One of the best AAA replica TAG Heuer Monaco watches worn by Steve McQueen during the filming of Le Mans is to be auctioned for the first time.
The fake watches wholesale UK will come to Sotheby’s in December, a highlight of ‘Heuer Champions’ – a selection of vintage Heuer chronographs.
It is not the first time a Heuer Monaco worn during the making Le Mans has been sold at auction.
In 2020, identical perfect replica watches, also worn by McQueen during filming, sold for $2.2 million (£1.7m).
Another example with the same provenance sold at a Hollywood auction for $650,000 (£500,000) in 2012.
The idea to get the Monaco copy watches for men onto McQueen’s wrist in the 1971 movie is credited to Jack Heuer, now in his 90s and a grandson of the company founder. The square-cased chronograph was not selling well and getting a star to wear one was a swing for the fences.
In what stands as one of the greatest marketing coups of all time, the poster of McQueen in racing overalls wearing a Monaco changed everything. More than half a century later the luxury 2024 replica watches is still an icon for the brand, with countless evolutions continuing to spring from the original Monaco, first launched in 1969.
The top fake watches will appear at the Sotheby’s Important Watches sale in New York on 11th December and will be on display in Monterey, California from 14th – 17th August, before returning to Sotheby’s New York for exhibition from 5th – 10th December.
This will be the first time it has been on public view since McQueen wore it in the film.
It is one of six blue-dialled Monacos sent to the Le Mans set. Two were on stainless steel bracelets, and four with leather straps as worn by McQueen in the movie.
With two of the six Swiss made replica watches in the TAG Heuer museum collection, this ultra-rare piece has an estimate of $500,000 – $1 million.
Geoff Hess, Sotheby’s Global Head of Watches said, “As a lifelong lover of the Heuer brand, it is a career highlight for me to be involved in bringing one of the most important copy watches wholesale site in the history of the marque to auction.”
He added: “The connection between cars and watches is well-known, but the reference 1133B encapsulates this union in a way unmatched by other timepieces. For enthusiasts of racing, McQueen, or vintage chronographs, this super clone watches for sale represents the ultimate addition to any collection – a true ‘end game’ piece.”
