Heuer Monaco 740303N

Heuer Monaco 'Dark Lord' Ref. 740303N Vintage PVD

The Heuer Monaco 'Dark Lord' Ref. 740303N - this is an authentic PVD watch. The crystal is not original and is a cheap protector which will need to be replaced with an original. The rest of the watch is original and authentic. I have owned this watch for around 5 years with the intention of having it completed but have not done it so offering it for sale. It is in unrestored and untouched condition. Free overnight shipping. Serial 25XXXX Below taken from Phillips.com. Initially, though, the Monaco was not a great commercial success. The Autavia and the Carrera were much more popular, which may have indirectly led to the creation of the "Dark Lord." The lack of interest in the Monaco gave Heuer license to experiment, and that's exactly what it did, in 1974, when it put a few cases through a newly developed blackening treatment. The resutling PVD Monacos were fitted with a small batch of unused Valjoux 7740 movements, which run faster than other Monaco movements and have the winding crown placed on the right side, between the chronograph pushers. The dial design though was similar to the automatic steel reference 1133, with the same two registers for hour and minutes and a date window at 6 o'clock, but the new reference looked almost nothing like the original. The luminous bars, orange accents, raised register central numerals and all-black case and dial combo transformed this funky icon of the seventies into a strikingly modern timepiece. To this day, nobody knows exactly how many PVD Monacos were made, but Jack Heuer recently said the company made between 100 and 200 examples. Either way, the ‘Dark Lord’ was always an endangered species which more than forty years later finds itself on the verge of extinction due to the fragility of the PVD-coating. Remember, the "Dark Lord" was one of the first PVD-coated experiments, and Heuer's watchmakers were still working out how thick the PVD layer should be. In fact, they appear to have underestimated the amount, and it's very possible Heuer decided not to sell the "Dark Lord" because it felt the coating came off too easily. However, this first experience would be invaluable and two years later, Heuer would introduce the first PVD-coated Monza, this time officially including it in the catalogue.