Monaco fanboys look away now...

Aquagraph
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Just picked up a copy of issue 35 of QP Magazine (2009). Inside there's an article about the Monaco (given it was the 40th anniversary I guess) and here's what Jack Heuer had to say about the Monaco at the time.

"We already had the Carrera and the Autavia and we realised that what we really needed was something that appealed to a more fashion-oriented clientele."

"All we needed then was a name and since we already had a watch called a Monte Carlo and since 1969 was the year of Grace Kelly and the 'Kelly' bag, we opted to use the name 'Monaco."

Ooooh.😲
 
Albert-AMG
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😁 And later Steve McQueen chose the Monaco for Le Mans movie, and also the Monaco became a Motorsports icon 👍
 
abrod520
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"We already had the Carrera and the Autavia and we realised that what we really needed was something that appealed to a more fashion-oriented clientele."

That was always the point, it was at first marketed to designers, architects etc.

The story goes, McQueen wanted Autavias for the film in order to look authentically like his mentor, Jo Siffert, but none were available and/or Heuer wanted to boost Monaco sales as it hadn't been successful.
 
Aquagraph
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I actually thought it was refreshingly honest 'we thought it was a cool name so we chose that' rather than the marketing b/s you would get today.... no 'story' required. 👍
 
Yago
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I actually thought it was refreshingly honest 'we thought it was a cool name so we chose that' rather than the marketing b/s you would get today.... no 'story' required. 👍
Yes but that would't be the official Tag Heuer story no doubt 😉
 
Yago
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abrod520 abrod520
That was always the point, it was at first marketed to designers, architects etc.

The story goes, McQueen wanted Autavias for the film in order to look authentically like his mentor, Jo Siffert, but none were available and/or Heuer wanted to boost Monaco sales as it hadn't been successful.
Yes I read that too somewhere. They had plenty of Autavias on set if you believe the packing list that surfaced online a few years back. Apparently it had something to do with a required minimum amount of spare props.
 
Aquagraph
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Yago Yago
Yes but that would't be the official Tag Heuer story no doubt 😉
Indeed not. And they certainly wouldn't want the word 'Fashion' anywhere near their beloved icon!
 
Aquagraph
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I wanted to change the title to 'Jack Heuer on the Monaco in 2009', but I can't - sorry. Maybe Hubert can oblige.
 
Pitfitter446
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My wife looked at me when I showed her this post and laughed, “you fashionable? Aye right” so I’ll stick to the official TH line.
 
Hubert
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Hear the story from the Man himself.
 
abrod520
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they certainly wouldn't want the word 'Fashion' anywhere near their beloved icon!

Hah! Though to be fair, a "fashion watch" was a much different animal back then 😝

(Remember, quartz watches were just starting to hit the market, and at that point cost far more than their mechanical counterparts!)
 
absolutemustard
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And the Mustang was originally marketed as a secretary’s car 😁

Love them both (Monaco, not secretary) 👍
 
Aquagraph
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abrod520 abrod520
That was always the point, it was at first marketed to designers, architects etc.

Maybe I need to read my Monaco book again, I don't remember reading that...
 
abrod520
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Maybe I need to read my Monaco book again, I don't remember reading that...

Touches a bit on it here, https://www.calibre11.com/interview-jack-heuer/

Few bits here https://www.timeandwatches.com/p/history-of-tag-heuer-monaco.html

Heuer originally planned to use this movement - known as Chronomatic Calibre 11 - in a Carrera model. This required to modify the shape of the Carrera case because the original shape was too slim to house the pretty thick movement. To maximise returns from the introduction of the new revolutionary movement, Jack Heuer and his team decided to also use it in the Autavia, a chronograph specifically targeted to the Automotive and the Aviation markets.

At the same time, they started considering the idea to also build a less traditional timepiece - “something out-of-the-box” and "avant-garde", to use Jack Heuer’s words - around the brand new movement.

Erwin Piquerez, the owner of a large Swiss industry making watch cases, proposed to Jack Heuer a new square case that he had just patented to guarantee waterproofness, a first for a square case. This was achieved through tension created by four notches when clipping into the back of the monocoque case.

Jack Heuer was immediately attracted by the new design and negotiated with Piquerez exclusive rights over this square case which was then trademarked.

The first version of the Heuer Monaco was finally launched at the Basel fair as the world's first waterproof automatic chronograph with a square case.
(emphasis added by me)

Essentially, the point of it was as a design-forward piece to showcase the new movement, rather than it having been designed for any other particular purpose like the Carrera or Autavia
 
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