TAG Heuer’s 2026 Monza brings carbon fibre and a TH20-12 flyback movement

TAG Heuer has been launching new driving watches like there’s no tomorrow since it reprised its role as F1’s official timing partner last year, and its fresh takes on the Monaco and Carrera models have certainly had their fair share of space in Precision. So apologies for highlighting one more new arrival from the brand – but we think it’s a good one.

In 1971, Enzo Ferrari signed a contract that would land his F1 drivers a gold chronograph and CHF25,000 (£2500) apiece to wear the word Heuer on their race suits. Jack Heuer (the other signatory) claimed it was the best deal he ever did for his family brand. Not least because four years later Niki Lauda took the Heuer-branded Ferrari 312 T to victories in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, the Scuderia’s first F1 wins in either since 1964.

In 1976, Heuer marked the wins by launching a new Monza chronograph named after the circuit at which Lauda had brought home the laurels with a race in hand. It featured a black dial with red detailing to honour Ferrari’s racing livery, and an ovoid case in chrome or with a blackened finish.

A limited edition, the Monza disappeared from the catalogue before Heuer became TAG Heuer following its acquisition in 1985 by F1 turbocharger manufacturer and McLaren team owner Techniques d’Avant Garde.

The Monza nameplate was reinstated after LVMH acquired TAG Heuer in 1999, disappeared again in 2006, was briefly revived for a 2011 35th edition, and returned as a 40th anniversary special closely resembling the original. More recently (2023) the Monza name was used on a flyback chronograph that again revisited the black looks of the ’70s timepiece, but with a case made from forged carbon.

Now the Monza’s 50th anniversary is marked by this special edition with a carbon case. Vintage fans will like the split chapter ring with a tachymeter scale on the left (speed and distance calculations) and a pulsometer scale (heart rate, etc) on the right, just like the first Monza.

The new case isn’t anything like as oval as that of the ’76 version, with the latter’s distinctive left-hand winding crown replaced by one on the more conventional right. That’s because the 50th anniversary Monza is powered by TAG Heuer’s state-of-the-art TH20-12 flyback movement, above, a mechanism that also relocates the 60-minute counter and date window. Just 500 examples will be made.

TAG Monza Flyback Chronograph 50th Anniversary Edition, £11,300. tagheuer.com

IWC has backed Mercedes F1 as official engineering partner since 2013, but it wasn’t until four years ago that it introduced its first team watch, on the occasion of the 2022 Miami GP. This season’s Singapore race sees the launch of the fourth team model, based on the 41mm titanium chronograph from the Pilot range. It gets a purple dial inspired by Singapore’s national flower, an orchid first bred in 1893 by Armenian-Singaporean horticulturist Agnes Joaquim.

IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, £7400. iwc.com

Precision majors on driver’s watches, but since many readers probably appreciate great bicycles we thought this deserved a mention. Designed with Italian race bike builder Colnago, it features a 274-part movement laid out to resemble a cycle’s drive train, with the upper bridges shaped to mimic Colnago’s famous Master frames of the 1980s. The titanium bridges are lacquered white and hand-decorated with azure blue and gold leaf to replicate the livery of Colnago’s C68 road bikes. Only 50 of these watches will be made.

Richard Mille RM64-01 Tourbillon Colnago, £728,500. richardmille.com