Watch the Icon: How TAG Heuer Ditched the Circle

by Dara Morgan

Watch the Icon: How TAG Heuer Ditched the Circle

28 Jul 2025

Episode 7 of Watch the Icon is now live — and this one isn't afraid of angles.

This week, we explore the story of the TAG Heuer Monaco — the square-cased chronograph that broke every rule in Swiss watchmaking, turned heads in the paddock, and somehow ended up on the wrist of Steve McQueen.

When TAG Heuer (just Heuer back then) set out to house the Calibre 11 — one of the first automatic chronograph movements — they could have played it safe. Instead, they went square. Left the crown on the wrong side. Painted the dial electric blue. And named it after the flashiest race on the planet.

In this episode, Sofia Brontvein tells the story of a watch that shocked traditionalists, disappeared for decades, then roared back into relevance — proving that good design doesn’t need to conform. It just needs to be cool.

Here are five things you (probably) didn’t know about the TAG Heuer Monaco — unless you have been tracking auction results since Le Mans went to DVD:

1. It was the first square, water-resistant automatic chronograph — ever. This wasn’t just bold design. It was engineering sorcery. And it worked.

2. Its crown is on the left — as a flex. Since the Monaco was automatic, there was no need to wind it — so Heuer moved the crown to the left, just to make the point.

3. McQueen didn’t just wear it — he made it immortal. He picked the Monaco himself for Le Mans. The watch became a character in the film — and in his legend.

4. It vanished — then returned with a vengeance. Discontinued in the '70s. Resurrected in the ‘90s. Today? A flagship. Proof that icons only nap, they never die.

5. It is still defiantly square — and that is the point. In a sea of round watches, the Monaco continues to stand out — sharp, rebellious, and utterly unbothered.