For the fourth consecutive year, Louis Vuitton and the Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) presented a bespoke Trophy Trunk for the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco. On Sunday, 26 May, tHE trunk revealed the winner’s trophy, the Trophy of H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco, during the Monegasque National Anthem and Prize Giving Podium Ceremonies.
This dynamic collaboration between Louis Vuitton and ACM actively highlights their shared values of tradition, excellence, and the art of transmission. Under the patronage of His Highness Prince Albert II, the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco stands out as one of the most glamorous and widely viewed sporting events globally. The race celebrates legendary champions like Fangio, Hill, and Senna while also highlighting recent stars such as Alonso, Hamilton, and Verstappen.
Louis Vuitton's hard sided, special-orders atelier in Asnières crafted the Trophy Trunk with exceptional, historic savoir-faire. Inspired by the iconic race, the trunk features the Monaco flag's red on the emblematic Monogram. Additionally, red lines form a "V" for "Victory," accented with a white band reminiscent of the race track. This Trophy Trunk continues the Maison's important tradition of crafting bespoke cases for the world's most iconic sports trophies.
Louis Vuitton’s creation of the Official Trophy Travel Case for the Grand Prix de Monaco is another example of its storied tradition of crafting bespoke travel cases for the world's most iconic trophies. They include the FIFA World Cup, NBA Larry O’Brien Trophy, League of Legends Trophy, Rugby World Cup France 2023, Davis Cup, Roland Garros, and the America’s Cup.
As a testament to its enduring craftsmanship, Louis Vuitton will present specially designed medal and torch trunks for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. These trunks will play a pivotal role in key celebratory moments, including the Olympic and Paralympic Torches Relays. Furthermore, the trunks will be prominently showcased at the Champions Park—a free-to-public access during the games.
Fifty-five years after the launch of the TAG Heuer Monaco, the brand decided to shake things up. And it lies in the keyword: "rattrapante" (French for "catch up"). It's a chronograph movement that's difficult to manufacture. TAG Heuer's repute is built upon its split-seconds rattrapante function during the early days of motorsports. It is this complication that would lead to some of TAG Heuer's best chronograph mechanisms like its newly announced Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph.
In the early days of motorsports, TAG Heuer was hard at work in mastering the split-seconds. Introduced in 1916, its Mikrograph was the preferred timekeeping device with a recording down to 1/100th of a second. Then came the Microsplit, another rattrapante also accurate to 1/100th of a second. The iconic 11.402 model would arrive later, this time capable of measuring time with 1/10th of a second accuracy.
The 11.402 model was Jean Campiche of Scuderia Ferrari fame and then in 1989, TAG Heuer gave us a quartz split-seconds chronograph wristwatch that was popular among racing legends like Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger and Michael Schumacher.
This brings us to the split-seconds chronograph: TAG Heuer's Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph.
The distinctive square-shape dial, the split-seconds innovation... it's a match-up that's a long time coming. Constructed from lightweight grade-5 titanium and sapphire crystal, you can peer through the domed sapphire crystal to see its inner workings. Within the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph is the TH81-00 calibre, that's developed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier. Not only is this a precision in timekeeping, it's also one of the lightest chronograph movements ever crafted by TAG Heuer. It comes in two colourways: a racing red or classic Monaco-blue.
The price tag for this is (does a spit-take) a whooping USD138,000 but with a complication like a split-seconds movement, it may be worth every coin.
