BASELNEWS 2011June 2011 delivery: TAG Heuer MONZA Automatic Chronograph Calibre 36
With “game-changing” creations like the Mikrograph 1/100th of a Second Chronograph, TAG Heuer is alone up front on the fastest track in Swiss Watchmaking. In Motor Racing, the fastest track by far is Monza, home of the Italian Grand Prix in the Formula One World Championship.
TAG Heuer’s link to the legendary goes back to a warm day in September 1975, when Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni took first place at Monza, and his teammate, Niki Lauda, took third, which was enough for him to win the Formula One World Championship for Ferrari. Both Ferrari cars had the name “HEUER” emblazoned on their chassis — the brand had been the team’s official timekeeper since 1971. To honor the result, Jack Heuer reworked an existing coussin-shaped 1930’s model in a special limited series. Equipped with a high-speed Calibre 15 movement, the stunning new chronograph sported the name “MONZA” above the HEUER logo on the upper part of the dial. It has become one of the brand’s most coveted watches.
One of collector's preeminent favorites
Re-issued in the early 2000s as part of the vintage-inspired Classic Heuer Collection, the Monza was then developed as a full range of watches featuring Calibre 6 movements, and chronographs, powered by either the Calibre 17 or the Calibre 36. Each piece in the series boasted the full TAG Heuer logo instead of the original Heuer logo. To this day, the Monza remains one of collector's preeminent favorites.
Now, the long-awaited revival of the Monza is slated for a June 2011 delivery. Available in a limited edition of 1,911 pieces (to commemorate the famous “Time of Trip” dashboard chronograph of 1911), the new Monza chronograph celebrates the golden age of HEUER and the aesthetic codes of the 1970s: cushion-shaped bezel, blue hands on a white dial, luminescent “old rhodium” on the oversized Arabic numerals and hand markers, and chemin de fer indexes on the counters. The small second sub-counter is at 9 and the chronograph minute counter is at 3. The HEUER logo reinterprets the original, but this is not a replica or retro edition, despite the polished vintage crown: inside ticks the lightning-fast Calibre 36 — next to the Mikrograph the fastest watch movement in the industry. To make room for it requires a thicker, 38mm case. The case back is all new, too: screwed shut with sapphire crystal and engraved with the series number “N° XXXX/1911”.
The classic HEUER blazon is also found inside the brown leather strap and on the folding buckle. This is a purist’s watch. Like the Carrera Heritage collection, it finds inspiration not just from its own specific heritage but from further back in the TAG Heuer vault, to a stunning model from 1925.
All informations about the watch fair: BASELWORLD