Monaco 1133B

The original Heuer Monaco, reference 1133B, appeared in 1969 with a blue dial and the first automatic chronograph movement in a square case. The Caliber 11, co-developed by Heuer, Breitling, Buren, and Dubois-Depraz, was one of the first automatic chronograph movements ever produced. The crown sat on the left side of the case because the automatic winding rotor occupied the space where a conventional crown would go. That left-side crown became the Monaco's visual signature.

Steve McQueen wore a Monaco in the 1971 film Le Mans. Like Connery and the Submariner, the association between actor and watch became permanent. The Monaco is McQueen's watch the way the Submariner is Bond's watch. The blue dial with white subsidiary registers against a square steel case was unlike anything else in 1969 and it remains unlike anything else today.

The square case is the point. Watches are round. Chronographs are round. The Monaco said no. A square case with a flat sapphire crystal, sharp corners, and a blue dial that filled the entire surface. It was automotive in its inspiration and rebellious in its execution. McQueen did not choose it because it was safe. He chose it because it was the opposite of safe. The Monaco is for people who think the Royal Oak and the Nautilus were not brave enough with their case shapes.