The new TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph, TAG Heuer’s highlight Watches and Wonders 2024 debut, pairs the square Monaco case with a wholly new split-seconds chronograph caliber.
Made entirely of titanium, the watch’s TH81-00 movement is the lightest automatic chronograph movement ever created by the watchmaker, which teamed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier to create the caliber. 
While Heuer dominated sports timing, particularly automotive racing, during much of the 20th century with its ground-breaking split-second chronograph pocket watches and timers, the Le Locle watchmaker had not previously offered a mechanical wristwatch with the same function. (In 1989, TAG Heuer introduced a quartz split-seconds chronograph wristwatch that became a favorite of racing legends such as Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger and Michael Schumacher.)
“In developing this new watch we spent months researching complications, and quickly knew it had to be a chronograph, and particularly with a split-second function, which is the queen of chronographs,” explains Nicholas Biebuyck, TAG Heuer’s Heritage Director. A split-seconds function is capable of measuring two separate time intervals concurrently.
“We found documentation dating to 1889 that advertises the Heuer brand as specializing in the rattrapante platform. As it turns out, we had never made a (mechanical) chronograph with a split second for the wrist,” he adds.
No compromise
To rectify that somewhat surprising omission, Biebuyck and Carole Forestier-Kasapi, TAG Heuer’s movements director, worked with TAG Heuer’s technical team to create the watchmaker’s first wrist rattrapante “with no compromise.” 
The team started with a high-frequency 5-Hz movement to enhance split-second accuracy, and quickly determined that to make a highly wearable, lightweight and ergonomically impressive debut wrist rattrapante, it would need to be made of titanium.
“The reason we chose titanium for the case was because we wanted to create something particularly comfortable to wear, but we then extended this to the movement as well,” adds Forestier-Kasapi. 
TAG Heuer offers various titanium-cased Monaco chronographs, though all are powered with traditionally manufactured movements.
“I cannot think of an example where we have made an entire movement in titanium previously. Certainly not in a commercially available product,” says Biebuyck. Even when the all sides of the 41mm by 15.2mm case and the movement are combined, the TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph weighs a wispy 85 grams.
The new watch enhances the timepiece’s overall novelty with extensive application of sapphire to the case. The clarity created by the clear sapphire offers an open view into the titanium Calibre TH81-00 movement. 
The back offers an unobstructed view of the signature checkerboard pattern on the center bridge and the fine-brushed balance wheel bridge. From the edges of the case we can also see the movement’s two column wheels and decorated bridges. 
TAG Heuer offers two Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph models. A red variation with black DLC coating is inspired by TAG Heuer’s long history in the world of professional automotive racing.
A blue model pays tribute to the original color code of the Heuer Monaco. Here, gradient blue dial arches transition from light blue, an effect created through a painstaking anodizing process.
Price: CHF 165,000.
The new size joins existing 40mm models and comes with the key features of the full Aquaracer collection: a unidirectional rotating bezel, screw-down crown, water resistance to 200 meters, luminous markings, sapphire crystal and a double safety clasp.
The new 36mm white-gold-cased model, with a sparkling polycrystalline dial, features 4.8 carats of lab-grown diamonds and 1.4 carats of yellow lab-grown diamonds.
The new design’s curves, more acute than earlier examples from the 1970s, are amplified with an equally curved flange that enhance’s the dial’s visibility while also simplifying the ability to read the 60-second/minute scale.
The total finishing time exceeded twelve hours. The TAG Heuer shield is applied to the rotor and is adorned with the official colors of Only Watch for 2023, hand painted by André Martinez.
