Tag Heuer Monaco Steve McQueen Quick Review

The Monaco is one of the most iconic watches ever created in honor of the Monaco Grand Prix. It is also known as the very first automatic micro-winding chronograph. What made the Monaco more famous was when Steve McQueen wore it in Le Mans. This also includes the iconic left hand crown as he’s right handed.

Pricing

The pricing of the Tag Heuer Monaco ref CAW211P.FC6356 costs USD$6150 or AUD$8900. The standard discount of 20-30% off should be considered when thinking of purchasing a Tag Heuer.

Movement

Even though the movement is named Calibre 11, it doesn’t share the same movement from the original. This calibre is a modified Sellita SW-300 with a Dubois Dépraz chronograph module. One will see the similarity between this and the Speedmaster Reduce after hearing that module. Like the reduce, the crown is lower in alignment than the pushers.

Calibre: Calibre 11 Automatic
Power Reserve: 40 hours
Frequency: 28’800 (4 Hz)

Thoughts

There’s a space in a collection for a Monaco. It can either be to fill up the collection with a square watch or chronograph with a solid history. However, the Monaco we know now does not live up to its ancestor.

The case size is 39mm which is 1mm bigger than the vintage Monacos, but don’t be fooled. It wears bigger than a circular 39mm and because of the thickness, it will have a huge wrist presence.

A problem I encountered is that the crown tends to dig on my skin. I am unsure if a bigger wrist would make this problem go away, but certainly didn’t for me. The Speedmaster reduce will have less of this problem as the crown will have more space.

The deployant strap is thick and might need some time to soften up. If you have a small wrist, you might also find it uncomfortable. I also find that the strap tapers so if you have a small wrist like mine, the deployant can only go so far until it becomes tight.

The watch is a bit on the heavy side. It will take some time for some to get used to this especially if you’re used to wear dress watches.

Chronograph functions perfectly and resets back to zero. I don’t think anybody should have a problem with this.

During my time of wearing, I find the watch uncomfortable for me. It’s the combination of weight, case size and the lugs that were all bothering me. Eventually I know this won’t be a keeper. However, I still kept the watch for a while. The blue dial with the red accents are really a nice combination. I would still say that this is a solid watch for those who has a bigger wrist.

Final thoughts

The Monaco Steve McQueen is not for everyone. So who is this watch for?

  • Looking to fill the collection with a square watch.
  • Loves the history of the watch
  • If you wear your watch on the right hand
  • Big wrist