FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre TH20-00 'Monaco Boutique' Limited Edition Chronograph

 

CBL2018C.EB----

When the Monaco skeletons came out last year I was more than a little surprised that they hadn't made a version of the 'red' highlighted one with a black case. I mean, it was a no-brainer wasn't it? So when I saw this the other day I wasn't exactly 'surprised' that they'd made it, but I was a little surprised that they'd wasted such an obvious winner on a fifty piece limited edition. Oh well... at EUR15,100 it's a little out of my price range anyway. 

You really can't go wrong with this colour combination. It's like someone took a hammer to the original Heuer 01 skeleton and made everything square... haha. But seriously, this looks much nicer than the plain titanium version to these eyes.

As you can see above this limited edition gets a special caseback print (which avoids completely covering up the movement and rendering the window useless as so many do) and I believe the case is engraved ‘ÉDITION LIMITÉE XXX / 50’.

To make this one a little different, TAG Heuer have fitted it with a 'Monaco flag' inspired red and white strap, but since this might be a little obnoxious for some people, they've also included a plain black strap in the bespoke box as well. I do kinda like the red and white strap, but I think I'd probably wear it on the black one most of the time...

Okay, so not too much else to say about this one, let's toss it into the lion's den and see if this one takes the Council's fancy...

5.5/10: "I get the colours of the strap but the white around the lugs doesn't contrast well with the black case. The actual watch is pretty nice, and linking a limited edition to the opening of the new boutique is a good idea, although there are other Monacos in the regular line-up I'd rather have."

6/10: "Cant go wrong with a black Monaco. A strong 6 from me."

7/10: "Aside from the red and white strap, It's actually quite nice. The black and red really compliment each other along with the silver sub dials which makes it pop. Really great idea too adding the extra black strap as that will make it much more wearable."

5/10: "Immediately add that black strap and it will be a bit of a treat.... almost acceptable I mean."

5.5/10: "The red and white accents subtly emphasize the flag colours of Monaco."

5/10: "For me, TH expect it to be worn on the black strap, but must feel obliged to do something to make it a Monaco Monaco. The lazy way is to just slap a red and white strap in the box, plus follow suit with the intervals of the box too."

8/10: "The black strap with the blacked out case will look great. However, I'm not sure about the white / red strap. If a didn't have the regular model already, I might be pursuing this."

6/10: "This doesn’t look so bad but I’d have to go back and look at the standard black/red model to tell the difference. And the price for these is still way too high."

7/10: "This is pretty cool. The strap idea is clever, but I wish the sub-dials were done in white, instead of brushed steel."

7/10: "I gave 6.5/10 to the standard 'Racing Red' version of this skeleton Monaco, and this one is a 7/10 for me because of the strap and the PVD case."

6.5/10: "Same score I gave the Red Monaco. I do like the design of this one more and would've scored it higher. But it's also $6k more expensive, a big jump in price. Which cancels out the improved look."

5/10: "I like the dial but HATE the strap !!!!"

6.5/10: "Not a must buy but better than some of the skeleton dials offered, more discrete? A bit more white on the face maybe needed and on the strap, but priced for the F1 Monaco residents?"

4/10: "Doesn’t look great in that strap."

7.5/10: "I am starting to warm up to the skeleton Monaco design. I like the colourway and think this will look best on the black strap but I appreciate the red strap when you want to show off the watch."

9/10: "If would choose one modern Monaco skeleton this might be one of the contender."

9/10: "This is the best looking Monaco skeleton so far, much nicer than the scream rataparante. I’m not loving the strap, but otherwise it’s great."

7/10: "Earthshattering... ;). I guess it is a nice supplement to the regular skeleton Monate lineup?

IIRC, I rated them quite favourably last year... so, I'll go with 7/10 on this one here, too."

7/10: "I like the design of these skeleton Monacos. For a skeletonised dial this one looks quite clear, readable and down to earth, which makes it one of my favourites from this line."

6.5/10: "I like the red and white strap option - makes it a bit different."