![]() The incorporation of gold into the watch also evokes the 18 karat gold Carrera chronographs that Heuer presented to leading Formula One racers in the 1970s. While the rose gold appears to be prominent in some of the studio photos published by TAG Heuer, on the wrist, the gold of the markers and hands is subdued. The new Black-Coated Monaco offers considerably more durability, using rose-gold plating for the markers, with adjacent Super-LumiNova dots, and rose gold plated hands. Over the years, the markers and hands were subject to degradation, with it being almost impossible to find a dial with all 12 markers in place. The original “Dark Lord” from the 1970s used painted markers for the hours and the main time-of-day hands were painted white, with luminous material in the centers. The registers have a flat black opaline finish, adding a third texture to the dial. The deeply grained finish evokes the grip of tires and asphalt, offering a contrast with the fast line taken by the racer on the smooth track. The outer area of the dial evokes the “run-off” of the track. The light bounces off the satin finish, creating a sense of movement, as your wrist moves through different angles. To my eye, the inner circle evokes the speed and smoothness of a race car circling a track. The contrast between these two finishes is dramatic. The center of the dial is a circle with a circular, satin-brushed finish and the outer area of the dial (between the circle and the edge of the case) has been sandblasted to create a deeply grained finish. But rather than the flat, matte black dial of the original watch, the new Monaco features a two-piece dial, which accentuates the “circle in the square” style of the Monaco chronograph. The defining features of the Dark Lord were its black-coated case and all-black dial, and the newest Monaco incorporates these features. The Special Edition Black-Coated Monaco (Tribute to “Dark Lord”) I expect to provide an in depth review after spending more “quality time” with the watch. Having spent only a few minutes with the newest Monaco (in the Atlanta TAG Heuer Boutique), my initial impressions are very favorable and I look forward to adding one to my collection. We offer a simple introduction of the newest Monaco, describing the key features of the watch and offering some initial impressions. Today, TAG Heuer has introduced a Black-Coated Monaco (Ref CBL2180) that pays tribute to the “Dark Lord”. If it strays too far from the look and feel of the original watch, it will be accused of misappropriating a legendary design or even diluting the name of the predecessor. If the brand creates a one-to-one copy of the vintage predecessor, it will be accused of lacking creativity. When a brand creates a re-issue of one of its icons - or for that matter, a “homage” or a “tribute” watch – it must walk a fine line. (The watch sold by Phillips in May 2022 is shown below.) Through it all, collectors have aggressively pursued these watches, as evidenced by the three most recent public sales achieving prices in the range between $60,000 (Phillips, November 2017) and $116,000 (Phillips, May 2022). There have been many mysteries about the “Dark Lord” – Why was it sold in so few markets? How many were produced? Why did it never appear in a catalog? The watches often appeared in unlikely places, sometimes as bags of parts. ![]() ![]() As one of Heuer’s first black-coated watches, the watch was on trend with the military / tactical style of the late 1970s, while its styling evoked the look of instruments on the dashboard of a racecar. Produced by Heuer in the late 1970s, the community of collectors has tracked approximately 30 of these watches.Īs described in my posting on Hodinkee, The Heuer Black-Coated Monaco Captures the Darkness and Mystery of the 1970s, this chronograph captures many elements that make vintage watches so appealing. Ask any vintage Heuer collector for a ranking of the “grails”, and you can be sure that the black-coated Monaco, reference 74033 N (often called the “Dark Lord”) will be toward the top of the list. ![]()
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