The Heuer Monaco disappeared from the catalogues around 1975 having been only a modest success due to its unusual shape. TAG Heuer hadn’t shown a lot of interest in the heritage of the Heuer collection until the late 1990′s when it decided to press ahead with a “Re-edition” collection made up of the Carrera and the Monaco. These were a success and were followed by others in the classic range including new models that looked like they might be old Heuer’s but weren’t (Carrera GMT and Monza).

Following the takeover by LVMH, TAG continued with the Classic series, but decided to drop the “Heuer” only branding and revert to TAG Heuer. The Autavia and Targa Florio (again, not truly a re-edition) followed.

Today, The Carrera and Monaco are a key part of the TAG Heuer model range and the company has embraced rather than rejected its heritage, with the Monaco and Carrera names being used on the new technology developed (V4 Monaco, Carrera Calibre 360).

There is often confusion around the black Monaco’s- and what is a re-edition and what is not. Below are the variants of the black TAG Heuer Monaco issued since 1997 (although other colours and limited editions have also been issued).

The first of the re-editions has a flat black face and two dial register- model CS2110 and was a limited edition of 5000. To my mind, these are the most valuable and rare of the re-edition Monaco’s. This was followed by CS2111, which had an entirely new sculptured dial design, was a limited edition of 5000 and also the Heuer only branding.

This design proved to be a success and so TAG Heuer added the model to the permanent range, changing the model to CW2111 and adding “TAG Heuer” to the dial. This was also the time that a blue dialed “Steve McQueen” model was added. TAG Heuer did not release a blue Monaco re-edition with only “Heuer” on the dial until this year’s 40th anniversary model.

Finally, we have the 2009 model, the TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 12, which goes back to the two-register layout and cleaner face of the CS2110. The new model has a slightly larger case and for the first time, sapphire crystal rather than plexiglass.

The re-edition series marked a change in strategy for TAG Heuer that continues to be seen today- combing the heritage of Heuer with the technology of TAG Heuer- and finally giving the Heuer fans a new watch to buy  for  the first time since 1985.

Catalog scan: Onthedash.com