Tag Heuer Finally Makes The Monaco V4 Watch, And Offers The First for Charity At the “Only Watch” Auction

It was 2004 when Tag Heuer first announced the Monaco V4 concept watch. What was unique was the movement and the automatic winding mechanism. Complications merely included the time and a dial that was open-worked (as part of the movement). The Monaco V4 concept watch was the first ever “belt driven” movement – and is still the only such movement to operate in the way it does. It is gimmicky sure, but it looks very cool, and still images don’t really do it justice. Another unique aspect of the watch it’s the automatic winding system. Instead of having a rotor that oscillates, it has a weight that moves in a linear fashion up and down – just like a piston almost. That movement acts to move gears that wind the mainspring. I don’t know exactly how elegant it looks in reality, but it is certainly a very interesting concept, and now reality.

So now five years after its initial announcement as a concept, Tag Heuer will build 150 of the Monaco V4 watches as a limited edition to celebrate Heuer’s 150th anniversary (“Tag Heuer” is not that old). It is based on the shape of the Monaco watch, but other than that really is worlds apart from the iconic timepiece. For the “Own Watch” charity auction in (coincidentally) Monaco in September, the first (001/150) of 150 Monaco V4 will be auctioned off. The price will of course be high, but how high is a question based upon what the fit and finish of the watch will be. The best way to appreciate the timepiece is through this Tag Heuer video here on YouTube .

Ariel Adams publishes the popular luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.