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Monaco V4 – The First Mechanical Movement to Replace Traditional Pinions

In 1860, at the age of 20, Edouard Heuer founded a watchmaker’s workshop in Saint-Imier in the remote Jura Mountains of Switzerland. In 1869, Edouard Heuer relocated his workshop to Bienne and two years later, changed the course of watchmaking history forever with his first patented invention: a keyless, crown-operated winding system. A huge success at the Universal Exhibition in Vienna, this new generation of timepieces was soon among the most coveted in the world.

Sporting competition was expanding rapidly – on water, grass, cinder running tracks and roads. Measuring time accurately became increasingly important. Edouard Heuer was well aware of the opportunities and, in 1882, became one of the first to produce pocket chronographs in large quantities.

In 1887, TAG Heuer (originally named Heuer after its founder) patented one of the most important innovations in watchmaking: the famous oscillating pinion, used to this day by leading manufacturers in the production of mechanical chronographs. With this breakthrough invention, TAG Heuer became the reference standard in chronographs and timing instruments for high-level sports.

By the time of Edouard Heuer’s death in 1892, TAG Heuer’s creative vision and passion for innovation had laid the foundation for a watchmaking dynasty – one that was to continue to make an indelible mark on the on sports-related timepieces indefinitely.

Years later in 1970, after its scene-stealing debut on Steve McQueen’s wrist in the cult film, Le Mans, the TAG Heuer Monaco, a square-cased icon of sporting glamour, captured the spirit of an era and had everyone wanting to wear a TAG Heuer.

For Le Mans, Steve McQueen’s source of inspiration was his friend, Jo Siffert, the Swiss racing car legend who had become the first ever driver sponsored by a watch brand, TAG Heuer. The TAG Heuer Monaco had just been launched and so impressed McQueen that he insisted on wearing it in the film. The Monaco became the preferred chronograph of the racing and fashion world. Its unique geometry started a trend toward “shaped” watches. Instantly recognizable, often copied, the “McQueen Monaco” (Model 1133B) has become a highly prized collectors’ watch.

Since then, the Monaco’s emblematic square-shaped dial has been synonymous with TAG Heuer’s innovative aesthetic. In 2004, TAG Heuer created the revolutionary Monaco V4 Concept Watch. Inspired by the brand’s motor racing heritage (the watch’s name comes from the racing-engine-like V-formation of the movement’s four barrels), the V4 uses ball bearings and is belt-driven – a totally new type of watch movement. Following in their tradition of making exceptional sports’ timepieces, the 2009 Only Watch Monaco V4 is the most technically up to the minute blend of breakthrough technology with integrated advanced mechanical skeletal movement design. The watch is Number 1 of a limited series of 150.

The Monaco V4 is the first mechanical watch movement to replace traditional pinions with driving belts. The pinions of the traditional mechanical movement have been replaced with a relay of five driving belts whose tension is controlled by turnbuckles.

“Linking and turning two axes in the same direction by the use of a belt is much more efficient than by means of an intermediate wheel,” says Thomas Houlon, Brand Director at TAG Heuer. “This concept, the use of belts in a watch movement, is a TAG Heuer worldwide patent.”

A revolutionary linear automatic winding system is used to reload energy. The oscillating weight which generally supplies the energy for an automatic watch has been replaced by a linear oscillating weight.

In the Monaco V4 this is a 12g tungsten ingot that moves up and down on a track between the four spring barrels. The system of teeth on the long side of the weight engages a toothed wheel and translates the linear movement into a rotating movement.

The movement’s energy is provided by four barrels in 2-by-2 series and linked to a differential with a V-shaped bridge. Each barrel delivers 4 N.mm of energy. The barrels are mounted in a V-shape (at 15° in respect to the dial). The barrels are held directly onto the bottom plate, allowing the movement to be visible from below. It is this unique design component that gives the Monaco V4 its automobile-sounding name.

“It is the spirit of Only Watch, Monaco, racing driving, and audacity of Steve McQueen that we have integrated into this Monaco V4,” says Houlon. “We’ve taken the universe of racing driving and with the use of modern technologies we have invented our own complication. For me this watch is the essence of TAG Heuer – the vision of the future. There is lots of energy, passion and audacity in the brand and occasionally we get to fulfil our dreams and create something as unique as the Monaco V4 that restates the legitimacy of the brand.”