In 2011 this watch is really cool. In 2003 when this watch first came out… it was really cool. This is the Tag Heuer Monaco Automatic Sixty Nine. It was like a futuristic Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso as Tag Heuer transformed the Monaco case into something that flipped around. It does this while the watch is still on your wrist – which is probably the best part.
The case is about 42mm wide in steel (and there are a lot of pushers on it). It is also 18mm thick – which is a bit on the hefty side, but the watch does have two sides which means that an 18mm thickness is excusable. Essentially the watch is analog one side and digital on the other.
The analog size is simple and easy to read. Just the time with a subsidiary seconds dials – and it is super elegant. Really love this dial for combining what I like about the Monaco dial, Tag Heuer sportiness, and attention to function that I appreciate in the brand. This side is powered by a mechanical movement which is cool. The down side is that it has a manually-wound movement (Tag Heuer Calibre 2). I get that Tag Heuer used this because an automatic would have likely been too thick, but I still yearn for this to have an automatic movement in it.
Flip the watch over and you get a digital movement. Digital in that Tag Heuer style that they made popular in the early 2000s with the Microtimer all digital watch. The digital side is slick looking and clearly powered by a quartz movement. It has another time zone, 1/1000 of a second chronograph (with all the fancy functions), perpetual calendar, alarm, and backlight. You know me, I love functionality, I love gadgets, and I love options. I also like all those things contained in a nice looking non-nerdy package. That is why I loved the Chopard Monaco Historique Time Attack MF, and that is why I am fond of the Tag Heuer Monaco Automatic Sixty Nine watch as well. Price was about $7,000 brand new, and under $5,000 when you can find them today. Check out one of these Tag Heuer Monaco Automatic Sixty Nine watches available on James List here.