection brings skeletonization to the core Monaco design for the very first time and sticks the landing with a thoughtful, nuanced execution that keeps the core visual DNA of the Monaco intact.

Each of the new TAG Heuer Monaco Skeleton models begins with a 39mm-wide case in Grade 2 titanium. As with 2021’s Monaco Titan, the Monaco Skeleton’s fully matte sandblasted finish adds a futuristic, architectural edge to the familiar square Monaco silhouette, highlighting the gentle flowing curves along the case side edges that keep the angular design from feeling brutally simplistic. In terms of overall wearing experience, the feel on the wrist is exactly what you’d expect from a modern Monaco — tall, with a bold stance on the wrist that still invites smaller-wristed wearers thanks to its short, wedge-like lugs. The only real visual novelty here comes with the “Turquoise” colorway, which adds a layer of black DLC to the familiar design. This darker expression goes a long way towards making the Monaco a more aggressive, visually compact presence on the wrist, without sacrificing that instantly recognizable case profile. All three variants of the Monaco Skeleton are topped with sapphire display casebacks and offer a solid 100 meters of water resistance.

There’s a certain weight of expectation that follows the first-ever collection of standard production skeletonized Monaco models, and TAG Heuer does not disappoint on this front. The TAG Heuer Monaco Skeleton line’s dial layout is carefully considered and finely balanced, respecting the geometric aesthetics that define the broader series while offering both solid legibility and abundant visual drama. The familiar circle-in-square minutes scale is still present here, and it visually anchors this design to the classic right-hand-crown Monaco layout. But it’s the hour indices that truly steal the show. TAG Heuer supports the skeleton framework of the dial with extended, inwardly angled lumed hour indices, stretching from the rehaut to nearly the center of the dial. Each of these indices (excluding 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock, which have no hour markers) converges to support a major dial element — the left- and right-hand side indices taper towards one another to support the chronograph subdials, while the indices at 11 o’clock and 1 o’clock merge to form a stark trapezoidal form supporting the applied TAG Heuer emblem. Lastly, the 6 o’clock running seconds subdial is formed at the juncture of the indices at 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock. It’s a clever visual system that avoids the snarled, web-like complexity common in skeleton chronographs in favor of a bold, angular approach that feels like a natural extension of the Monaco design philosophy on the wrist. What’s more, the chronograph subdials are fully solid, making these elements easy to read at a glance and offering TAG Heuer a broader canvas to spread color. Speaking of color, TAG Heuer differentiates each of the three models in this collection with a unique dial colorway. As the name suggests the “Original Blue” model cleaves closest to the ur-Monaco style, with a rich matte cobalt blue across the skeleton bridges and subdials, paired with a striking orange-red for the chronograph hands and various markings on the timekeeping and chronograph scales. This layout even preserves some of the white-on-blue panda dial flavor of the classic Monaco, with the chronograph subdials sporting crisp white beveled chapter rings. Despite the intricate network of exposed movement components at the center of the dial, the “Original Blue” still nails the essential Monaco feel, coming across as what the standard Monaco might look like 20 years in the future. By contrast, the “Racing Red” option is a bit less distinctive. With matte black for the skeleton bridges, orange-red accents, and subdial chapter rings in silver, this gives the Monaco Skeleton more of a generic racing chronograph look, but the less colorful execution draws the eye towards mechanical touches like the exposed stencil-style date wheel with its lumed window at 6 o’clock. Lastly, there’s the black-cased “Turquoise” model. This wilder, more avant-garde expression adds a bright seafoam hue to the luminous segments and subdial chapter rings, complemented by crimson red chronograph seconds and subdial hands above a matte black base. This bolder style won’t be to everyone’s taste, feeling like a Bamford or Artisans de Genève custom right from the factory, but this more colorful and aggressive variant also maximizes the visual spectacle of the Monaco Skeleton. After all, isn’t theatricality the point of a skeleton watch?

TAG Heuer powers the Monaco Skeleton series with its in-house Heuer 02 automatic chronograph movement. This movement has become the brand’s de facto flagship powerplant in recent years, and performance figures like its massive 80-hour power reserve and 28,800 bph beat rate help to solidify that reputation. Visually, these movements are more or less identical to what we’ve seen in previous Heuer 02-powered offerings, with blacked-out racing wheel-inspired cutout rotors and broad skeletonized bridges both topped with broad, even Côtes de Genève. However, each model does add dial-matching splashes of color to its rotor text and column wheel, with deep azure blue for the “Original Blue,” blazing scarlet for the “Racing Red,” and of course turquoise for the “Turquoise” variant. TAG Heuer fits the Monaco Skeleton line with leather and rubber composite deployant straps featuring an intriguing sporty woven texture.

The Monaco Grand Prix weekend has grown to become one of TAG Heuer’s most important release periods of the year, and 2023 is arguably its strongest Grand Prix weekend offering to date. The new TAG Heuer Monaco Skeleton family successfully brings a sporty, futuristic skeleton look to the standard-production Monaco for the first time, delivering a balanced, striking evolution of the brand’s most distinctive series without sacrificing the spirit of the Monaco line. The TAG Heuer Monaco Skeleton line is available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for the TAG Heuer Monaco Skeleton line begins at 10,500 CHF as of press time, with the “Turquoise” model priced at 11,000 CHF. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.