: I just spoke with our best expert here in the United States, to
: ask him the question of exactly when production of the
: "transitional" Monacos began and ended. Here are some
: of the points that he made: Production of the
: "transitional" Monacos probably began in late 1969 and
: he believes that this production may also have ended before the
: end of 1969. Perhaps a few could have been made in early 1970,
: but he is doubtful that many were made in 1970, if any at all.

: This tells us that this was a relatively short production run . .
: . longer than the Chronomatics, but far shorter than the run of
: "standard" Monacos [brushed hands, with red trim and
: triangular tips], which began in early 1970.

: There were probably only around a dozen of these transitional
: models sent to the United States, and most of these were
: probably "salesman's samples", used by the salesmen to
: show these amazing new watches to the retailers. Of course, when
: the standard version Monaco was introduced in 1970, these
: "salesman's samples" were replaced / retired. Still,
: over time, the transitional samples ended up going to customers
: or other connected with the company, after they were retired.

: A conclusion from all this is that very few of these transitional
: Monacos would have been sold through normal retail channels, at
: least in the United States. I have to imagine that this same
: approach / pattern would have applied in other markets . . . but
: we cannot be certain. I hope that other readers will be able to
: add more information to this thread!

: Jeff

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