1969 was a historic year for Heuer, with the introduction of the first automatic chronographs – the Autavia, Carrera and Monaco – but Heuer soon commenced the process of building out its range of additional chronographs that would use the newly developed Calibre 12 movement. First among these new models were the Calculator, a massive chronograph that incorporated a slide rule into its inner and outer bezels, and the Montreal, a bold model that would launch the series of Heuer chronographs capturing the fashion and spirit of the 1970s. At its launch in 1972, the Montreal exemplified the outrageous style of the decade – the case was massively oversized, with radical geometry and alternating brushed and polished finishes, and the dials, inner bezels and hands used bright, contrasting colors. 

While later in the 1970s Heuer would use the name of racing venues for its chronographs (Daytona, Monza and Jarama, for example), the Montreal chronograph was named to capture the energy and cosmopolitan style of the metropolitan that was emerging as a leading city of the world. Montreal had hosted the World’s Fair in 1967 (called “Expo 1967”) and had been named to host the Summer Olympic Games in 1976. Formula One racing would only come to Montreal in 1978, when the island that had been built to host Expo 1967 was reconfigured to incorporate a race track.