Racing, celebrities and a rare and important timepiece make for a winning combination on the secondary watch market. The Heuer Monaco 1133B , one of the most iconic and storied racing watches ever worn by actor and driver Steve McQueen , will be one of the featured lots at Sotheby’s Important Watches sale in New York on December 11. Its estimate is $500,000 to $1 million .
There are “few images that capture the synergy between the worlds of watchmaking and motorsport as well as Steve McQueen, protagonist of the popular 1971 racing film Le Mans , in his striped Gulf racing suit and blue-dial Heuer Monaco,” Sotheby’s said in a statement. The 1133B will be part of a curated selection of vintage Heuer chronographs that reflect Heuer’s heritage and connection to motorsport at Sotheby’s. The themed sale is titled “Heuer Champions.”
The historically significant watch is one of six blue-dial Heuer Monaco 1133B models sent to the Le Mans race . Two of them were fitted with stainless steel bracelets and four of them had leather straps, Sotheby’s said. The model in this auction is one of four watches worn by McQueen in the film. Two of the six watches used in the filming are in the collection of the TAG Heuer museum. This is therefore one of the last watches worn in the film to be auctioned.
According to Sotheby’s, the watch has an unbroken ownership history from its initial production to the present day. It was part of a consignment of other watches and timing equipment sent from Heuer’s factory in Switzerland to the set at the request of the estate manager, Don Nunley. After filming, it was acquired by Bevan Weston, a mechanic on the set.
Weston would wear the watch for forty years while continuing his work as a racing car mechanic, according to Sotheby’s. He sold the watch to a private collector in 2010 , who is offering the piece at auction.
The vintage watch appeared in public for the first time in over fifty years at RM Sotheby’s flagship Monterey auction from August 14-17. It will reappear in public at Sotheby’s New York from December 5-10, prior to the sale.
Launched in 1969, the Heuer Monaco was one of the first commercially available automatic chronograph wristwatches , introduced with the revolutionary Calibre 11 automatic chronograph movement. Other distinctive features include the water-resistant, square stainless steel case and the blue dial with red hands and white subdials. Geoff Hess, Sotheby’s Global Head of Watches, stated that this watch would set the stage for the future of sports watches.
“As a lifelong lover of the Heuer brand, it is a milestone in my career to participate in the auction of one of the most important watches in the history of the brand,” said Hess. “The connection between cars and watches is well known, but the reference 1133B embodies this connection in a way that is unmatched by other watches.”
The watch was not initially a commercial success. However, its association with McQueen and Le Mans cemented its status in popular culture . In 1985, Heuer was acquired by Techniques d’Avant Garde, and the merged company was renamed TAG Heuer. The model was relaunched in 1997 under the TAG Heuer brand and achieved success thanks to advertising campaigns featuring McQueen’s image in the film, according to Sotheby’s.
