Mario Canonizado 
Breaking records, making history, and pushing boundaries – TAG Heuer is back in action, and has released an incredible new haute horlogerie piece to boot!
TAG Heuer has been on one incredible journey. Since its founding in 1860, the La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaker has tirelessly pushed boundaries, overcoming conventional obstacles at every turn. This relentless drive has given us some of horology’s defining moments and models – such as the invention of the oscillating pinion and the introduction of the Carrera – yet it has also landed the brand in its fair share of trouble. Despite facing rough patches more times than they’d probably like to admit, TAG Heuer remains undeterred. What they would happily declare, however, is that these challenges have never stopped them from being the perennial pioneers of every watchmaking era.
Related Reading: Tales From TAG Heuer
The LVMH brand’s most recent paradigm shift came in the 2020s, beginning with now-CEO of Loro Piana Frédéric Arnault taking the helm, bringing with him a slew of changes and ideas that would irreversibly transport the brand back into a second golden age. While the Carrera has certainly taken centre stage in recent years, TAG Heuer has also used Watches & Wonders to massively elevate their most iconic collection.
Even if you’re just getting into the world of watches, the mythos of the TAG Heuer Monaco might be something you’ve already familiarised yourself with. Invented in 1969, the blocky, abstract nature of the Monaco made it an instant horological classic, becoming pervasive throughout the world of watches and even in pop culture at large. A-Listers like Steve McQueen, visionaries like Stanley Kubrick, and even fictional antiheroes like Walter White have all at one point had their hands on a Monaco. Associated with rebellion and influence, the Monaco has almost become as legendary as the city – and Formula One Grand Prix – it was named after.
Related Reading: TAG Heuer Re-Ignites It’s Haute Horology With The Latest Monaco Split Seconds Chronograph
So, how do you upgrade a model that already has so much – as the younger crowd would say – ‘aura?’ Well, you take it to the next level by turning it into an absurdly engineered haute horlogerie piece! Thus, the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph was born: An ultra-light, skeletonised, extremely technical timepiece that utilises both a high-beat movement and a split-seconds rattrapante chronograph complication to achieve the purest and most extreme form of mechanical timekeeping. If that all sounds confusing now, don’t worry, as I’ll get to it in a bit.
Now, this wasn’t just made to be a surprise piece for Watches and Wonders 2025, or even 2024 for that matter! While they did release a pair of Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph references at last year’s watch fair, the first iteration of such a spectacular concept came in the form of a piece unique at the 2023/4 Only Watch Charity Auction. From there, the TAG Heuer brand – likely driven by the massive positive reception around the auction piece – would eventually welcome the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph into the permanent catalogue last year.
For Watches & Wonders 2025, however, the green-and-red brand has decided to raise the stakes even further with this brand-new release. Limited to just 10 individually numbered references, the TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph F1® celebrates the brand’s many achievements both in and out of the workshop. Though it retains the same 41mm width, 47.9mm length, and 15.2mm thick silhouette as its predecessors, Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph F1® has undergone such drastic changes that make is unrecognisable next to its peers. Unlike the originals, this new Monaco forgoes Grade 2 titanium, instead opting for a white ceramic case construction – a material that is as light as it is exceptionally shatter-resistant. Notoriously challenging to work with, TAG Heuer has not only pushed the boundaries with its integration, but has also delicately manufactured it to the point of not even requiring an inner metallic container for the movement. Adding to the pure white aesthetic, the watch has also been provided with a textured white calfskin strap, and a colourised TAG Heuer logo sits on the crown for another pop of contrast.
Related Reading: It’s Lights Out And Away We Go, With TAG Heuer At The Australian Formula One
Significant aesthetic changes have also been applied to the dial of the watch, further differentiating the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph F1® from prior releases. The skeletonised dial is coloured white, featuring another colourised TAG Heuer logo as well as a translucent red disc that encircles the rest of its features. If you weren’t aware already, this Monaco has been made as a heartfelt tribute to the Formula 1®, with the logo sitting just above the lumed six o’clock index. Other Formula One® related features can be found on the chronograph registers, which have been given an asphalt-like finish and white and yellow lines recalling the starting grid positions of race day. Finally, the registers also bear the F1® typography, featuring the iconic phrase uttered by commentator David Croft at the beginning of every race: “Lights out and away we go!” It does make sense, considering how involved TAG Heuer has now become since re-acquiring the lights to sponsor the iconic motorsport as part of LVMH.
Related Reading: TAG Heuer and Formula 1 Are Officially Back Together Again, Continuing Over 50 Years Of Greatness
“So, as I said, it is a 5Hz movement. We wanted to keep the accuracy of the movement even when it’s subject to shocks and sudden acceleration. With a high frequency, it’s better – you can stabilise the balance wheel more than with a slow frequency. Another example I can give is with the oscillating mass. Here you have the ball-bearing system, which is a full ball-bearing system. So usually you have five or seven balls only for the rotor to pivot on, but with this piece, I don’t know if you can see (as she shows us the watch), but it’s full of balls, and it’s ceramic, so it’s able to absorb shocks too.”
Carole Forestier-Kasapi, TAG Heuer Movements Director, in interview with Watch Advice
Related Reading: With Carole Forestier-Kasapi, & A Year In Review With TAG Heuer
Of course, for a spectacularly decorated watch, the movement has to be something equally spectacular – and TAG Heuer certainly brings out the big guns for this! While the beating heart of the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph F1® is still the same TH81-00 movement used to power the previous models, the scope of engineering and craftsmanship required to make just one of these movements is not to be understated. With a maximum power reserve of 65 hours, the TH81-00 isn’t just some run-of-the-mill chronograph movement; I promised to explain exactly what it does, so here goes! Of course, a chronograph is used to measure time – we know that much. However, the TH81-00 has a lightning fast 5Hz (36,000VpH) beat rate. To put that into layman’s terms, the luxury standard for most watches is 4Hz (28,800VpH), which ticks 8 times per second, but at 5Hz the watch is capable of ticking 10 times per second, allowing for a time reading accurate to 1/10th of a second! Crucial if you’re measuring a high-stakes, high-speed race like the Formula 1®, no?
Related Reading: What Is Frequency In A Watch Movement?
Second, the Split-Seconds designation of the new Monaco comes from its capabilities as a rattrapante chronograph. In French, rattrapante means ‘catch-up,’ and in watchmaking involves the timing of two separate events simultaneously. You start them both at the same time, then hit the top pusher once, and the first chronograph second hand comes to a stop – yes, the watch has two chronograph hands. If you push that button at nine o’clock afterwards, you’ll see the paused chronograph hand literally catch up to the one that is still running! In essence, the TH81-00 is an engineering marvel rarely seen in the industry, and has of course been finished to the highest possible standards to reflect its insane prowess.
Related Reading: The Art of Complications – Chronographs (With TAG Heuer)
My Thoughts
Being the most groundbreaking and emblematic watch within the TAG Heuer repertoire (besides the Link collection – please bring it back!), it made perfect sense for the brand to outfit the Monaco with the forefront of their horological technology. Now that they’ve done it twice before in recent years, the brand must only now be getting comfortable with the undertaking. I say that because I believe it’s reflected in the level of craftsmanship involved in making the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph F1® a reality.
It’s one thing to give a watch a new coat of paint and call it exclusive, but it’s an entirely different ballgame to replace almost every aspect of the watch to make it truly special – especially at a level of watchmaking that would make even the most technologically advanced brands in the industry blush. While the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph F1® certainly serves as a proof of concept for the level of engineering TAG Heuer is capable of, it’s also a tribute to the incredible heritage within TAG Heuer’s walls and a celebration of what has been an extraordinary watchmaking comeback for the brand.
Reference: CBW2190.FC8356
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 41mm case diameter x 47.9mm lug-to-lug x 15.2mm thickness
- Case Material: Sandblasted white ceramic
- Dial: Sapphire crystal dial. Gradient blue fine brushed, sandblasted and polished titanium arches with “LIGHTS OUT” “& AWAY WE GO” printed on chronograph registers
- Movement: Automatic TH81-00 with Split-Seconds/Rattrapante chronograph complication
- Power Reserve: 65 hours (Chrono off) / 55 hours (Chrono on)
- Water Resistance: 30m (3 Bar)
- Strap: White/red textured calfskin strap with textile embossing with titanium butterfly folding clasp
