Out of all of the iconic watches produced by TAG Heuer, the Monaco chronograph stands as its most memorable, thanks to Steve McQueen wearing the blue dial version in his 1971 film Le Mans. But the blue Monaco isn’t the only Heuer Monaco from the ‘70s to reach iconic status. There’s also the “Dark Lord,” an all-black version of the chronograph that’s a bit of a legend among collectors.
Now TAG Heuer has brought back the Dark Lord — at least in spirit. The brand has unveiled a new special-edition reference of the Monaco to celebrate Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix, noting that the watch pays “homage to the rare and mythical all-black Monaco of the ‘70s.” The new watch modernizes the original from five decades ago, naturally, upgrading the case material to black DLC-coated titanium.
The watch features a black, circular-brushed dial with Super-LumiNova-filled hands and indices plated in 18K 5N rose gold. A bold red is used for the chronograph hands, and a black sandy texture appears on the outer portions of the dial. Powering the new Dark Lord is the in-house Calibre HEUER02 Automatic movement, which features a custom 18K 5N rose gold-plated rotor that’s visible through the sapphire exhibition caseback.
Rounding out the modernized Dark Lord is a solid 100m water resistance rating and a black alligator leather strap with a double push-button titanium deployant. The new Monaco Grand Prix Special Edition is available now on TAG Heuer’s online store for $8,200.
