- Posts
- 188
- Likes
- 251
MonacoMike
·For me, the Monaco is ALL about heritage. All Monacos are nice, but in my opinion, there are a few things that make a Monaco, a Monaco.
While the modern Calibre 11 movement shares only the name with the original, it still offers the truest representation of the original Monaco. That means the crown on the left at 9-o'clock. I love that both from a heritage perspective, but also from an aesthetic one. For me, the watch design feels more balanced with the crown on the left when combined with the big, chunky, square case. Right-hand crown Monacos just feel like there's too much 'weight' on one side of the case.
I also feel the horizontal hour marker indices work a lot better in the square case than the radial style that you get on some of the more modern versions, and older right-hand crown Monacos.
So while the modern Calibre 11 is far from the world's most advanced movement and the 02 is technically superior in most every tangible way, I think it's all of the intangibles that define what a Monaco is all about, and I think at the end of the day, if I could only have one Monaco, I'd regret it if I didn't choose the one that embodied what that watch is all about. And I think at the end of the day, what the movement inside is only tells so much about a Monaco. What the watch embodies in the grand scheme of watch history is something else, and only a Calibre 11 Monaco truly tells that story, in my humble opinion.
The Monaco is a watch that has a legacy that is defined by more than the sum of it's parts and beyond the fact that Steve McQueen wore it, it's actually an extremely horologically significant watch for a variety of reasons. For that, I'd always, and really, ONLY consider the Calibre 11.
While the modern Calibre 11 movement shares only the name with the original, it still offers the truest representation of the original Monaco. That means the crown on the left at 9-o'clock. I love that both from a heritage perspective, but also from an aesthetic one. For me, the watch design feels more balanced with the crown on the left when combined with the big, chunky, square case. Right-hand crown Monacos just feel like there's too much 'weight' on one side of the case.
I also feel the horizontal hour marker indices work a lot better in the square case than the radial style that you get on some of the more modern versions, and older right-hand crown Monacos.
So while the modern Calibre 11 is far from the world's most advanced movement and the 02 is technically superior in most every tangible way, I think it's all of the intangibles that define what a Monaco is all about, and I think at the end of the day, if I could only have one Monaco, I'd regret it if I didn't choose the one that embodied what that watch is all about. And I think at the end of the day, what the movement inside is only tells so much about a Monaco. What the watch embodies in the grand scheme of watch history is something else, and only a Calibre 11 Monaco truly tells that story, in my humble opinion.
The Monaco is a watch that has a legacy that is defined by more than the sum of it's parts and beyond the fact that Steve McQueen wore it, it's actually an extremely horologically significant watch for a variety of reasons. For that, I'd always, and really, ONLY consider the Calibre 11.
