Alright, let’s talk about this Monaco Heuer thing. It started ages ago, probably saw it in some old movie or magazine photo. Steve McQueen, right? Looked cool, square, different. Got stuck in my head.
So, I started looking into it. First mistake, maybe. Went online, saw the prices. Wow. Okay, new plan. Couldn’t just walk into a fancy store and slap down the plastic. Started digging around the second-hand markets, forums, that kind of stuff. Took forever. You see a listing, looks promising, then you find out it’s got issues, or the seller is dodgy, or the price suddenly jumps.
Months of searching. Seriously, it felt like a part-time job. Comparing tiny details in photos, trying to figure out if it was legit. Found a few Heuer-only ones, before TAG got involved. Thought maybe that was the way to go, more ‘authentic’ or whatever.
Finally tracked one down. An older Heuer model. Looked okay in the pictures. Seller seemed alright over email. Agreed to meet. Bit of a drive, met the guy. Looked at the watch. Felt okay. Handed over the cash I’d been scraping together. Felt good for about five minutes.
Then I decided to get it serviced. You know, peace of mind. Took it to a watch guy I knew, someone supposed to be good. He opened it up. Big sigh. Told me the movement needed serious work, parts were gonna be a nightmare to find, cost a fortune. Basically said I’d bought myself a headache.
The Real Work Begins
And he wasn’t wrong. Finding parts for that specific old Heuer movement? Forget about it. Scoured the web again, contacted specialists. Everyone quoted crazy prices or just said ‘good luck’. It sat in pieces on the watchmaker’s bench for weeks.
- Sourced one part from Germany.
- Found another tiny gear from some collector in Japan.
- Paid way too much for shipping and customs.
The whole process was draining. Honestly, it reminded me of this one time I tried to get a simple reimbursement approved at an old job. Just endless hoops, paperwork, people saying ‘not my department’. You push and push, spend way too much energy, finally get it done, and just feel tired.
Got the watch back eventually. Looked good, ran okay. But the whole experience kind of soured it a bit? Cost me way more than I planned, not just in money but time and stress.
Do I wear it? Sometimes. It’s cool, yeah. Gets attention. But mostly it sits in a box. Kind of feels like a trophy from a battle I’m not sure I won. It’s a Monaco Heuer, sure. But getting it, keeping it running… well, that’s the part they don’t show in the movies.
