FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Heuer Monaco 'Las Vegas' Calibre 11 Chronograph Limited Edition

CAW211AD.XXXXXX

You may remember a very recent 'First Impressions' post I did for the China/SKP Monaco, a piece that was limited to a run of 25 units. Well, now we have this 'Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023' Monaco (limited to just 23 pieces, see what they did there?), which is almost identical save for the display-back engraving and the strap (which has smaller perforations than the one found on the China/SKP model).

So, okay this is obviously aimed at rich guys visiting the Las Vegas Grand Prix who presumably have little knowledge of the brand and the CAW211C on which this is based. And they probably also don't realise that the watch is supplied in what looks incredibly like a recycled wooden Autavia box - I mean I can't see why else that TAG Heuer plaque is there, other than to cover up the 'Autavia' cut out in the insert! And while we're on the subject... why is the box branded TAG Heuer not Heuer? 

And then there's the price. $9500 / £7600 for a steel watch, with no coating, excessive dial lume or anything else to merit the premium beyond the 'limited to 23 pieces' text on the backplate. Something, incidentally, TAG Heuer have form for; some time ago the 37mm Monaco 'python' was released as a limited edition complete with backplate engraving, but also released in identical format (even the same part number) as a bog standard model, which renders the engraving completely worthless. I guess this was probably region specific, but of course these days with the internet that just doesn't hold up.

Quite how the COCO and I are supposed to get excited about another rehash of the same model, deployed in such a lazy manner and which doesn't even seem to have any mention of the Las Vegas Grand Prix on the watch (or box for that matter) I don't know. In fact initially I wasn't going to ask the COCO to score this one because it's so similar to the China model, but as more details emerged I decided they should be given the chance to voice their opinion.

Incredibly, someone is selling theirs on Chrono 24 for the ridiculous sum of £15,000 - frankly if anyone pays that they want their head looking at. Especially since you can easily find a CAW211C which looks pretty much identical for about £3500 on the used market.

Well, what an absolute dud to end an otherwise pretty good year on... leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth honestly. Just think of all the fun you could have had with a Las Vegas Grand Prix watch; they could have had a swinging Elvis, flashing lights, bling up the wazoo... but no, we got a 12 year old watch in a repurposed box. All 23 of which were sold before the race even started apparently.

Okay well it's the COCO's last chance at a 'First Impression' score for 2023 and it looks like they've come down hard on this one (for a Heuer branded Monaco). No doubt most of these scores reflect the recycled box and the general lack of inspiration rather than the watch itself.

8.5/10: "It’s a great looking watch ever since this design came out in 2010-2011ish. Just goes to show this design is timeless."

4/10: "Quite nice but very uninspired."

6/10: "I think it’s pretty nice, just too bad it was released like this before thus affecting my overall score."

6.5/10: "I’m not going to lie: The entire backstory of this model leaves me pretty speechless. Trying to judge the watch at face value though (as I did for its Chinese LE sibling)…"

7/10: "Hmm not bad in my opinion but not too hot either..."

5/10: "I actually find it hard to even take this seriously. If I could peel that plaque off and it said AUTAVIA underneath, I would give TAG Heuer 10/10 for the gall of it. The watch 5/10, the strap 10/10, similar if not the same as on my Gulf First Victory CAW211T. A great Strap."

3/10: "The watch itself is fine apart from its very high price tag. What I don't like is it's a very lazy and shabby release for a limited edition watch that doesn't even reference the race event it's related to.

And to top it off, it's essentially the same watch as another supposedly 'limited edition' watch that was released recently."

3/10: "My score for the watch would be 4 but I'm knocking a point off for the crappy box so it's a 3."

4/10: "I prefer round rather than square."

6/10: "Minimal thought and effort."

1/10: "An insult to the whole watch community. A low 1 out of 10. No, but I mean seriously, there must be a limit for how much butt-pounding we can take without complaining. I love TAG but they do more and more questionable things that make me lose respect for the company as a whole. They even used an old Autavia box and glued a TAG logo over Autavia!"

7/10: "Would have been higher if it wasn't almost a copy of the original CAW211C."

8/10: "Same score as the China Monaco LE. I prefer the strap on the China model. But the Las Vegas GP model commemorates the inaugural F1 race, which makes it slightly more special in that sense. Having said that, anyone with half a brain should buy a nice pre-owned CAW211C and save a ton of money."

4.5/10: "For the China edition, I said as follows: 'I am giving this one a 7/10, and I would have scored higher (such as 8/10) but for the rehash of prior design.' Now this one appears. Nothing particularly special or limited, and the box looks like an Autavia box. I don't like that this one appears to be a "parts bin" watch, either. This feels lazy on TAG Heuer's part. I'm sure I'll drop my China LE score at the end of the year, too.

7/10: "It’s a very lazy LE: no differences with previous versions, not properly numbered, just a white text added to the back window and even with no reference to Las Vegas… so it’s just a 7/10 for me, not because of the watch itself (it’s a nice Monaco) but for being a LE so poorly worked on and so poorly differentiated."