We’ve reached the midway level of TAG Heuer‘s 50th-anniversary celebrations of the Heuer Monaco, and we’re getting ever nearer to the trendy day. The newest version is proscribed to 169 items to rejoice the yr 1969 when the watch was launched. To date, TAG Heuer has launched two of 5 deliberate particular editions, with every one tackling a distinct decade. We’ve already seen the laid-back inexperienced of the 1970s and the surprisingly vibrant pink of the 1980s, however now it’s time for one thing slightly extra somber. This time across the decade between 1989-1999 has been immortalized in watch kind. The TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Restricted Version watch supposedly attracts inspiration from the “simple road model” of the ’90s, with its fashionable grey dial that appears to have been modeled on the road itself. Whereas I’m not an enormous fan of the unique, I very very similar to this grittier tackle what’s undeniably a sport traditional.
After the curvaceous experiment seen within the 1979-1989 launch, the sub-dial registers have returned to their extra blockish kind that we’re used to seeing on the core assortment. This watch is cased in a 39mm chrome steel housing with the crown on the left and pushers on the correct, identical to the unique Monaco.
The caseback of this piece is closed and will likely be numbered between 1 and 169. What I feel TAG Heuer has performed very effectively right here is the low limitation quantity on all such restricted items. A model as huge as TAG Heuer, celebrating the discharge of a watch as iconic because the Monaco, may simply have run to 1,969 items of every of the 5 restricted and had no hassle promoting all of them. This stark discount of availability makes these already particular dials all of the extra fascinating.
Within the minds of TAG Heuer’s designers, the 1990s was clearly a decade of trade, with the concrete-effect dial dulling the temper that had risen to a colourful frenzy following the ’80s extravaganza of two weeks in the past. The feel, nonetheless, is what units this mannequin aside for me. That, and the candy pink detailing on the dial, notably the 4 curved proper angles that create a pink sq. in the midst of the dial, linking the brand, the sub-dials, and the dial textual content expertly, and tying the weather into the body of the case. The Monaco is usually lauded for being a round watch in a sq. case (on account of its dial printing and the aware association of the hour markers, which pulls a circle within the unconscious regardless of their angularity). This watch, nonetheless, is a a lot squarer affair, as a result of means the grey dial pulls the sq. case into the design with it, and that central pink sq. that’s much more distinguished within the thoughts’s eye than the delicate blue minute monitor. And, for my part, all the higher for it.
The TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Restricted Version watch is powered by the Calibre 11, which is a contemporary model of the automated chronograph motion that featured within the authentic Monaco in 1969. And to proceed with the unique inspiration, the field is printed to match the colours of the last decade it represents. This mannequin is packaged in a darkish blue field embellished with the Heuer brand and a horizontal check-pattern stripe. A pink cushion surrounded by a grey inside completes the look. And strapped to that cushion is a blue perforated calfskin strap with a pink lining held in place by a very beautiful Heuer buckle in chrome steel. The TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Restricted Version ref. CAW211X.FC6468 is proscribed to 169 items and, as with earlier fashions on this special-edition run, is priced at $6,550. You’ll be able to be taught extra at tagheuer.com.
