The Panerai Luminor Marina Bucherer BLUE in Titanium/DLC with proprietary automatic movement. 10,400 GBP.
The latest in a series of chronograph collaborations between Bucherer and Panerai pays tribute to its namesake colour in more subtle ways than its aquatic palette, says Chloe Frost-Smith
In the past the BLUE collection has included partnerships between Bucherer and the likes of Piaget, Chopard, and TAG Heuer, but this latest collaboration with Panerai takes a more laid-back approach to the luxury timepiece.
Originally created for the Italian navy’s submariners, the reinterpreted Panerai Luminor Marina Bucherer BLUE retains the oceanic origins of its Panerai predecessors in the model’s more traditional Italian design elements, alongside contemporary updates including an anthracite denim strap with beige stitching which gives the watch a more relaxed look and feel.
More modern still is the matte blue sandwich dial with vertical satin stripes enclosed within a DLC-coated titanium case, a combination which is unique to the model and a first for Bucherer. A handy strap-changing tool is also included for versatility.
Actor Steve McQueen wearing TAG Heuer’s first Monaco timepiece in the 1971 film Le Mans
TAG Heuer is celebrating the anniversary of its Monaco timepiece with a series of limited editions. Chloe Frost-Smith takes a closer look at the collection
Originally debuted as the world’s first water-resistant square cased chronograph in 1969 and made famous by Steve McQueen in the 1971 film Le Mans, the TAG Heuer Monaco celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with a series of five limited editions each alluding to a different decade in the iconic watch’s history as well as two additional timepieces featuring an entirely new in-house movement.
The 1969-1979 edition
Each timepiece is engraved with the brand’s original logo and features the Calibre 11, a modernised version of the first Monaco’s innovative self-winding chronograph movement, alongside a perforated leather strap which creates an automotive look and feel. The seventies edition, however, is the only watch in the collection to feature a brown leather strap, with a textured green Côtes de Genève dial accented with brown and amber touches.
TAG Heuer Monaco 1969-1979 edition with a brown leather strap
The 1979-1989 edition
The 1980s-inspired timepiece is instantly recognisable for its racing red on the watch face and stitching, strikingly set against black and silver detailing. It’s a classic colour combination for motorsport aficionados.
The 1979-1989 edition with a racing red watch face
The 1989-1999 edition
More traditionally Heuer Monaco in appearance, navy and red dominate the overall design of this timepiece whilst the grained, rhodium-plated silver-grey dial adds a contemporary edge.
The 1989-1999 edition follows TAH Heuer’s traditional Monaco colour palette
The 1999-2009 edition
Finished in an understated monochromatic scheme with flashes of red on the hands and markers, the 2000s edition is distinguishable by the white circular index which stands out against the black watch face, complemented by the black strap with white lining.
The monochrome 1999-2009 edition
The 2009-2019 edition
The latest watch in the series is simple yet sleek with a minimalistic approach to the most recent decade, incorporating an unconventional sandblasted stainless-steel case and polished pushers. The charcoal-coloured sun-ray dial is adorned with black-gold-plated indexes, in keeping with the black lining and grey stitching on the strap.
The sleek and contemporary 2009-2019 edition
The 02 edition
Sporting a blue sun-ray brushed dial, silver opaline counters, and a navy blue alligator strap, this edition is set apart from the rest of the series as the first Heuer Monaco timepiece to feature the Swiss brand’s most advanced calibre movement.
The 02 edition features an advanced calibre movement
The Calibre 12 Final edition
Completing the collection with a classic palette of black, white, and red, the final edition features a unique brushed ruthenium dial which allows the watch face to change colour in different lights.
The Calibre 12 Final edition changes colour according to the light
Enzo Ferrari (seated) being greeted by Jack Heuer in 1974
Famed for its relationships with key drivers in the 1960s and its innovation with the Ferrari F1 team in the 1970s, TAG Heuer is now working with Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing. Jason Barlow explores the Swiss brand’s new world of creative horological engineering
The firepower in a Formula One team isn’t solely derived from the car’s hybrid powertrain or its drivers. Alongside arguably the hottest young talent on the grid, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing has established a formidable array of partners. Prominent amongst these are two names that combine contemporary global brand equity but also pulse with historical resonance: Aston Martin and TAG Heuer. For students of such things, this triumvirate is one of the most powerful in world sport.
The first fruit of the relationship is a beautiful Carrera Calibre Heuer 01 chronograph, the Aston Martin Special Edition, whose dial is skeletonised by a pattern of hexagons that delivers an aesthetic parallel to the distinctive design language used on the latest Aston Martin Vantage, while a black brushed-ceramic tachymeter bezel and PVD-treated case with a sapphire window to view the movement bring TAG Heuer’s signature design features to the fore. (The collaboration has also yielded a second watch, the more affordable Formula 1 chronograph.)
These are exciting times for Aston Martin and new avenues are opening with bespoke collaborations with iconic brands such as Red Bull Racing and TAG Heuer. Formula One offers the ultimate global stage to build awareness of the carmaker’s brand and the relationship with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing has created the revolutionary hypercar, the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
The Tag Heuer Formula 1 Aston Martin Racing Special Edition watches in the cockpit of a 2018 Aston Martin Vantage
Of course, cars and watches are a pairing that, if not as old as time itself, certainly go right back to the earliest days of the automobile. What is a chronograph if not a technically complex machine strapped to your wrist? In a watch with a fine mechanical movement, the interaction between the tiny chains, gearwheels and axles (or arbors) operates with the same sort of thrilling alchemy that you find in an internal combustion engine. Some of the techniques go much further back in time, and by a considerable margin: the fusee, a conical device which reduces inconsistencies in the mechanism’s torque curve, can be spotted in the drawings of Renaissance designers and artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Filippo Brunelleschi.
Edouard Heuer’s dashboard-mounted Time of Trip chronograph first made in 1911
Motor racing is obviously a rather more recent phenomenon, and although other brands have worked the angles, TAG Heuer was the first to make the connection. Edouard Heuer’s dashboard-mounted Time of Trip chronograph, designed for use in cars and biplanes, appeared in 1911. In 1916, the Mikrograph arrived, a stopwatch with the ability to measure time to an unheard of one hundredth of a second. The expertise of the Heuer Watch Company soon extended to other big sporting events, including the Olympics, and by 1958 it had unveiled the Rally-Master, a dual-face device which featured a Master Time eight-day clock and a Monte Carlo stopwatch. Star drivers had also begun to appreciate the wristwatch as an appropriate accessory, and Juan Manuel Fangio was an early adopter.
But it was during the 1960s that the story intensifies, particularly when it comes to the Carrera names, originally derived from the legendary, and frequently deadly, 1950s Mexican road race, the Carrera Panamericana. Jack Heuer, Edouard’s grandson, takes up the tale:
Jack Heuer
“I first heard about the Carrera from Pedro Rodríguez at the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race,” he recalls. “The officials were members of SCCA [Sports Car Club of America], voluntary guys, and I supplied them with their timing equipment.” Heuer was busy developing the world’s first self-winding chronograph at the time (the Calibre 11 automatic chronograph would arrive in 1969) and was searching for the right way to promote its new creations. “We were too small to go full blast with big advertising worldwide,” Heuer told me. “So I said, maybe we should try PR.”
This was a master-stroke, as it turns out. “The Rodríguez brothers were racing with Ferrari, and they were still so young they were travelling with their parents. Pedro and his brother Ricardo were two of the fastest, smartest and bravest endurance drivers of all time. To hear them talk of the Carrera made my imagination soar. Just the sound of the name itself – elegant, dynamic, easily pronounced in all languages – was charged with emotion. I thought, that’s a good name for a watch.”
Porsche, of course, had been using the name on model derivatives since 1955, and it was one of the company’s drivers, Jo Siffert – also known as ‘Seppi’ – who really established the Heuer name in motorsport. The son of a poor Swiss farmer, Siffert hustled his way into F1, and signed a deal with Heuer in 1969 to become the company’s official brand ambassador. Significantly, this was the first non-automotive personal sponsorship deal in F1 history.
Siffert had been a Heuer fan for years and was even buying watches at cost price and then selling them to his colleagues in the pit lane. Though more closely associated with Heuer’s Autavia chronograph – colloquially known as the ‘Siffert’ by its many fans – it was his partnership with Porsche in the world sports car championship that secured Siffert’s legendary status, but also granted Heuer’s Carrera and Monaco chronographs the untouchable status they still enjoy 50 years later amongst racing and watch fans.
Top: Steve McQueen in the film ‘Le Mans’ in 1971. Here: the Heuer Monaco watch the actor is wearing
There is another factor we can’t overlook, however, one that’s reeling in a new generation of clients who have probably never heard of Jo Siffert. They all know the movie star Steve McQueen, however. In 1970 he was at the height of his box-office powers, and McQueen embarked on a passion project that was an ode to the famous French endurance race, the Le Mans 24 hours. The actor had first met Siffert at the Sebring 12 hours race in 1970. Along with Derek Bell, Siffert had been hired to teach McQueen how to drive a Porsche 917K for his role in the film Le Mans (1971), and although the prop master had already approached Jack Heuer about supplying watches for the film, Seppi happened to be wearing one of his anyway – a Monaco. When the film’s director, Lee H. Katzin, urged McQueen to finalise his character’s appearance, he replied, “I want to look like Jo, because he’s a real racer, a real pro”.
McQueen, the Heuer Monaco and Le Mans: it’s the gift that keeps on giving. But at least it was real, as Bell remembers. “I thought Steve drove very well. In fact, he was probably better than we all realised. He was driving that Porsche 917 around Le Mans, after all, pretty much flat out down the Mulsanne Straight, and people were scared of that car. I don’t recall him even testing it beforehand. It really was a hell of an era.”
Bell continues, “I suspect he’d find the mythology that has grown around him hilarious. He was so laid back, there was no sense of the superstar thing, and that’s what came across to us the whole way through. He didn’t want to be an actor, he wanted to be a racing driver. Every spare moment he had, he’d sit with us.”
Jack Heuer, meanwhile, didn’t rest. In 1973, he did a deal with the biggest motorsport name of all, Enzo Ferrari, becoming the Scuderia’s official time-keeper, both in Formula One but also at the then recently constructed Fiorano circuit. New track-side photo cells combined with a device called the Le Mans Heuer Centigraph gave Enzo Ferrari the edge he was so adept at finding.
“Our agreement with Ferrari was key, because it is still the biggest marketing coup we ever made,” Jack Heuer says. “Ferrari was a myth and still is. I was the same age as Enzo’s lost son Dino, and I just seemed to connect with him. He was a great salesman, though, and a ferocious negotiator. He would always push for more than we could really deliver. We supplied engraved watches to all of Ferrari’s drivers in that period. It was a fantastic time.”
And a pioneering one, too. Whether by accident or design, TAG Heuer’s motorsport roots run deep, and they run true. Quite simply, it’s why we love their watches. The alignment with Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing promises to put the brand right back at the sharp end of the grid once again.
TAG Heuer brand ambassador Cara Delevingne on set in South Africa for TAG’s latest campaign
Don’t Crack Under Pressure
British model and brand ambassador Cara Delevingne travelled to the South African savannah for TAG Heuer’s latest campaign. Working with Kevin Richardson, nicknamed ‘The Lion Whisperer’ for his unique relationship with the predators, the shoot required Cara to pose for the camera while a male lion approached in the background — truly testing the brand’s ‘Don’t Crack Under Pressure’ motto. “There isn’t any human or animal on this planet that hasn’t felt pressured,” comments Cara. “Pressure doesn’t have to be a bad thing… it’s how you work under that circumstance.”
Still, working with wild animals isn’t without its dangers. Photographer David Yarrow shot from inside a cage, whilst Cara was called back to safety each time the lion came too close, allowing only a few seconds for each shot. The result is a series of strikingly raw monochrome images, one of which was auctioned off for £120,000 with the proceeds being donated to the Cara Delevingne Foundation, which supports young woman all over the world. “In this visual, Cara is shown as powerful, courageous, audacious and commanding of respect,” says Jean-Claude Biver, TAG Heuer’s CEO. “I hope her attitude and engagement with her foundation will inspire many around her to do things differently, to innovate, to take risks.”
Watch behind-the-scenes footage from the campaign:
Millie Walton
This article was originally published in the Winter 2019 issue.
The artist in his signature (dis)guise in Hong Kong
Street artist Alec Monopoly’s distinctive creations are a blend of subversive graffiti culture and post-pop colour. And he has now been tasked with rejuvenating the culture at watch brand TAG Heuer. Nathalie Breitschwerdt catches up with the elusive – and anonymous – LA-based graffiti genius.
The manufacture of luxury watch brand TAG Heuer consists of a series of modern buildings on the edge of La Chaux-de-Fonds, in western Switzerland. The town is built on a US-style grid system, seemingly at odds with the rolling forested hills of the Jura that surround it.
Inside, it’s as you would expect a high-end watch factory to be. A sanitized workshop floor contains rows of technicians piecing together different watch components; other rooms contain test laboratories and machines for finishing the timepieces.
Walk from the workshop through some connecting corridors to the corporate offices, however, and you are greeted with an extraordinary sight. It is a glass-walled room with paints, canvases and strikingly colourful artworks, finished and in progress.
There was no artist at work on the day we visited – he was back in his home city of New York – but Alec Monopoly is no ordinary artist in-residence. Not long ago, his art was illegal. A graffiti artist, his trade involved tagging (painting) buildings – other people’s buildings – with his distinctive design. Monopoly developed a cult following on Instagram, and was then discovered by pioneering, maverick watch CEO Jean-Claude Biver. A key player in the revival of the luxury watch industry and now head of the LVMH watch division (which includes TAG Heuer), Biver made Monopoly a brand ambassador, launching the partnership at Art Basel Miami. Explaining why the artist would be given his own studio up in the Swiss mountains, Biver explained that Monopoly would play a key role in updating the brand for the new generation. “The most important thing is that Alec will be our art provocateur,” Biver said. “He will bring his influence inside the company. He will infuse the culture of TAG Heuer. That is the real job.”
Monopoly’s real identity is still a secret: he hides his face behind a red bandana. But his post-Roy Lichtenstein takes on pop culture characters (and specifically the banker from the Monopoly board game) give him a universal and instantly recognisable appeal – as does his nuanced take on the world’s economic system.
Monopoly’s artworks are now appearing in TAG Heuer stores around the world, and he is more likely to be courted than taken to court by the property world now.
Alec Monopoly’s depiction of TAG Heuer ’s CEO Jean-Claude Biver at Art Basel Miami
LUX: When did you start making street art? Alec Monopoly: I have been painting on the streets of New York since I was 12 years old. Growing up in the city, I loved skateboarding and the graffiti culture in the city. In 2008, I moved to Los Angeles and that’s when I started integrating my artwork into street art. I was a graffiti artist before and that’s when I became a street artist.
LUX: How has the perception of street art changed since you first started? Alec Monopoly: It’s changed big time. It’s become more accepted into pop culture recently, whereas before it was much more frowned upon. In the early days especially, graffiti was looked on as pollution and destruction, but now it’s transforming the grey walls of cities into things of beauty. If you look at the Miami Design District and Wynwood, it’s changed a dangerous neighbourhood with abandoned buildings and actually turned it into something beautiful. Take a look at the Wynwood Walls where some of the best artists in the world come to paint; it’s a great example of how street art has been accepted into society.
LUX: Tell us about your fascination with the Monopoly Man. Alec Monopoly: I started painting the Monopoly Man in 2008 when the economy started to dip. I was playing the game Monopoly, which I love, and was watching the news where I saw Bernie Madoff being arrested. I remember thinking how ironic that situation was, as he sort of looked like the Monopoly Man. There was so much meaning to it. People really connect with the Monopoly Man, so that’s when I started painting him for fun in the street. Originally it was for fun, but it also became more real due to the situation. That’s when I started spreading more intricate characters into my paintings, like Robert De Niro, Twiggy and Jack Nicholson.
An Alec Monopoly creation in Miami’s Design District
LUX: Why do you think your artwork is in such high demand? Alec Monopoly: People can really connect with my work. I create a lot of work that has a positive message; it’s fun and brings happiness to people. A lot of people have found that my work is inspirational. Having the Monopoly Man with bags of money and seeing him run with them, it’s kind of like a good luck charm, which you see in the offices of CEOs. Now, I draw a lot of inspiration from life: travelling, meeting new people, experiencing new things. I truly live through my artwork and express who I am as a character, as a person, through my paintings. I think it’s important for an artist to express themselves through their work in a way where people can see life through their eyes – my eyes.
LUX: Are there certain places in the world that are “street art hubs”? Alec Monopoly: I would say there are different cities where street art is more popular. Berlin would be one of the top cities for emerging street artists and for street art in general because it’s more accepted into the culture there. I would say LA is great due to the massive walls throughout the city and then, of course, Miami Wynwood is the Mecca of street art, for now.
Alec Monopoly tags for TAG at a pop-up store in California
LUX: You’re a brand ambassador for TAG Heuer. How did that come about? Alec Monopoly: It came about through an organic relationship with Mr Biver. We met in the south of France in my studio and created a relationship. I was really taken aback by him – he’s a genius. He’s like the Steve Jobs of the watch industry. Hearing him talk and his passion, we really connected as I have a great passion for watches myself. My dream has always been to create a watch with my artwork in the dial. We really saw eye to eye with the collaboration and it’s been an amazing journey for both of us. All the watches sold out immediately!
LUX: Is it strange for a street artist to be associated with a luxury brand or do you see it as a step in the right direction? Alec Monopoly: I definitely think it’s a step in a positive direction. I’m very picky who I do brand collaborations with, but I think TAG is the perfect fit. It’s the perfect vehicle to pursue one of my dreams, which was to put my art inside a watch. I was very happy to do it.
LUX: Anonymity and graffiti seem to go hand-in-hand for street artists such as Banksy and yourself. Why is that important to you? Alec Monopoly: For me, it represents the freedom to keep painting in the streets where I would like to paint. I paint in some places where it’s kind of a grey area with regards to the law, so it’s important to remain anonymous. It’s kind of fun too; I can take my hat, my mask and my jewellery off and no one really knows who I am – it’s kind of nice to have that double life. It’s very interesting that when I cover my face people recognise me and when I don’t, people have no idea who I am. It’s the weirdest thing!
LUX: How do you define art and its purpose? Alec Monopoly: I see art as very important for culture. It’s a way of seeing what’s going on in that part of history and what’s going on in the world. For me, it’s a form of therapy and expression, but it also brings happiness to other people’s lives. When I’m painting one of these graffiti walls, I’m transforming that neighbourhood through bright colours. People driving by, kids growing up there – I try to bring them as much happiness as possible. I’ve met kids who started painting their own versions of the wall and creating their own art, which is really inspirational to me.
LUX: What do you do when not making art? Alec Monopoly: Honestly, I’m always creating art. Yesterday I was at the beach and started making these drawings in the sand – I can’t even relax when I’m at the beach! I love art, it’s who I am.
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