The Heuer 844 Monnin is the first dedicated dive watch from Heuer.  So says Heuerville, a new blog I discovered today (via another good dive watch blog, Dive (into) Watches).  And what a looker this Heuer 844 Monnin watch is, from the personal collection of the man behind Heuerville — who has given us a thorough recap of the story behind the Heuer Monnin dive watch.  Here’s how the story starts:

Back in the mid-late 70’s, Heuer received numerous requests at various trade shows for a (moderately) affordable high quality divers watch. Heuer took note, and saw an opportunity – something welcomed during the quartz crisis, when many Swiss watch companies were disappearing down the pan. Heuer too were in trouble, so they decided to dip their toe into the divers market. Not really knowing how they would sell, Heuer outsourced prototype production to G. Monnin in France….and the rest, as they say, is history.

Heuer Fans — you absolutely must click through and read the full story on the Heuer 844 Monnin and see all of this guy’s amazing pics.  And a final thought — I am humbled and reminded as to why I rarely write about vintage watches here at Perpetuelle — the knowledge base of vintage-oriented blogs like Heuerville (and Calibre 11) is truly impressive.

Heuer 844 Monnin

circa 1979, restored

42mm steel case, automatic mechanical Felsa FE 4611A movement

Note the French spelling of ‘Professionel’ and ‘Made in France’ script:

TAG Heuer insider blog Calibre 11brings us a first look at two new TAG Heuer Monaco McQueen editions.  For now I’m going to focus on my favorite of the two, the TAG Heuer Monaco Steve McQueen Calibre 11.  According to Calibre 11, this watch is “based on the traditional 39mm Monaco case, and like other Vintage Monaco editions, uses the Heuer logo and has the crown on the left-hand side of the case.”   One other interesting tidbit I picked up from Calibre 11′s excellent and thorough review of the new Calibre 11 McQueen is that the Calibre 11 movement is no longer based on ETA movements.  The movement is now apparently based on the Sellita SW-300 Calibre (very similar to the ETA 2892 base formerly used in the Calibre 11 movements) — this coming directly from the mouth of TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin.  The Steve McQueen Caliber 11 will be available exclusively in TAG Heuer boutiques starting in a few weeks.  In Switzerland, the McQueen Calibre 11 price will be CHF 7,700 (US Dollar price to be provided when available).  Again — TAG Heuer junkies will want to be sure and click through for the full backstory on this watch over at Calibre11.  Here it is…a real beauty…

TAG Heuer Steve McQueen Calibre 11

automatic mechanical movement, blue calf-leather strap

dial close-up:

The 100th Indy 500 race was this past weekend, marking a major milestone for the race that has become an icon of American sports culture.  While it was Jorg Gray ambassador and driver Alex Tagliani who started the race from the coveted “Pole Position”, it was Team Bryan Herta Autosport driver Dan Wheldon who took the checkered flag.  In addition to his $2.6 million cash prize for winning the Indy 500 race, Wheldon was also presented with a limited edition TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 Centennial Chronograph (pictured below), the “Official Watch of the Indy 500.”  And now you too can own this watch — the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 Centennial Chronograph watch is available at Tourneau and other TAG Heuer dealers with list price of $1,650.   Not a bad looking watch!

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 Centennial Chronograph

Limited edition of 1,000 (individually numbered)

44mm stainless steel case, fixed polished bezel, 200 meter water resistance, brushed steel bracelet

dial: “brickyard” pattern, Indy 500 Cenennial logo

image: TAG Heuer via The Inquisitr and Pursuitist

Let the Only Watch 2011 Charity Auction Previews begin!  The TAG Heuer Monaco Mikrograph is a very special watch featuring two of the very best elements of TAG Heuer.  First is the “Monaco” watch design, a square case style with a strong racing heritage that TAG Heuer has so strongly revived in recent years.  Second compelling element is the use of TAG Heuer’s new “Mikrograph” movement, the first movement capable of 1/100th second accuracy — an amazing feat for a mechanical watch.  As of right now, this makes the one-and-only TAG Heuer Monaco Mikrograph the only other watch to use the new Mikrograph movement — the first being the TAG Heuer Carrera Mikrograph which was introduced a couple months ago at Baselworld 2011.   Yes, it’s a pretty busy dial (see our sub-dial break-down bel0w), but I think this adds to the awesomeness of the watch.

TAG Heuer Monaco Mikrograph Watch for ONLY WATCH 2011

Unique Piece

43mm steel case, “Only Watch 2011″ engraved rotor (see-through display back)

The complications of the chronograph, as described by Calibre 11, are as follows:

Image: Calibre 11

• 12 o’clock sub-dial: The Chronograph power reserve
• 3 o’clock sub-dial: Chronograph elapsed minutes with three hands (0/10/20) mounted on a rotating disc (in the photo above, 25 minutes have elapsed)
• 9 o’clock sub-dial: Watch elapsed seconds with three hands (0/20/40) mounted on a rotating disc (in the photo above, almost 50 seconds have elapsed)
• 6 0′clock sub-dial: Chronograph elapsed seconds (with a double-ended needle showing 0-30 seconds on the outer counter/ large needle and 31-60 seconds on the inner counter/ small needle)
• The flying central hand (with the open circle) indicates the 100th of a second which is read off the inner sapphire disc that reads 0-100. At the other end of the Flying central hand is a “/100″ engraving is laser-cut by hand

“Only Watch” is a biennial charity auction of one-of-a-kind watches created by many of the most renowned watch brands in Switzerland.  This exceptional event is held every two years in Monaco during the Monaco Yacht Show and is under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II.   All the proceeds from Only Watch go to support Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research which is why many of these watches go extraordinarily high prices.

Starting today Perpetuelle will begin its coverage of Only Watch 2011.  Stay tuned in because over the next few months, you will get to see awesome “piece unique” watches from each of the participating brands for the 2011 event:

Click through to see our in-depth preview of each watch:

• Harry Winston Midnight GMT Tourbillon
• Patek Philippe Ref 3939A Minute Repeater
• Urwerk UR-103 “Phoenix”
• Romain Jerome “Rock the Rock”
• Hublot Oceanographic 4000m dive watch
• MB&F HM-4 “Flying Panda”
• TAG Heuer “Monaco Mikrograph”
• Bell & Ross Pink Gold “Casino”
• Louis Vuitton Tambour Diver Chronograph
• Blancpain Villeret Grand Decoration
• Piaget Altiplano Skeleton
• Breguet Reveil Musical Watch
• Audemars Piguet Gstaad Classic
• Jaquet Droz Petit Heure Minute
• Van Cleef & Arpel “From the Earth to the Moon” Watch
• Girard-Perregaux ww.TC
• Corum Golden Bridge Automatic Titanium
  
• Vulcain Anniversary Heart Watch
• Chanel J12 Marine Watch
• Franck Muller “Totally Switzerland”
• Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo
• Vacheron Constantin “Dove” Watch (M.C. Escher-inspired)
  
• Zenith El Primero “Destro” watches
• Montblanc Villeret 1858 Pulsograph
• Ikepod Red Hourglass by Marc Newson
• Bovet Fleurier, Celsius, Chaumet, Chopard, De Bethune, Delacour, De Witt, Frédérique Constant, Hermès, Laurent Ferrier, Maurice Lacroix, Richard Mille
  

Only Watch 2011 will be held September 24, 2011 and managed by watch auction house Antiquorum.  But you don’t have to wait this long — because part of the excitement leading up to the September 24, 2011 event is the release of each participating brand’s special edition watch.

ONLY WATCH 2009

If you are interested in looking back, I covered the Only Watch 2009 auction extensively including blogging about several of my favorites inlcluding:  Piaget Emperador Coussin, MB&F Sage Vaughn HM-2, Bovet 3-in-1 Mona Lisa Watch, Tourneau Jump Hour, Louis Vuitton Tambour, Chanel J12 Joallerie with pink sapphire, and Blancpain 500 Fathoms.   You can see all 34 “Only Watch 2009″ watches here on the Perpeuelle World Watch Forum.  The Only Watch 2009 auction was hosted by Patrizzi & Co.

New for 2011, the TAG Heuer Formula 1 “Orange” is actually not a new model, but rather a slightly different take on TAG Heuer’s popular Formula 1 series.  The Formula 1 collection is TAG Heuer’s “entry level” model — a sporty, but basic watch (quartz movement) — and affordable, too.  With an estimated retail price of $1,200, this is about as low as you can go while still getting a watch bearing an iconic brand such as TAG Heuer.  The TAG Heuer Formula 1 Orange will hit display cases everywhere in June, available on a rubber strap or stainless steel bracelet, both pictured.

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Orange (rubber strap)

On another note — there is now a very interesting dynamic between quartz and mechanical at sub-$1,500 price points, and this watch is a good example.  As I see it, above the $1,500 price point the watch consumer can now clearly value mechanical movements over quartz movements, but below this price point it’s not so clear.  There seems to be a fierce battle between both types of movements at sub-$1,500 prices — but I think that quartz is slowly but surely but being devalued at higher price points, giving way to watches with mechanical movements.  In a few more years, it will be interesting to see the state of the market for watches quartz movements at prices above $1,000.  I, for one, see quartz continuing to be de-valued by the consumer, and thus relegated further and further down the value chain.  Back where it belongs…hehehe

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Orange (steel bracelet)

TAG Heuer is set to release a series of special edition Monaco models in 2011, the first of which you see here today: the TAG Heuer Monaco Twenty Four Racing (Ref. CAL5112).  This square cased watch sports silver and orange dial-tones, with a Calibre 36 automatic mechanical movement that is suspended between four shock-absorbing arms (you can see one in each corner of the case) for added shock absorption and visual appeal.  The TAG Heuer Monaco Twenty Four Racing is the first addition to the Monaco Twenty Four series since the striped Monaco Gulf which debuted in 2009.  As on the Monaco Gulf, the oversized number “24” at 12 o’clock pays tribute to the LeMans, most famous endurance race in the world.  The new TAG Heuer Monaco 24 Racing watch price is near $15,000 and will be sold through TAG Heuer boutiques.  Via: Calibre 11, which also has some good “live looks” if you are interested.

Monaco Twenty Four Racing Calibre 36

40.5mm stainless steel case, Calibre 36 movement (El Primero base)

Baselworld 2011 – Looking beyond all the hype of TAG Heuer’s awesome new Mikrotimer Flying 1000 concept watch, TAG Heuer has also unveiled several new production models worthy of a closer look.  My favorite of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Heritage line is the a cleanly dialed watch you see below which sports bold blue dial numerals and a nice looking blue alligator strap.   There are several variations, also shown below, courtesy of TAG enthusiast blog Calibre 11 which has a very thorough overview of these solid new offerings from TAG Heuer if you are interested in more of the backstory.

TAG Heuer Carrera Heritage Caliber 6

39mm stainless steel case, silver dial with blue numbers and hands, automatic mechanical Caliber 6 movement (ETA 2895-1 base) on stainless steel bracelet or luxurious blue alligator strap

Photo:  Calibre 11.  Shown on the metal bracelet

2011 TAG Heuer Carrera Heritage Automatic Collection

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First Look…

Team TAG Heuer just pulled off a flawless webcast live from Basel, Switzerland.  Great job everyone involved — your highly synchronized efforts across press conference, social media (Facebook, Twitter) and blogger outreach has been simply superb and well received.  TAG used the event to announce an amazing new concept watch — the TAG Heuer MIKROTIMER Flying 1000 Concept chronograph.  I’m glad to give you an up close first look at this incredible watch, accurate to 1/1000 of a second!  Full TAG Heuer press release is here, on the TAG Heuer Feed in our Official Baselworld 2011 Forum. One thing I want to reiterate — this is a CONCEPT watch — meaning that the piece you see here is very likely one-of-a-kind with many of its specs/details are likely to be fine-tuned.  I’ll keep you posted with new det’s as I get them.

TAG Heuer MIKROTIMER Flying 1000 Concept chronograph

45mm titanium carbide coated case, titanium carbide coated pushbuttons

Tag Heuer Mikrotimer Flying 1000 concept manual chronograph movement (3,600,000 beats per hour)

caseback:

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LIVE from Basel, Switzerland:  TAG Heuer announces a game-changing new concept in very high-frequency chronograph technology at BaselWorld 2011 with interactive online press conference.  Tune-in here at 1:45 PM TODAY to watch our livecast of the event:

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