TAG Heuer doesn’t often render their famous square chronograph in titanium, but it’s something they’ve embraced for special edition variations of the watch in recent years. At the 2021 Monaco GP, TAG Heuer released a grade 2 titanium Monaco with a gray and black dial, and this year, heading into the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, they are releasing a new Racing Green limited edition Monaco. Note, this is not British Racing Green, but rather a green that more closely resembles the teal seen on this special edition Carrera not long ago. The latest Monaco gets the old-school dial treatment as well, bearing just the Heuer shield with the word Monaco appearing at the top. The use of green and yellow accents here make this a rather peculiar looking Monaco, but I like to see the brand continue to make use of titanium.
TAG Heuer has a deep heritage in the world of motorsport, and they’ve become rather adept at expressing this history within their current range of chronographs. Since its rebirth in 2016, the Carrera has established a modern identity that upholds its roots without having to rely on re-issues and the like. The Monaco, on the other hand, has never really changed all that much in the first place. The case has gained a few facets, and yes it’s seen some ‘extreme’ editions with crazy complications and openword dials, but on the whole, the size and shape of the watch have remained relatively unchanged. It’s a 39mm square with an automatic chronograph movement inside. That’s the formula.
The Monaco is a polarizing watch due to that formula, and if you weren’t fond of it before, this newest reference will do little to change your mind. Call it what you want, but one thing we can all agree on is that it’s not boring. This latest special edition Monaco uses green (or teal) within the square registers with the running seconds at 3 o’clock, and the minute totalizer at 9 o’clock. The lume at the end of each hour marker is also light green in color, but it’s not something that jumps out at you. Joining the green are yellow accents found in the 12 o’clock hour marker at the top of the dial, and the chronographs timing seconds hand. A sunray silver dial serves as the base of all this, and it makes for an interesting combination of colors that feel decidedly throwback.
Around back you’ll find a view of the Caliber 11 automatic chronograph movement inside, which is an evolution of what we first saw in 1969 as part of the initial trio of automatic chronograph movements to be released. It’s seen a few updates since that time, of course, but TAG Heuer continues the nomenclature to keep the link clear. The original was a joint venture uniting Heuer-Léonidas SA, Léon Breitling SA, Hamilton-Büren and chronograph specialist Dépraz & Co. for a movement that would appear throughout the catalogs of each participant.
The new Green Racing Monaco gets a titanium case, and will be limited to 1,000 units produced. Pricing is set at $9,300 on a green rally style strap. Side note: I’d love to see a unique titanium brick road style bracelet made for watches like this, which would really bring home the old-school vibe by referencing the original 1133 references. TAG Heuer