HEUER Monaco First Model Mark.2 1970s

FIRST MODEL MARK 2

The Legacy of the World’s First Automatic Chronograph × The World’s First Water-Resistant Square Chronograph

At the heart of this HEUER MONACO beats the legendary automatic chronograph movement, Calibre 12.

Calibre 12 was developed as an evolution of the revolutionary Calibre 11, introduced by Heuer in 1969.

While Calibre 11 operated at 19,800 vibrations per hour, Calibre 12 increased the frequency to 21,600 vibrations per hour, refining the groundbreaking architecture that had helped usher in a new era of automatic chronographs.

And surrounding this remarkable movement is one of the most unconventional and instantly recognizable chronograph designs ever created:

The HEUER MONACO.

Its story begins in 1969.

At a time when manually wound chronographs dominated the industry, Heuer joined forces with Breitling, Buren and Dubois-Dépraz in the secret development program known as Project 99.

The result was Calibre 11 — one of the pioneering automatic chronograph movements of 1969 — introduced by Heuer in the Monaco, Autavia and Carrera.

Yet the movement was only half of the revolution.

In an era when virtually every sports chronograph was round, Heuer chose a radically different form: a square case.

Working with case manufacturer Piquerez, Heuer succeeded in combining this unconventional geometry with water resistance, creating what TAG Heuer recognizes as the world’s first water-resistant square chronograph.

A sharply defined stainless-steel square case.

Two chronograph pushers positioned on the right.

And, most distinctively, the winding crown placed at 9 o’clock — on the left side of the case.

The unusual crown position became one of the defining signatures of the Monaco and its automatic chronograph movement.

The message was simple:

An automatic watch does not need to be wound every day.

What began as a consequence of mechanical architecture became one of the most recognizable design signatures in watchmaking history.

And the present example belongs to that early lineage of the Monaco, powered by the evolved Calibre 12.

This is therefore far more than a vintage chronograph fitted with Calibre 12.

It represents the continuation of a revolution that began in 1969 — the arrival of the automatic chronograph and a completely new vision of what a sports watch could look like.

But the story of this square blue chronograph was only beginning.

Soon, the Monaco would appear on the wrist of a man whose name would forever become inseparable from the watch.

Steve McQueen.

And the film that transformed it into an icon:

Le Mans.