What We Know

When it comes to TAG Heuer chronographs, the Monza ranks somewhere after the more popular (and collectible) Carrera, Autavia, and Monaco. Introduced in 1976, the perfect replica TAG Heuer Monza watches, like most TAG Heuer chronographs, draws its inspiration from auto racing. After Ferrari won the Formula One Constructors Cup in 1975, and driver Niki Lauda won the Drivers Championship, Heuer, then a sponsor of Ferrari, released the Monza to celebrate the Scuderia’s first victory since 1964.

Today, the Monza is back in a big, skeletonized way. Much like Niki Lauda might not recognize today’s Formula One cars, the new US top fake TAG Heuer Monza Flyback Chronometer watches shares little else with the original Monza beyond its bold case profile. That case is where this new Monza’s statement starts: It’s a 42mm carbon case with a finishing pattern that, to me, looks like a blacked-out rendering of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. The crown and chronograph pushers use black DLC-coated steel to match.

The movement is the next statement: the Monza uses TAG Heuer’s in-house Caliber Heuer 02 COSC Flyback. In previous packages from TAG Heuer, it’s been one of the better value in-house Swiss-made chronograph movements around – column wheel (rendered in red so you can see it in action), vertical clutch, and 80 hours of power reserve. Even better, it’s COSC certified in this new Monza.

The dial is skeletonized, with tachymeter and pulsometer scales on the outer ring. Red and blue accents across the rest of the 1:1 wholesale replica watches add pops of color against the black case and dial. The two subdials at three and six o’clock use a translucent blue fumé sapphire crystal, while the indices are blue lacquer. Meanwhile, the trapezoidal date window sits bordered in red at nine o’clock. The blue indices and the date window – in a first for TAG Heuer – use Super-Luminova.

What We Think

In September 1975, at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Ferrari driver Niki Lauda finished third in the Italian Grand Prix, while teammate Clay Regazzoni won. It was enough for Ferrari to clinch the Formula One Constructors Championship, and for Lauda to claim the individual championship. Since Heuer was a sponsor and supplier of timing equipment for Ferrari, it introduced a new chronograph model to celebrate the win, called the Monza. It marked cheap copy TAG Heuer watches’ entry into the (very 1970s) world of black-coated chronographs (Jeff Stein recently explained the history of the black-coated Monaco for us).

Nowadays, TAG Heuer sponsors the Red Bull Formula One team. The cars go faster. And the Monza has evolved from an early automatic-powered chronograph to a skeletonized supercar of Swiss made replica watches with some of TAG Heuer’s most souped-up tech. Times change. And now, we’ve got a Monza so wild, that not one, but two editors have thoughts – check out Brandon’s video for his quick take on the new Monza Flyback.

Modern TAG Heuer has always been a brand somewhat caught between the heritage of Heuer and the hubris of Hublot. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you want a watch that’s more faithful to those collectible vintage Heuer chronographs, I’d direct you to the also-announced Carrera 60th Anniversary Edition, a faithful modern interpretation of the very rare 2447SN, because the new Monza is certainly more Hublot than vintage Heuer. And if TAG Heuer is going to keep making AAA super clone watches like this, why not use the Monza? Most hardcore Heuer collectors feel a much stronger affinity to that collectible trio of chronographs (Carrera, Autavia, Monaco); any following the Monza has is much smaller. So sure, take the Monza. Super-size it, skeletonize it, carbonize it. Make it cost nearly twice that new Carrera 60th Anniversary Edition, at almost $14,000.

The Heuer Caliber 02 is the real standout of the Monza. It’s a COSC-certified flyback chronograph, something we’ve only seen in the vintage-inspired Autavia released last year. A couple of years back, we explained why it can be one of the best-value Swiss-made chronographs on the market. It already features the column wheel and vertical clutch; the flyback functionality and COSC certification that TAG Heuer fake watches for sale first brought to the Autavia and now the Monza are souped-up bonuses.  

I recently read Jack Heuer’s autobiography, TheTimes of My Life. In it, he calls 1975, the year the Monza was developed, Heuer’s “Annus horribilis.” Sales dropped by a whopping 40 percent, and he said that “even the fact that Niki Lauda, driving for Ferrari, had won the Formula One championships, did not help to cheer us up.” The next section is titled “A takeover by Rolex Bienne,” where Heuer details the circumstances that almost led to Rolex acquiring Heuer; but that’s a story for another day. So that’s the environment Heuer released the original Monza into. It was a big, bold, blacked-out experimental replica watches shop that Heuer hoped might save a struggling manufacturer.

If modern TAG Heuer is going to release replica watches for men that looks like this, more vibrant than vintage, it seems fitting it’d use the Monza, born in an era when Heuer needed to be bold and experimental just to survive. Sure, it might not be your particular cup of TAG, but the Monza illustrates how, even 47 years after the release of the original, TAG Heuer is still pushing its watchmaking forward.