Patrick Dempsey Tag Heuer Watches

Patrick Dempsey is best known for his long-running role as Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd in Grey’s Anatomy. What many people don’t know is that aside from acting, he has one other passion – racing.

Dempsey, who maintains a sports car and vintage car collection, has competed in elite events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Rolex 24 at Daytona, and even owns a racing team, Dempsey Racing. His enthusiasm for the sport, and for racing timepieces, makes him a perfect ambassador for Tag Heuer.

We went watch spotting and identified the Tag Heuer watches on Patrick Dempsey’s wrist.

We’ve seen Patrick wear the very striking Tag Heuer Monaco Gulf. Channeling the powder blue and bright orange found on Gulf Oil-sponsored racing cars, this is one lively watch.

This collaboration of two iconic brands – Tag Heuer and Gulf Oil, the oil company that sponsored Steve McQueen in the film “Le Mans”, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the iconic Gulf racing stripes. Aside from the cool call out to Gulf Oil’s racing colors, the watch is complemented by a blue leather strap with orange stitching.

One of Patrick’s prized possessions is a vintage Tag Heuer Monaco from 1972. The watch has a black dial and red accents, complemented by a red leather strap. He’s often photographed with the timepiece, which he bought on his way to race in the WEC and Supercup races in Belgium. | photo: James Stacey

The Tag Heuer Autavia holds a special place in Tag’s history as the first chronograph from the brand to have a rotating bezel and be given a model name.

This modern Autavia Heuer 02, launched in 2017, was born out of the “Autavia Cup” campaign. Over 50,000 fans had the opportunity to choose which vintage model would be launched the following year as a historically inspired edition.

Of course no Tag Heuer collection would be complete without the iconic blue Tag Heuer Monaco. Patrick wears the CAW2111, whose square case, rich royal blue dial and red central hand are faithful to the original model popularized by Steve McQueen.

This version is the 2010 edition, measuring 39mm and is considered more angular than other editions. Powered by the now discontinued Calibre 12 movement, which was replaced by the new Monaco Heuer 02 – it’s still very much in demand in the pre-owned market.

While Patrick is very partial to the Monaco, he does have one Carrera in his collection – the Carrera Indy 500 watch based on the modular skeleton dial Carrera Heuer 01.

TAG Heuer has been the official timekeeper of the iconic Indianapolis 500 race since 2004, and this watch, with a limited edition of 100 pieces, marks the 100th running of the race.

The latest watch to grace the wrist of Patrick Dempsey is the limited edition Tag Heuer Monaco 1989-1999. This is the third of five limited edition pieces meant to celebrate the Monaco’s 50th anniversary.

Celebrating the Monaco’s third decade of production, the 1989-1999 applies stylistic influences from the 1990s to the template of the classic 1969 chronograph.