When TAG Heuer debuted the Monaco in 1969, its unconventional big square dial was avant-garde. Many watch purists even snubbed the design, but Steve McQueen, the “king of cool,” saw the vision and sported the bulky timepiece alongside his race suit in Le Mans (1971). The rest, as they say, is history, and now it’s arguably the most iconic race watch. 

It’s also, in an era of paper-thin tourbillons and gigantic watches which double-up as roulette wheels, no longer quite so radical. However, the all-new TAG Heuer Monaco Speed 12, limited to only 50 units priced at $87,000 apiece, changes that. 

Debuted at the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Grand Prix de Monaco 2026, where 19-year-old Mercedes racer Kimi Antonelli claimed his fifth win of the season, the Monaco Speed 12 is fittingly made to look like a 12-cylinder car engine. 

The “engine” features 12 numbered pistons which spin to reveal the hour and replace the Monaco’s classic watch face. This is possible thanks to the “Spin Time” movement developed by Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking division, La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, based just outside Geneva.

LVMH owning both LV and TAG Heuer helps make this kind of cross-company collaboration easier. 

While the pistons spin according to the hour, the minute hand rotates around the watch face, something that’s only possible through complicated engineering. Typically, Louis Vuitton neutralizes its unique movement by making the rest of its rotating hand watches relatively classic. But not TAG Heuer.

Instead, the Swiss watchmaker creates what looks like an aggressively fast car engine trapped inside a square glass frame and surrounded by Grade 5 titanium. You can imagine how the watchmaking purists would’ve reacted if TAG Heuer presented this Monaco watch back in ‘69. 

Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit HS Shopping for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.