Heuer Monaco "Steve McQueen" — Ref. 1133B

In 1969, while the watch world still considered the circle the only possible shape for a wristwatch, Jack Heuer redrew the rules. The Monaco was the first square-cased, water-resistant automatic chronograph ever produced, driven by the celebrated Calibre 11 that emerged from the Chronomatic project and changed Swiss watchmaking for good. Its architecture — a square steel case, the crown at nine o'clock, the crown guard absent by design — remains one of the most radical gestures in the history of the sports watch.

The model entered legend in 1971, worn by Steve McQueen as driver Michael Delaney in Le Mans. From that moment the Monaco stopped being a chronograph and became a cultural object: the blue metallic dial, the white counters and the red accents read, on film, as instrument and style at once.

This Ref. 1133B is a period example that has survived in remarkable order. The blue dial retains its chromatic depth, the square case its satin finish and period engravings, and the caseback still carries its original orange Heuer sticker — a detail that almost never survives a first service. The movement is the automatic Calibre 11 with 17 jewels, signed Heuer, and the watch is fitted with its original NSA Swiss Made stainless steel bracelet with a Heuer-signed clasp. It is offered with its original red presentation box with the chequered band, the packaging that has become as difficult to find as the watch itself.

Vintage Monacos with dial, sticker, bracelet and box intact are a small fraction of the surviving population, and demand for complete, honest examples has never softened. This is not simply a chronograph: it is a fragment of cinema and motorsport history, and one of the few designs that managed to challenge the geometry of time.