Review of TAG Heuer Monaco Steve McQueen Calibre12 CAW2111 replica

The last century brought a lot of watches regarded by watch-enthusiasts as the "icons". In some cases that was because of design, history and quality, and in others by all of these factors flavoured with a large dose of marketing. For me this group of watches, in addition to watches like Rolex Submariner,Audemars Piguet Royal Oak,IWC Big Pilot's and Patek Philippe Nautilus, also includes TAG Heuer Monaco.

The reviewed model’s reference number is CAW2111.FC6183. Steel, 39mm casing in the shape of a square with a rounded edges.  The Calibre 12 ticks with a standard frequency of 4Hz (28,000 A/h) and, unfortunately, has a very poor power reserve – only 40 hours. The watch is water resistant to 100 meters and completed with a blue alligator leather strap (that is a perfect match to the dial – more on this later).
Visually, many people think that the TAG Heuer Monaco is identical to the original Heuer Monaco. To debunk this myth, just combine the two models side by side. At first glance you may notice differences in the location and shape of indices, colour of the subdial hands, their applications or the date window “frame”. Subdials in the original model were 30-minute and 12-hour counters – the subsequent Monaco has a 30-minute counter and small seconds dial. Chronograph buttons were originally round, and the re-edition received rectangular ones. The case contour is not the same as well – the version from the past is more “rounded” on the sides, which is why the modern TAG Heuer Monaco seems to be a true, firm square.
“Le Mans” and Steve McQueen

Often success comes unexpectedly and is changing our lives – like the touch of the invisible magic wand. Heuer Monaco had such luck. In this case, you can even name it – Steve McQueen. The well-known actor decided to wear this exact model in the quite a popular film “Le Mans”, screened in 1971 (the picture tells the story of the famous 24-hour race on the France’s most famous racing track). McQueen’s watch, and in fact one of his watches (the production of “Le Mans” reportedly used 4 pieces) comes up from time to time at auction arousing emotions and achieving very high bids. In 2012 it was sold for an astonishing 799,500$! The piece worn by the American actor (ref. 1133B) differs slightly from the reviewed. It has a larger case (40.4x38mm), a glass made of Plexiglas (Perspex) and a solid caseback. You can see it live in the TAG Heuer’s own little museum in Le Locle.

The inscription MONACO with TAG Heuer logo is located at 12 o’clock. The date window appears on the opposite side, realized as a white disk with black numbers. Unfortunately this is one of the weakest point of the watch. It often happens that during the date change the correct number jumps straight into the middle of the window. What can you do with it – especially when you’re a perfectionist like me? You’re simply getting annoyed! From the top all is secured by the domed sapphire crystal, protruding above the surface of the case. Visually, it looks nice, but you should keep in mind that it is more vulnerable to damage this way.
On the other side you’ll find a steel (screwed with four screws) caseback with circular sapphire glass window. This allows to see how aforementioned Calibre 12 works. This movement certainly is not the top-class calibre, but decorations are pretty decent – for example: grained baseplate and oscillating weight with cut-out elements decorated with Geneva stripes.

About the TAG Heuer Monaco Steve McQueen Calibre12 CAW2111 replica

REPLICA TAG HEUER MONACO STEVE MCQUEEN CALIBRE 12 CHRONOGRAPH CAW2111.FC6183

This Replica TAG Heuer Monaco Steve Mcqueen Calibre 12 Chronograph CAW2111.FC6...

 The case, hands and dial markers are well done and so are the four screws holding in the round movement in this square case (the Limited Edition Monaco Calibre12 ). Crown and pushers are well cloned and the scratch-proof crystal is well fitted on the case. Watch looks good, it’s good quality and fun to wear and the leather strap with the orange stitches is a really good match too. It’s powered by a Japanese Quartz (battery run) movement that you’d expect to give the seconds hand more of a tick than a sweep but to be honest with you the movement is very close to a sweeping and that’s a very good thing as these babies come with an automatic movement only.