Launched in 1969, the Monaco was the first square-shaped chronograph housing the newly developed automatic Caliber 11. Easily recognizable, the Monaco was made famous thanks to style-icon and actor Steve McQueen wearing the watch in the movie "Le Mans" in 1971.
In 1975, Heuer introduced a very special iteration of the model with the Monaco “Dark Lord”. It was initially believed that the timepiece never made it past the prototype stage, but according to Jack Heuer between 100-200 examples have been produced - research suggests that less than 30 are still in existence today.
The dial design is very similar to the initial Monaco, reference 1133, with the same two registers for hour/minutes and date window at 6 o'clock. The Monaco "Dark Lord" is not PVD coated as many ought to believe but is actually "black-coated" stainless steel. Interestingly, the Monza and Montreal line have also been previously black-coated by the manufacturer but in terms of dial configuration opted for red accents, whilst the black-coated Monaco as you can see from the present examples showcases bright orange hands for the chronograph and bright white hands for the hour hands.
The present example is in excellent overall condition and features all the highlights of the classic design. The case and reference numbers are present between the lugs. The case-back, pushers and crown are in stainless steel, as the coating would have worn off too quickly on these high-contact parts of the watch. This is a fine example of an extremely important and iconic timepiece and a salient addition to any watch collection.