BASELWORLD 2004 A STAR IS BORN…
In 2004, TAG Heuer changed the course of watchmaking by unveiling the MONACO V4 Concept Watch, the world’s first watch with belt drives, linear mass and ball bearings.
The V4 name derived from the V-shaped main plate on which the movement's four barrels are mounted: the 2-by-2 belt series on ball bearings are angled at +/-13 degrees, and look like the cylinders in a Formula One motor-racing engine.
The concept watch’s patented belt-driven transmission and linear mass represented nothing short of a complete rewriting of the fundamental principles of mechanical watchmaking. Housed inside another revolution, the audacious, square-faced Monaco seen on Steve McQueen wrist in the 1971 race-film classic Le Mans, it won Best Design at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, Germany’s Red Dot Design Award, Wallpaper Magazine's "Watch of the Year” and Popular Science's "Best of What's New”.
It also reestablished TAG Heuer as the world leader of advanced mechanical movement design…
FIVE YEARS LATER
THE CONCEPT BECOMES REALITY…
In 2009, against all expectations, TAG Heuer stunned the watchmaking world by unveiling what many industry insiders said would never see the light of day: a fully commercialized production model of the MONACO V4. The breakthrough came as a result of five years of intensive research by TAG Heuer’s Haute Horlogerie engineers to overcome the last stumbling blocks—most important being the successful development of ultra-thin and ultra-resistant transmission belts.
A true work of art, the MONACO V4 was the most avant-garde watch industrialized to date, housing the first new complication in a commercially realized timepiece since the first automatic chronograph movement, Calibre 11 Chronomatic, was issued by Heuer in 1969.
Several limited editions will follow — in rose gold, titanium, platinum and ceramic, each more breathtaking than the last, until…
BASELWORLD 2016
WHEN AVANT-GARDE HAUTE HORLOGERIE MEETS TRADITION
Building on its top-secret development of transmission belts no thicker than a single hair, TAG Heuer takes its avant-garde creation to the next level—juxtaposing its patented belt technology and manufactures 2 pieces with a sapphire case to magnify the beauty of this movement.
Technical specifications
Movement
-Automatic movement transmission by three belts.
-Linear mass with double rack rail, tungsten lingot
-2 pairs of barrels linked by a belt, set in parallel and inclined at 13°
-Display features : Hours, minutes and small second at 4 o’ clock
-268 components
-Dimensions 31.5 X 35 X 9.15 mm
-Frequency of 4 Hz (28'800 vibrations/h)
-Power reserve of 42 hours
Dial
-7 bridges made of micro-marbled brass with an anthracite PVD treatment
-Sandblasted bottom plate with black titanium carbide coating
-Sandblasted indexes with black titanium carbide coating
-Sandblasted screws with black titanium carbide coating
-Black transmission belts
-Faceted and brushed minute and hour hands with black titanium carbide coating
-Escapement and transmission belts visible on the movement
Sapphire Case
-Dimension 41 x 41 mm
-4 Sapphire materials: glass top, middle, crown, bottom (500 machining hours)-Elements cut from "carrots" raw sapphire with diamond wheels
Main difficulties:-fragility of the sapphire to stresses and shocks during machining-the geometry of a very angular piece which increases risks-polish components handmade with diamond paste (diamond powder mixed with polishing paste) or 100 hours of polishing per box
Strap
-Strap silicone
-Titanium loop covered in black PVD
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