At the 77th Monaco Grand Prix, event sponsor TAG Heuer will unveil the new reference CAW211V.FC6466 limited-edition (just 169 pieces) TAG Heuer Monaco 1969-1979 watch as part of the brand’s 50th-anniversary celebration of the Monaco watch collection. Formula 1 racing continues to be a pinnacle of automotive engineering and performance — a racing series that TAG Heuer (among other watch brands) has a long history with. This limited edition watch is not a radical revision of the winning Monaco watch platform, but presents a new aesthetic style that TAG Heuer claims is directly inspired by the colors, shapes, and style that many watches bore during the 1970s.
According to TAG Heuer, a total of five new Monaco timepieces will be launched in 2019 for the 50th anniversary of the collection. In Monaco during the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix, aBlogtoWatch will be on the scene for what should be a glamorous celebration of the iconic square sports watch (one of the only ones around that is pleasant to look at, I might add) and will be able to share live images of this and perhaps other new limited-edition TAG Heuer Monaco timepieces.
Having worn various versions of the TAG Heuer Monaco in the past (aBlogtoWatch TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 12 review here), I can say that, in my opinion, what makes the collection and iconic case shape such a winning formula is the “round yet square” design. More recently, aBlogtoWatch reviewed a similar version to this 1969-1979 Limited Edition TAG Heuer Monaco watch with the Calibre 11 movement. The Calibre 11 automatic chronograph movement positions the crown and chronograph pushers in the manner originally intended by TAG Heuer when the collection was launched in 1969. That puts the crown and the chronograph pushers on the left side of the case.
The orientation of the hour markers, design of the hands and subdials, and overall presence of this limited edition Monaco 1969-1979 watch are the same as the “original style” but with a new color palette that is sure to be both polarizing and intentionally niche. TAG Heuer calls the dial color “green with Côtes de Genève finishing.” It is a sort of metallic-olive green with vertical polishing stripes similar to what you find on the surfaces of many Swiss-Made watch movements. The earth-tone colors are reminiscent of popular color palettes from 1970s style designs, which are making a comeback in various forms. I do love how TAG Heuer understands that this particular Monaco colorway is niche by design and produced it as an exclusive set of very few pieces in the scheme of TAG Heuer limited-edition numbers.
Another good question you might be asking is, “What’s up with the 10-year span between 1969 and 1979?” which is part of the name of this limited-edition Monaco watch. That is a great question. The answer goes back to the fact that TAG Heuer will be releasing five limited-edition Monaco watches for the 50th anniversary. The company took that 50-year timeframe and split it up into five decade-long segments. For each of those 10-year segments, a different limited-edition Monaco watch will be released that, in TAG Heuer’s opinion, visually matches that era. So for the 10 years between 1969 and 1979, we get a 1970s-themed watch. The following limited-edition Monaco will be the 1979-1989, then the 1989-1999, followed by the 1999-2009, and finally the 2009-2019 limited-edition TAG Heuer Monaco model. Collectors will surely be interested to see how TAG Heuer aesthetically plays with the Monaco watch collection to represent each of those eras.
The Monaco Calibre 12 watch comes in steel at 39mm with a sapphire crystal and 100 meters of water resistance. This Monaco 1969-1979 Limited Edition comes on a brown calfskin leather strap and will be produced just 169 times. Price for the ref. CAW211V.FC6466 is $6,550 USD. Learn more at the TAG Heuer website here.
