TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 11

After a COVID- enforced break last year, the Formula 1 cars are back on the streets of sunny Monaco this weekend for F1’s annual glamour race. Also back, but only one month after covers were whipped off the last short-run Monaco, is a limited edition TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph– the 2021 TAG Heuer Monaco Titan Special Edition.

2021 is proving to be a banner year for limited edition heritage-themed TAG Heuers, with two heritage Carrera 39mm watches launched, the 844 Tribute Aquaracer and now, a second Monaco LE to join the popular Green-dial edition launched in late April. The Monaco Titan Special Edition is based on the traditional Calibre 11 Monaco case, but with a twist: for the first time, the classic Monaco case is made from titanium. Yes, there has been a titanium Monaco in the past, but this was the high-end Monaco V4. Apart from the Bamford Carbon edition in 2018, the classic Monaco has been made only from steel since 1998.

And the name? Why Titan? It’s not a typo, but a play on words, as it not only refers to a person of great strength or importance in English, but is also close to the French word for titanium, titane. The modern Monaco Calibre 11 was first released in 2009, with the 38mm 40th Anniversary Monaco, a limited edition of 1000 watches, which placed the crown on the left-hand side of the Monaco case for the first time since the 1970s. The Calibre 11 Monaco gained a permanent place in the TAG Heuer range in 2015, with the CAW211P model which gained 1mm in diameter from 2009’s CAW211A.

The blue Tag Heuer Monaco Calibre 11 has been in the range since 2015, with TAG Heuer supplementing this watch with a series of limited edition Calibre 11s over the years. The 2021 TAG Heuer Monaco Titan Special Edition goes on sale today (21 May 2021) from tagheuer.com and TAG Heuer boutiques, with 500 examples available. There’s is also a bespoke box for the watch, which we will add to this post as soon as photos are available.