SPOTLIGHT ON: Monaco 69 Quartz / Mechanical Watch

CW9110.FC6177

One of the things I really like about TAG Heuer is their willingness to try some crazy ideas, and it doesn't get much nuttier than this. Can't decide between a good old Monaco and the Microtimer... why not have both?

Yes, it was the watch that literally no one was crying out for, but they made it anyway. I mean good on them and everything, but this wasn't ever really going to fly was it? Not sure how many they made, probably not too many I would imagine...

One thing that does confuse is how the watch turns over but the crown still ends up on the right hand side. Well it turns out it doesn't as you can see below, someone obviously made a boo-boo when they were doing the artwork.

Looks kinda chunky doesn't it? I wonder how thick that is, I'm guessing 15mm or more (actually it's an enormous 18mm thick!). This watch actually has a manual wind movement (Calibre 2) which, presumably saves on the thickness a bit as there's no rotor. Just think how thick it could have been!

A bit of Googling has pulled up pics of the watch on a rubber strap, but I'm not sure if that was ever available or if someone just put it on one. Especially odd is that the strap has TAG Heuer marked on it but the buckle only says 'Heuer', that seems very suspect to me!

There was also a limited edition version called the CW9111 which is a model for the Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan.

CW9111.FC6177

There's a Monaco 69 on eBay at the moment which is listed as 'new' with light scratches, and they are asking $5865 (£4735) for it. I guess it's a bit of a marmite piece and if someone really loves it then they would probably pay it. After all, it's not that much more than a standard Monaco you can get in any AD tomorrow.

I kinda like the craziness of it, and I'm glad it exists, but for me I don't think I would buy one.


READ MORE ABOUT THE MONACO 69 ON A BLOG TO WATCH
http://www.ablogtowatch.com/tag-heuer-monaco-automatic-sixty-nine-watch-available-on-james-list/