In Depth · Monceau

Can Monceau’s hand-wound Model 01 GTS still be a sports watch?

Sandblasted steel, a 39 mm case and a manual Sellita movement give the Tobacco Targa a deliberate set of trade-offs.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 12 October 2026

• The Model 01 GTS Tobacco Targa asks whether a slim hand-wound watch can meet the everyday sports-watch brief.
• A sandblasted 39 mm steel case frames a brown fumé dial inspired by Porsche’s late-1970s Tabakmetallic paint.
• Monceau lists the bracelet version at A$1,680 and £869, with an initial allocation of 150 pieces due in January 2027.

The usual sports-watch bargain is convenience: automatic winding, a polished steel case and a bracelet that catches the light. Monceau asks whether a thinner, quieter object can still earn the name. Its launch page dates pre-orders to 22 September 2026, so this is a look at the watch on its own terms rather than a claim about a fresh announcement. The specific example is the Model 01 GTS Tobacco Targa.

What the sandblasting does to a familiar shape

At 39 mm across, 44.7 mm from lug to lug and 8.4 mm thick before the crystal, the GTS is proportioned to sit low. The sapphire crystal brings the quoted total height to 10.2 mm, a distinction worth keeping because the two numbers answer different questions about how a watch clears a cuff. Sandblasted 316L steel gives the case and bracelet a diffuse surface instead of a bright edge, while the angular case still has enough form to avoid disappearing into a grey slab.

The steel bracelet uses flat links and a folding clasp with sliding micro-adjustment. That adjustment is a more everyday advantage than the automotive language around the dial, because a bracelet fitted in the morning can feel tight by afternoon. Monceau also offers an FKM rubber strap with matching sandblasted hardware, and the quick-release bracelet is intended to make switching between the two straightforward. We have not handled either option, so the quality of the clasp and the way the links articulate remain questions for a wrist test.

Tobacco Targa keeps the colour inside the dial

The brown fumé dial takes its cue from Tabakmetallic, a Porsche paint colour used on 911s in the late 1970s, according to Monceau. That connection is specific enough to be more than a generic motorsport label, but the execution is restrained: the colour darkens towards the rim and sits beneath a dense ring of block-like hour markers. Small blue minute numerals and a blue seconds hand interrupt the brown and steel without making the watch look like a dashboard instrument.

The dial is also a useful test of the case finish. On a mirror-polished watch, that much brown might compete with the reflections around it; here the matte steel acts as a frame. Monceau says the markings use Swiss Super-LumiNova BGW9, giving the otherwise quiet dial a functional after-dark layer. Whether the many closely spaced markers remain easy to parse at a glance is harder to judge from a product image, although the long rectangular hour blocks are clear in the brand's own front view.

Hand winding is a design decision, not nostalgia alone

Inside is an Elaboré-grade Sellita SW210-1, a hand-wound movement that Monceau also uses in its Model 01. The maker says its examples are regulated in three positions and show decorated, rhodium-plated bridges through an exhibition back. The absence of a winding rotor helps explain the low case profile, but it also gives the owner a daily relationship with the crown. That is a real trade for someone who expects a sports watch to be ready whenever it is picked up.

The exhibition back is important to that bargain. With no rotor moving over the bridges, the owner has an uninterrupted view of the calibre when the watch is off the wrist. Monceau describes Côtes de Genève striping and a signed bridge, which gives the movement something to offer visually as well as mechanically. Decoration does not establish better timekeeping, and the stated three-position regulation is the only performance preparation the brand specifies. It is enough to distinguish this from a bare movement hidden behind a solid back.

The crown is a push-pull design with a dual-gasket system, and the watch is rated to 100 metres of water resistance. Those details make the GTS more useful around water than its slimness might suggest, while stopping short of a screw-down-crown claim the brand does not make. The manual calibre and sealed steel case pull in different directions, but that tension is part of the watch's character. It is a sports watch for the person who enjoys a small daily ritual.

Monceau Model 01 GTS Tobacco Targa pricing and availability

Monceau lists the Tobacco Targa on the sandblasted steel bracelet at A$1,680 on its Australian storefront and £869 on its UK listing. A separate FKM strap configuration is listed in Britain at £769. The page calls this an initial allocation of 150 pieces, shows an order option and expects delivery in January 2027. The maker offers worldwide shipping, with local taxes and duties potentially payable outside the UK. This is a considered choice for somebody who values a slim case and the act of winding as much as an easy, always-running automatic. The official specification makes that proposition clear; its wear and finishing still need direct inspection.