It’s an old question for those who collect vintage watches and many in the community are tired of even talking about it – “How should a modern brand use its heritage models to create new watches for today’s enthusiasts?”  At one extreme, a brand can create new models that are almost one-to-one copies of the original models, except that the new model can have the benefit of a modern movement.  At the other extreme, we see models that bear little or no resemblance to their vintage predecessors, however, the brand will suggest that the original watch “inspired” the new model. 

Between these two poles, we see a lot of modern watches that incorporate specific design codes and colors from the vintage watches, and end up evoking memories of the original models, sometimes more directly, sometimes more subtly. Combing through TAG Heuer’s recent releases, we can see that the brand likes to be in this middle range, using design codes from its heritage portfolio, rather than producing copies of it old watches.

With its new Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch Limited Edition, TAG Heuer has taken an unusual approach to using the best of the brand’s heritage to create a watch for today’s enthusiasts. 

Rather than starting with a specific chronograph (for example, a specific version of the “McQueen” Monaco or the “Panda” Carrera), TAG Heuer has started with broad category of timepieces that brought the brand glory in the 1960s and 70s, the stopwatches used for racing and rallying. 

By incorporating the distinctive design codes of its 1960s stopwatches – and one model in particular – TAG Heuer has produced a fantastic new chronograph, at least to my eyes and to my way of thinking. 

Heuer’s “Century” Line of Stopwatches

For me, this story starts circa 1958.  Then approaching its 100th year of operations, Heuer had a massive catalog of stopwatches and dashboard timers, designed to be used to time everything from road rallies to rowing, from sky diving to stenography.  In a bold step to mark this anniversary, the company began to redesign virtually all its stopwatches and timers – dials and hands, cases and movements — with the primary objectives of improving the legibility of the displays and making the cases more rugged.

For its new “Century Timer Line” stopwatches (circa 1960), Heuer designed an entirely new type of case. The “double back sandwich case” was a three-piece case, with the case-back and front bezel being black and the mid-case being nickel-chrome plated. These backs and bezels were made of a special, corrosion-resistant, aluminum alloy with a black anodized finish, advertised as being more corrosion resistant than chrome or other types of plating. The case-back and front bezel are flatter than the usual more rounded (convex) shape, to provide better handling.

Still, the main change in the new “Century” line of stopwatches came with the dials and hands.  On the new models, the dials were bright white, the outer scale typically showed seconds or decimal minutes in large black Arabic numerals, and minutes moved to a central register, printed in bright red.  The hands matched the scales, black for the outer scale and red for the inner scale.  With the larger central minutes register, capacity of standard stopwatches increased from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, and Heuer advertised that the new “Century” design guaranteed 85% greater legibility.

Jack Heuer — Salesman of the Century

Having this huge range of well-designed timepieces was important to Heuer’s success in the 1960s, but more important was the man who came to the United States to sell the watches – Jack Heuer. 

An enthusiastic rallyist in the 1950s, once in the United States Jack Heuer spent his weekends at racing events, from the top level endurance races at Sebring and Daytona, to the local events that drew amateur sports car enthusiasts.  Jack was selling whatever gear the racers needed – timing boards for the teams, dashboard timers for the cars, and stopwatches and chronographs for everyone at the races. He also developed affiliations with sports car clubs, from the top national groups to local clubs needing to rent their timers.

Split Second Timing — The Rattrapante Stopwatches and Chronographs

For chronograph enthusiasts who are into racing, rallies and motorsports, or even industrial production, the split-seconds stopwatch or chronograph is the ultimate timepiece.   By “splitting” the two second hands, we can record the time of two separate events, for example, the times for two cars passing a certain point on the track (and from this we can see the time differential between the two cars). We can also record the times of consecutive laps of a particular car, using a single timepiece. In a rally, we can measure the time differential between a car’s arrival at a checkpoint and the time specified for that checkpoint in the rally instructions.

We call this complication “split seconds”, because there are actually two second hands that appear to be a single hand. With the chronograph running, we press the split-second pusher and the split-second hand stops, while the main second hand continues moving ahead. Press this pusher again, and the split-second hand rejoins the main hand, “catching up” (“rattrap”, in French).

Heuer’s Ultimate Mechanical Stopwatch

Heuer had been producing rattrapante chronographs since the late 19th century, in a variety of sizes and materials, from 46 millimeters for a gold model circa 1915, to the large 57 millimeter stainless steel models that were introduced circa 1960.  With the reference 11.4xx series – introduced in 1968 – Heuer would take the category to an entirely new level, with the Valjoux TBD movement moving into a 65 millimeter case. 

There were three models in the Reference 11.40x series of pocket chronographs – the standard model (Reference 11.401) had seconds printed in red on the outer track, with hashmarks indicating 1/5 seconds; the Reference 11.402 had seconds printed on the outer track, with hashmarks indicating 1/10 seconds; and the Reference 11.404 had decimal minutes (1/100 minute) rather than seconds printed on the outer track.   

The construction of the three-piece case was similar to that employed for most of the “Century” stopwatches, which Heuer called a “sandwich case” — black anodized front bezel, nickel chrome-plated mid-case, and black-anodized case-back.

But while the main design element of the Century line of stopwatches was the highly-legible center-mounted minute hand, with the rattrapante chronographs already having four hands on the center pinions – two for the time-of-day and two for the chronograph second hands – we can assume that it was not feasible (or legible) to have a central chronograph minute hand. Accordingly, the Reference 11.40x models incorporate an entirely different design the simpler “Century” stopwatches. 

With the larger 65 millimeter case, Heuer had some extra real estate available on the dial, and much of it was used on the wide outer track that is marked for seconds / decimal minutes, with red printing on an off-white background.  The chronograph second hands are elongated to reach this track, and the distal ends bend down toward the dial, allowing more precise readings of the 1/5 or 1/10 seconds.

Just as the dials of the “Century” line of stopwatches featured concentric circles scales on the dials – typically seconds on the outer scale and minutes on the inner scale – the Reference 11.40x rattrapante pocket chronographs feature a dramatic “dial within a dial”.  The center of the dial is matte black, with white Arabic numerals and hashmarks to show the time of day. The chronograph minutes register is at 12 o’clock and the running seconds register is at 6 o’clock.  All four hands that we read on the black dial are bright white, as is the [primary] chronograph seconds hand (although the end is black, to be more legible on the white seconds scale).

When introduced in 1968, the Reference 11.402 split-second pocket chronograph took its place as the “ultimate” Heuer stopwatch.  Yes, the rattrapante mechanism is the “queen of complications” for chronographs, and with its 65 millimeter case, black dial and top bezel, bright white hands, and red and off-white outer scale, the Reference 11.40x series represents the “ultimate” stopwatch.  Add the 1/10 indication for the Reference 11.402, and a company that had been making stopwatches for over 100 years had produce its most technically-complicated stopwatch. Many enthusiasts would also suggest that this was one of Heuer’s best pieces of design work, combining dramatic bright colors to create a useful, legible instrument.

The New Monaco Chronograph “Stopwatch” Limited Edition

Skim through the preceding paragraph, glance at one of the Reference 11.40x 65 millimeter split-second pocket chronographs, then have a look at the new Monaco Chronograph “Stopwatch”, and we can see how the new Monaco captures the best of Heuer’s “ultimate” stopwatch. The black circle in the off-white square follows the layout and colors of the original Reference 11.40x series, while the bright white of the time-of-day hands and smaller hands on the registers also matches the approach of the heritage precedent. 

Use of the bright red on the seconds track is also consistent with one of the most distinctive elements of the original Reference 11.40x series, and the off-white of this “square around the circle” is a good match for the outer track of these rattrapante pocket chronographs. The bright red chronograph seconds hand is also consistent with the 1960s predecessor, and looks just right against the black of the dial.

The original “Century” stopwatches from the 1960s used then-state-of-the-art materials for cases, and the new Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch LE follows suit, with sandblasted black DLC grade-2 titanium, with this same material used for the crown and pushers. 

TAG Heuer has gone back and forth with the use of its “Heuer” and “TAG Heuer” logos on its vintage-inspired models, with some chronographs that would seem to fall in the re-issue category having the TAG Heuer logo. 

Vintage Heuer enthusiasts will applaud the use of the “Heuer” logo on the Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch LE, as this white shield on the black dial follows the look of the Reference 11.40x pocket chronographs. 

The vintage crowd will also applaud TAG Heuer’s use of the Calibre 11 movement, which puts the crown on the left side of the case.  That’s where it belongs on a Monaco that celebrates the golden age.  Some folks might have preferred the in-house TH20 movement, with its more modern design and longer power reserve, but I’m a fan of the Calibre 11 movement for vintage inspired Monaco chronographs. Yes, for the Monacos inspired by the vintage automatic models the crown belongs on the left.

Initial Impressions — The Best of TAG Heuer

I have always been a fan of Heuer’s 1960s-style stopwatches and I have recently become a big fan of the rattrapante pocket chronographs that Heuer produced over the period from 1900 through the early 1970s. The success of these timepieces was an important part of Heuer gaining a dominant position in motorsports timing in the “golden age” of motorsports. Beyond their history, these stopwatches and rattrapante pocket chronographs were and continue to be beautiful objects.

I looked at the Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch LE on my wrist and it reminded me of the beautiful old Heuer timepieces. It reminded me of all the Heuer achieved and continues to achieve in the world of motorsports. These memories of the Heuer timepieces and their accomplishments in motorsports make me smile when I see this watch. To me, this is the most that a modern watch brand can accomplish by embracing its heritage.

I generally don’t want copies of the old watches; I definitely don’t want “inspiration” that is stretched beyond recognition; I want to see designs that were beautiful in the 1960s and that remain beautiful in 2025.

Well done, TAG Heuer!

Specifications – TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch Limited Edition (Reference CAW218F.FC6356T6)

Case — 39 millimeters; grade-2 titanium with sandblasted black DLC coating; crown and pushers also grade-2 titanium with sandblasted black DLC coating; domed sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective treatment; case-back has sapphire crystal, engraved “One of 970”; water-resistant to 100 meters (10 bar); 22 millimeters between the lugs; 15 millimeters thickness.

Dial — black opaline center area surrounded by silver opaline (off-white); black opaline chronograph minute register (at 9 o’clock), with 30-minute capacity, and running seconds recorder at 3 o’clock; black gold polished applied indices with red lacquer at 12 o’clock; outer track marked in 1/4 seconds printed in red; white printed “Heuer” logo. 

Hands — Hour and minute hands are faceted black gold, with blue Super-LumiNova; red lacquered chronograph seconds hand; white chronograph minutes and running second hands

Movement — TAG Heuer Calibre 11 automatic; Sellita SW300-1 base with a Dubois-Dépraz chronograph module; 28,800vph frequency; 40-hour power reserve.

Strap — Black perforated calfskin; black deployant clasp with “Heuer” logo.

Limited Edition – 970 watches, priced at 9,600 CHF, available in May 2025.

Jeff Stein
May 23, 2025