MONTBLANC - TimeWriter 1-Metamorphosis

The watch with two faces.






Press Release 

In founding the Minerva Institute two year ago, Montblanc was not merely concerned with ensuring the survival of the legendary manufacturer. The brand has also developed the Timewriter concept which supports projects by creative watchmakers with innovative ideas, of which the first concrete example is the TimeWriter 1-Metamorphosis.

TimeWriter 1-Metamorphosis

Designed by Johnny Girardin and Franck Orny, this watch changes face by means of an entirely original quick-change mechanism. Activating a slidepiece on the side of the teardrop-shape case entirely transforms the appearance of this timepiece displaying the hours, minutes, seconds and date into that of a complete chronograph. In the space of 15 seconds, four wings open on the lower part of the dial before disappearing beneath the central bar. Simultaneously, a similar sequence takes place with the two wings located on the regulator-type display at 12 o’clock.

The chronograph minute counter then appears, as if pulled up by a lift. This stunning visual effect will be savoured by just 28 devotees of fine watchmaking.


TimeWriter 1-Metamorphosis

Movement: mechanical hand-wound Calibre MB16.29, 55-hour power reserve
Case: white gold
Diameter: 47mm
Functions: in the classic version, hour counter, retrograde minutes, central seconds, date; in the chronograph version, centre seconds, 31-minute counter
Caseback: sapphire crystal
Strap: alligator strap
Water resistance: 30m
Limited edition: 28

MONTBLANC - TimeWalker Chronograph Diamonds Automatic

Top quality diamonds assume new dynamism.

January 18th, 2010 at Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Geneva - The clear-cut contours of the Montblanc TimeWalker collection combine traditional values with the aesthetics of the 21st century. They bear the unmistakable influence of Bauhaus-inspired form and functionality as clearly as the boldly contoured, airy lines of architectural forms that have only been made possible thanks to state-of-the-art materials and methods.

 Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Diamonds Automatic.

In the new Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Diamonds Automatic, this forward-looking design takes on a sparkle as traditional as it is modern: the fire of top quality diamonds.

If diamond jewellery has been reserved mainly for watches with a daintier appeal in more recent years, the most precious gemstones of them all are now being worn increasingly in everyday situations and during our leisure hours. And if one wristwatch that combines elegance with sporting dynamism were predestined to be decorated with diamonds, it would have to be the Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Diamonds Automatic with all its sculptured details.



The art of the jeweller…

This particular piece of diamond jewellery is based on an 18 K red gold case, which, despite its imposing diameter of 43 mm, still appears extremely light. This is due not least to the watch's dynamic silhouette and the fluid contours of the lugs, which are painstakingly skeletonized. The case is crowned by a red gold bezel, which is set with no fewer than 72 Top Wesselton diamonds weighing a total of approx. 1.16 ct. This creates a perfect setting from which to radiate the sparkle and luminescence of the diamonds over the white dial. The impressive contrast of top quality diamonds with the simple, technical design of the dial, which features chronograph counters, a small seconds hand and date window, makes it clear that gemstones are not only decorative but can also add a touch of vibrancy and dynamism.



....meets that of the watchmaker



Diamonds are not the only outstanding feature in the new Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Diamonds Automatic. The self-winding mechanical movement with its built-in chronograph function is an expression of the art of watchmaking at its finest. Each movement is sent to the C.O.S.C. (Swiss official chronometer testing centre), where its rate is monitored over a period of 15 days, and possesses an official certificate testifying to its extraordinary precision. And to ensure that the owner's pleasure is not limited to a mere piece of paper, the case features a sapphire glass back through which one can admire the beautifully decorated mechanical movement with its balance and heavy rotor. The latter starts to rotate at the slightest movement of the wearer's arm and rapidly builds up a power reserve of 46 hours. And if the watch stops as a result of not being worn for a while, it can be wound manually using the crown.

This watch launched in autumn 2009 is made of 18 K red gold and, as an indication of its provenance, features an inlaid Montblanc emblem made of genuine mother-of-pearl. Noblesse oblige.

**More articles about Montblanc Wristwatches.

MONTBLANC - Hommage to a “grande tradition”

The Vintage Chronographe in the Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858.

 

The "Vintage"

With its unmistakable dial, which emphasizes finely calibrated scales, the Vintage Chronographe is a superlative device for the measurement of brief intervals of time. Only the most powerful innovations of the past can become the traditions of today – and are awarded the appellation “vintage”. The same applies to this new chronograph in the Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858, which boasts a spirally shaped tachymeter scale in the center of its dial. A coiled scale of this kind was a typical and frequent feature on the legendary Minerva chronographs from the 1910s and 1930s.

The manufacture’s archive preserves from those years many enamel dials which are marked with specially calibrated scales for special applications in the exacting discipline of measuring brief intervals: for example, some of these dials were destined for use in regatta watches, others in pulsometers or counters. Some of the dials with finely calibrated scales were used on timepieces that could measure intervals to the nearest hundredth of a second. This wide variety of specific applications and highly precise movements helped Villeret’s watchmakers to earn a fine reputation as chronograph specialists. Today too, they continue to enjoy unanimous admiration from connoisseurs and aficionados of mechanical timekeeping.

The periphery of the Vintage’s dial was reserved for the telemeter scale, so the tachymeter scale was shifted into the center, where it was coiled like a snail’s shell so that it would be long enough to be used for tachymeter measurements up to three minutes in duration. Hence, these watches were genuinely multifunctional instruments that wed high functionality with masterful horological artistry. This grand tradition lives on in the Vintage Chronographe. As went without saying in bygone years and as is naturally also true of today’s Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858, the entire dial is crafted in the most exclusive manner. The face is covered with grand feu enamel: a platelet of solid gold is heated in a kiln to a temperature of around 800 degrees Celsius, thus fusing it to an uppermost layer of vitreous molten enamel.


The quiet ticking beneath this noble dial hints at the presence of the legendary MBM Calibre 16.29, a movement which is endowed with all the characteristics that raise the pulse rater of watch lovers: a large and weighty balance, with adjustment screws along its rim, oscillates at a pace of 18,000 A/h (2.5 hertz); a balance-spring with a Philips terminal curve; a swan’s neck fine adjustment mechanism; a V-shaped chronograph-bridge; a meticulously and manually beveled and finely finished chronograph-lever; classical horizontal coupling; and a column-wheel to control the chronograph’s functions. Naturally, the “mise en function”, i.e. the exact abrading of the chronograph-lever, is performed during many hours of painstaking manual craftsmanship to a precision of several 1,000ths of a millimeter.

A new feature, on the other hand, is the outward impression made by this device for measuring brief intervals. The watch’s case has a rather unpretentious but nevertheless contemporary diameter of 43.5 millimeters. To preserve the proportions and thus the overall impression of a typical Villeret watch, all of the case’s parameters (including the horns) had to be entirely newly designed and constructed. The result is a timepiece which unmistakably shows that it belongs to one of the world’s most exclusive lines of watches, yet nonetheless makes a somewhat sportily technical impression. Like all other watches in the Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858, the Vintage Chronographe will be available only in a strictly limited edition. Here, the series consists of 58 timepieces in 18 K red gold cases with white grand feu enamel dials and brown alligator-leather wristbands, and another set of 58 watches in 18 K white gold cases with black grand feu enamel dials and black alligator-leather wristbands.

MONTBLANC - The Emancipation of the Tourbillon

The New ExoTourbillon Chronographe from Montblanc’s Collection Villeret 1858.

The "ExoTourbillon"

January 18th, 2010 at Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Geneva - The newest creation in Montblanc’s Collection Villeret 1858 features a delightfully surprising and trailblazing innovation. The new ExoTourbillon Chronographe is a regulator watch with a large centrally axial minute-hand, a distinct hour display, an indicator for the time in a second time zone (with day/night display), a subdial for the seconds, a chronograph with a counter for 30 elapsed minutes, and an absolutely unprecedented tourbillon with a balance larger than the tourbillon’s rotating cage and positioned outside it.

The ExoTourbillon Chronographe is the first watch in Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection to unite two of the most avidly admired horological complications: a chronograph function and a tourbillon. Mastery of the difficulty of crafting these complications numbers among the distinguishing characteristics of the Institut Minerva, which has here combined the two complications in a highly unusual fashion: the chronograph upholds the lovely tradition with a column-wheel and horizontal coupling, and the four-minute tourbillon boasts a never-before-seen innovation.


But what exactly does a tourbillon accomplish? Due to the subassembly’s architecture, the center of gravity of the balance and balance-spring in every mechanical watch is never absolutely collinear with the center of the balance’s axis of rotation. This off-centeredness causes a disadvantage when the watch is in a vertical position: the oscillations of the balance are disturbed by the influence of gravity on its eccentric center of gravity. The ingenious tourbillon mechanism was invented to solve this problem: the balance is borne inside a cage that continually rotates around its own axis. The eccentric center of gravity accordingly orbits the tourbillon’s axis of rotation at this same rate. The accelerating effect caused by the Earth’s gravity on the center of gravity during the first 180° of the tourbillon’s rotation is compensated by an analogous de-accelerating effect during the second 180°. The long-term result is a movement that runs at a regular rate.

This clever mechanism underwent further optimization for the ExoTourbillon Chronographe: the balance has been separated from the cage to isolate it from the disturbing movements of the escapement. This separation made it possible to create the world’s first tourbillon in which the rotating cage is smaller than the balance, which oscillates outside the cage and on a higher plane. This architecture also inspired the watch’s name, which includes the Greek prefix exo, meaning outside. The balance in this unconventional configuration is borne between two jewels - it is neither cantilevered (“flying”) nor is it borne between two bridges - while the tourbillon turns at the foot of the axis in a two-point bearing.


The reason for this most elaborate construction is that the traditionally large and massive balance would have required a comparably large rotating cage if it had been positioned within a conventional tourbillon. A smaller tourbillon has less mass and consequently requires less energy for its rotations. The rotating cage is also freed from the weight of the balance, which further reduces the amount of energy it consumes. This architecture requires about 30% less energy than conventional constructions. The energy saved here can be used to power the chronograph’s functions.

Another essential advantage: Being separated from the rotating cage, the balance is not adversely affected by the inertia of the cage and consequently oscillates with greater precision. This innovation is entirely in accord with the statutory task of the Institut Minerva: namely, to cultivate the authentic Swiss watchmaking tradition and to combine it with ongoing innovation, thereby assuring a bright future for this noble and artful handicraft. It goes without saying that this invention has been registered for patent protection and that it will be used exclusively in the timepieces which comprise Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection.

The owner of an ExoTourbillon Chronographe can enjoy the spectacular vista of a large balance (with weight screws along its rim) that’s free to oscillate in all its beauty and turns around its own axis, without being cramped inside the narrow confines of the tourbillon’s cage. With commensurate self-confidence, it proudly presents itself in a large aperture cut into the dial at the “12 o’clock” position and above a plate that has been manually embellished with circular graining.

Tourbillon Chronograph with Regulator Dial

The watch’s face boasts a typical regulator configuration. A large minute-hand and the chronograph’s elapsed seconds-hand share a common axis at the center of the dial. The subdial for the hours is shifted out of the center and occupies the lower half of the watch’s face. Additional displays portray a miniature solar system with a golden sun (the tourbillon) at the “12,” the Earth at the “6,” the moon in the form of a small 24-hour dial between the “4” and the “5” (as a day/night display for the time in a second time zone), and two other heavenly bodies in the form of the small seconds at the “9” and the chronograph’s counter for 30 elapsed minutes at the “3.” The last-mentioned display is semicircular, with two differently colored scales calibrated for 0 to 15 and 15 to 30 minutes, respectively. The tips of two unequally long and differently colored hands each serves its designated scale.

Monopusher Chronograph with Column-Wheel Control

The Calibre 16.60 is a chronograph movement with a large and centrally axial counter for the elapsed seconds, a counter for 30 elapsed minutes, a classical column-wheel and horizontal coupling. The chronograph lever is elaborately finished by hand, and the mise en fonction is likewise accomplished manually: the surfaces where the chronograph lever contacts the column-wheel and the heart disc are observed through a watchmaker’s loupe during the operation of the chronograph’s functions and are gradually and meticulously abraded to a tolerance in the hundredths-of-a-millimeter range. The steel parts and the chronograph bridge (in the “V” shape typical of Minerva’s products) are manually beveled and polished.


A finely grained stone is used to polish the lever; the bridges are manually adorned with Geneva stripes. The large and massive balance, with weight screws along its rim and a Phillips curve at one end of its balance-spring, oscillates at the classical frequency of 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour (2.5 hertz), which makes it possible to measure brief intervals to the nearest fifth of a second. The chronograph’s start, stop and return-to-zero functions are operated sequentially by depressing a button in the crown.

Second Time Zone and Day/Night Display

Frequent flyers will appreciate the fact that the ExoTourbillon Chronographe can display the time in two different time zones. The skeletonized hour-hand on the hours subdial indicates the local time, while the tip of the blued steel hour-hand points to the hour in the wearer’s home time zone. When the watch is worn in the home zone, these two hands are always positioned one atop the other; when the wearer travels to a different time zone, he or she can press the button at the “8” to advance the local-time hour-hand in single-hour increments until the hand indicates the correct local time. The current time at the wearer’s home is shown on the little 24-hour dial with day/night indicator and blued steel hand.

Collector’s Items in a Limited Edition

Also because they’re manufactured in strictly limited editions, the chronographs in Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection are ardently sought rarities. This distinction is further enhanced by the extremely unusual combination of a chronograph and a tourbillon, and even further refined by the presence of a unique tourbillon construction. Only one unique piece of the ExoTourbillon Chronographe will be manufactured in platinum, along with limited editions of 8 pieces each in 18K white gold and in 18K red gold (5N).


The watches with white or red gold cases have massive gold dials on which the slender grooves of manually applied guilloche embellishment invite incident lights to dance. Delicately shimmering mother-of-pearl is inset into portions of the dial on the one-of-a-kind platinum watch. Each of the impressive 47-mm-diameter cases is high-gloss polished and fitted with an arcing bezel that securely holds a highly domed sapphire crystal with vertically falling flanks (forme chevée). A pane of sapphire crystal is integrated into the back, which is screwed to the case and protected by a hinged cover which is opened by a patented mechanism concealed between the horns.

Each watch is engraved with the words “Edition Limitée,” “Montblanc” and “Fait main à Villeret” (i.e. handmade in Villeret). The interior of the hinged cover is signed “Demetrio Cabiddu Maître Horloger,” thus identifying by name the technical director of the manufacture, who led the team that developed the Calibre 16.60. This bears the gold-filled engraving “Minerva Villeret” and can be admired by peering through the pane of sapphire crystal in the back of the watch when the cover is opened. Naturally, the Montblanc logo hasn’t been forgotten: the familiar six-pointed star, which symbolizes the six tongues of the glacier that covers Europe’s tallest mountain peak, has represented the utmost in European handcraftsmanship for many decades. The same stellar emblems, executed in genuine mother-of-pearl, grace the watches’ winding crowns.

These new collector’s items in Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection are affixed to alligator-leather straps, each of which is equipped with a pronged buckle made of either 18K white gold, 18K red gold or 950 platinum, depending upon the material of which the model’s case is made.

**More About Montblanc News.

The Star 4810 Chronograph-- Montblanc's new release for the masses at SIHH 2010

January 2010

Montblanc Star 4810 Chronograph Automatic: Cool Stainless Steel with a Touch of Red Gold

Elegantly austere design distinguishes the Montblanc Star 4810 as a modern watch line in Montblanc’s collection.

This line was augmented a year ago with the introduction of the Montblanc Star 4810 Chronograph, a new model that instantly attracted a great many watch lovers and admirer of the brand Montblanc. This new chronograph’s strong popularity isn’t so very surprising because not only the ability to measure brief intervals of elapsed time has numbered among the most avidly coveted complications on the watch market during the past several years but with this model Montblanc’s watchmakers offer the ideal combination of perfect functionality and beautiful design. This watch’s popularity has now prompted Montblanc to launch another new model, which innovatively recombines the attractive elements of previous variants.

The new chronograph is the most beautiful embodiment of the “less is more” principle of design which distinguishes all of the timepieces in the Montblanc Star 4810 collection. And this “time-writing” debutante proves that small changes can have very big consequences. For example, instead of hands, indices and Roman numerals made of gleaming silver, these three organs on the new version with a polished stainless steel case glow with the warm hue of red gold, which lends an attractive “retro” touch to this timepiece’s modern styling. These red gold elements also create a striking contrast with the pale dial, where incident lights seem to dance atop a grooved guilloche pattern. This noble guilloche décor forms Montblanc’s familiar emblem at the “6 o’clock” position: concentric waves spread across the dial from this epicenter, elegantly reiterating the logo’s stellar contours.

Design as an Expression of Quality

The high-quality stainless steel case is watertight to three bar and incorporates readily operable rectangular push-pieces at the “2” and “4” to control the chronograph’s functions. Fluting along the crown’s flanks makes it easier to grasp this amply dimensioned component which, despite its large size, doesn’t uncomfortably prod the back of the wrist.

A narrow, high-gloss-polished, 44-mm bezel surrounds an arced, doubly antireflective pane of sapphire crystal, beneath which the generously proportioned dial provides plenty of space for a diverse array of indicators. Two large subdials for 30 elapsed minutes and 12 elapsed hours, plus a big date window at the “6,” accentuate the watch’s vertical axis, which is continued by the wristband. Off-center scales for the chronograph’s elapsed-time counters, which broaden continually from the dial’s center toward the bezel, are particularly eye-catching details. By contrast, the indicator for the continually running seconds, with its sestet of slender ten-second indices, seems petite and discreet at the “9 o’clock” position. A trio of hands sweep their arcs above the dial: the chronograph’s elapsed-seconds hand has a red tip at one end and a pierced Montblanc emblem serving as a counterweight at the other end, while the hour-hand and minute-hand are designed in classical dauphine shape. Good nighttime legibility is assured by a coating of Superluminova applied to the hands and to the dots that serve as indices. A small but by no means unimportant detail: the seconds scale along the flange (or réhaut) is correctly subdivided into quarters of a second: this calibration corresponds to the balance’s frequency of four hertz.

Time Measurement at its Best Quality

The Montblanc Star 4810 Chronograph Automatic is powered by the mechanical Montblanc Calibre 4810/501 with integrated chronograph mechanism and automatic winding. Its balance oscillates at a pace of 28,800 A/h (four hertz), amasses a ca. 46-hour power reserve when fully wound, and is safely ensconced inside a protective stainless steel case. A pane of sapphire crystal in the back of this case provides an unobstructed view of fascinating horological technology embodied in a finely decorated movement. The chronograph’s functions are operated via two large rectangular push-pieces in the flank of the case. The steel crown can be used to adjust the time and date, and if desired, to manually wind the mainspring.

The new Montblanc Star 4810 Chronograph Automatic is affixed to a black alligator-leather strap with a triple folding clasp.

As alternatives, Montblanc also offers a steel version with a pale dial and a brown alligator-leather wristband, as well as a steel model with a black dial and a supple steel bracelet. The Montblanc Star 4810 Chronograph Automatic is also manufactured in two red gold versions with anthracite-colored guilloche dials and black alligator-leather straps secured by pronged buckles made of 18 ct red gold. Each of these red gold models is delivered along with a chronometer certificate from the C.O.S.C. (the official Swiss chronometer-testing authority).

By Mike 

From http://montblanc.watchprosite.com/
















----The Montblanc Star Magie d’Étoiles












----Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Silicon Escapement












----Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection

Montblanc didn't forget the ladies for SIHH 2010

January 2010

A New Jewel in the World of Time Measurement The Montblanc Star Magie d’Étoiles

True elegance is invariably distinguished by tactful understatement. Montblanc’s artisans kept this maxim in mind when they set out to master the challenge of creating a diamond-studded wristwatch that would accentuate, but never outshine, the personality of the lady who wears it. The gorgeous result of their efforts is the Montblanc Star Magie d’Étoiles, a miniature work of art crafted from 18 karat white gold, genuine mother-of-pearl and 2.215 karats of sparkling diamonds. These noble materials combine with the model’s rarity to produce an uncommonly special wristwatch: only fifteen pieces of this precious little treasure will be manufactured for wristwatch aficionados around the world. With regard to this watch’s design, the creative minds at this watch manufacture were inspired by the signet of the elite brand: the creatives allude to the Montblanc brand’s star-shaped emblem no fewer than six times on the white mother-of-pearl dial. The unmistakable Montblanc star is set with 34 brilliant-cut diamonds at the “6 o’clock” position. The left half of the dial bears an arc composed of 22 rhodium-plated pearls, the diameters of which become progressively smaller in a tapering curve from the “7” to the “12.” This artful arrangement is surrounded by a circle of 80 brilliant-cut diamonds around the flange and a second wreath of 42 brilliant-cut diamonds along the bezel. Twenty additional diamonds adorn the straight horns, between which the silkily shiny satin wristband is attached. The beholder again encounters the Montblanc star on the white gold crown, which is topped by a 0.055 carat diamond that has been cut, in accord with a patented geometry, to conform to the stellar shape of the brand’s famous signet.

The High Art of Jewellery

Especially on the thin and extremely fragile mother-of-pearl dial, the task of setting brilliant-cut diamonds makes exacting demands on a jeweler’s skills. Undivided concentration and the utmost meticulousness are essential in all phases of the work in order to prevent the dial from shattering or developing tiny cracks at the last minute, because such mishaps would ruin the results of many days of painstaking labor. But even before the brilliant-cut diamonds are set, plenty of artful craftsmanship has already been infused into this superlative watch: to assure that the gemstones scintillate with their loveliest fire, each diamond must first be perfectly cut before it can be inserted, with the utmost precision, into its setting. Bright white diamonds combine perfectly with the 18 karat white gold case because these precious materials do not compete with one another and because they both reflect the full spectrum of incident light. This harmonious unity is also evident in the white satin wristband, which shimmers with elegant silkiness and is securely closed by a clasp made of 18 K white gold. Precise display of the time is guaranteed by Caliber MB 4810/103, a Swiss-made quartz movement. To indicate that the battery requires changing, the large seconds-hand begins to advance in five-second increments when a fresh battery needs to be inserted. The Montblanc Star Magie d’Étoiles will be available starting in the autumn of 2010 in a limited edition of fifteen pieces. Each watch’s serial number will be engraved into its white gold back. As a variant of this masterpiece, there will also be a limited edition of ten wristwatches in white gold cases with black Tahitian mother-of-pearl dials and black satin wristbands.

By  Mike

From http://montblanc.watchprosite.com/

Montblanc Villeret Vintage Chronographe

New in the Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858: the Vintage Chronographe

With its unmistakable dial, which emphasizes finely calibrated scales, the Vintage Chronographe is a superlative device for the measurement of brief intervals of time. Connoisseurs of port wines know that the appellation “vintage” is exclusively reserved for wines from the finest years. The same applies to this new chronograph in the Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858, which boasts a spirally shaped tachymeter scale in the center of its dial. A coiled scale of this kind was a typical and frequent feature on the legendary Minerva chronographs from the 1920s and 1930s. The manufacture’s archive preserves from those years many enamel dials which are marked with specially calibrated scales for special applications in the exacting discipline of measuring brief intervals: for example, some of these dials were destined for use in regatta watches, others in pulsometers or counters. Some of the dials with finely calibrated scales were used on timepieces that could measure intervals to the nearest hundredth of a second. This wide variety of specific applications and highly precise movements helped Villeret’s watchmakers to earn a fine reputation as chronograph specialists. Today too, they continue to enjoy unanimous admiration from connoisseurs and aficionados of mechanical timekeeping.

The periphery of the Vintage’s dial was reserved for the telemeter scale, so the tachymeter scale was shifted into the center, where it was coiled like a snail’s shell so that it would be long enough to be used for tachymeter measurements up to three minutes in duration. Hence, these watches were genuinely multifunctional instruments that wed high functionality with masterful horological artistry. This grand tradition lives on in the Vintage Chronographe. As went without saying in bygone years and as is naturally also true of today’s Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858, the entire dial is crafted in the most exclusive manner. The face is covered with grand feu enamel: a platelet of solid gold is heated in a kiln to a temperature of 850 degrees Celsius, thus fusing it to an uppermost layer of vitreous molten enamel. The quiet ticking beneath this noble dial hints at the presence of the legendary Minerva Caliber 16-29, a movement which is endowed with all the characteristics that raise the pulse rate of watch lovers: a large and weighty balance, with adjustment screws along its rim, oscillates at a pace of 18,000 A/h (2.5 hertz); a balance-spring with a Philips terminal curve; a swan’s neck fine adjustment mechanism; a V-shaped chronograph-bridge; a meticulously and manually beveled and finely finished chronograph-lever; classical horizontal coupling; and a column-wheel to control the chronograph’s functions. Naturally, the mise en function, i.e. the exact abrading of the chronograph-lever, is performed during many hours of painstaking manual craftsmanship to a precision of several 1,000ths of a millimeter.

A new feature, on the other hand, is the outward impression made by this device for measuring brief intervals. The watch’s case has a rather unpretentious but nevertheless contemporary diameter of 43.5 millimeters. To preserve the proportions and thus the overall impression of a typical Villeret watch, all of the case’s parameters (including the horns) had to be entirely newly designed and constructed. The result is a timepiece which unmistakably shows that it belongs to one of the world’s most exclusive lines of watches, yet nonetheless makes a somewhat sportily technical impression. Like all other watches in the Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858, the Vintage Chronographe will be available only in a strictly limited edition. Here, the series consists of 58 timepieces in 18 ct red gold cases with white grand feu enamel dials and brown alligator-leather wristbands, and another set of 58 watches in 18 ct white gold cases with black grand feu enamel dials and black alligator-leather wristbands.

By Mike 

From http://montblanc.watchprosite.com/ 

Thank You.

Premiere of the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Silicon Escapement

Tradition Meets Future

2010: Premiere of the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph

Silicon Escapement

On Monday, January 18th at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva, the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Silicon Escapement will be unveiled to the public and the international press.

The watchmakers at the Montblanc manufacture have achieved a remarkable symbiosis by combining the rebirth of the traditional chronograph principle of the Nicolas Rieussec chronograph with the most modern material: silicon. Montblanc thus proves once again that unique results are possible when the joy of technical innovation is united with the love of tradition. Modern measurement of brief intervals of time had already celebrated a comeback with the debut of the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph in 2008. Two years later, the brand’s developers again outdo themselves by presenting a new limited-edition model encasing a movement in which the lever and escape-wheel are made of silicon, a material that embodies state-of-the-art horological artistry. The Montblanc watch manufacture thus unmistakably underscores its intention of setting new accents in the technical inner lives of timepieces. Through its use of rotating discs and motionless hands to indicate the duration of brief intervals, the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph conforms to a principle initially employed by the watchmaker Nicolas Rieussec, who registered the world’s first chronograph for a patent on March 9, 1822. Montblanc augmented this unique chronograph display in 2009, when it introduced the Open Date model, in which the dial and the elapsed-time discs are partially skeletonized to offer unobstructed views into the depths of the movement. Now the watchmakers in Le Locle have gone one step farther: they proudly present a new limited-edition wristwatch with innovative components at the heart of Montblanc’s manufacture Calibre MB R 120: the lever and escape-wheel are crafted from silicon.

Traditional Horological Mechanisms with High-Tech Silicon

Silicon, which had previously been known primarily from its applications in semiconductor technology, also began to make inroads into the world of micromechanics a few years ago. Like microprocessors for computers, certain components for watches can be etched from paper-thin silicon wafers. The DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etching) method and the inherent properties of the material offer optimal preconditions for manufacturing tiny components for watch movements. Silicon is 60% harder and 70% lighter than steel, highly resistant to corrosion and entirely nonmagnetic. When silicon is processed by the DRIE method, the resulting surfaces need no post-processing because they’re already absolutely smooth and scratch resistant. These are precisely the qualities that watchmakers and engineers have always sought – because such attributes significantly improve a watch’s rate and long-term reliability. The fact that the lever and escape-wheel of a movement which oscillates at a pace of four hertz must be alternately accelerated and halted 28,800 times each hour makes it clear how crucially important it is to reduce the masses of these components. In a watch with lever and escape-wheel made of steel, the escapement alone absorbs more than 60% of the energy. Reducing the mass by 70% means that the escapement requires significantly less energy, so more power is available to maintain the stability of the balance’s amplitude and to lengthen the power reserve. The nonmagnetic properties of silicon, on the other hand, are important in a world that’s becoming increasingly permeated by the electromagnetic fields associated with modern communications and entertainment electronics. And silicon’s inherent hardness reduces wear and improves long-term reliability.

A Limited Edition of 25 Watches

The further specifications of the Montblanc Calibre MB R120 are already well known from Calibre MB R110. This hand-wound movement indicates the hours and the minutes, displays the current date via a rotating disc and a motionless hand, and indicates the chronograph’s functions on a counter for 60 elapsed seconds at the “7 o’clock” position and a counter for 30 elapsed minutes at the “4.” The chronograph is operated by pressing a pusher in the flank of the case at the “8”: this button acts via a column wheel to trigger the start, stop and return-to-zero functions. Thanks to nearly wear-free vertical coupling, the chronograph can remain permanently switched on, if desired. The remaining power reserve is displayed on the rearward side of the watch, where it can be viewed through the sapphire crystal in the back of the case. The new movement and its innovative silicon escapement are ensconced inside an 18 K red gold case that measures 43 mm in diameter and has sapphire crystals above the dial and in the back. A readily grasped, knurled, red gold crown is inlaid with the Montblanc emblem and can be used to wind the mainsprings and to set the time and the calendar display. The dial recalls the unmistakable look of the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph, with an eye-catching bridge for its elapsed-time counters that magically brings a smile to the face of the watch’s owner. This elegant timepiece is worn on a brown alligator-leather wristband, which is secured by a double-folding clasp crafted from 18 K red gold. The new Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Silicon Escapement is admittedly a most desirable horological artifact, and it will also always remain a rare and avidly coveted collector’s item because Montblanc’s first wristwatch with silicon components will be available in October 2010 only in a strictly limited series of twentyfive individually numbered pieces.

By mkt33 

From http://montblanc.watchprosite.com/ 

Thank You.

The New ExoTourbillon Chronographe from Montblanc’s Collection Villeret 1858: The Emancipation of the Tourbillon

The newest creation in Montblanc’s Collection Villeret 1858 features a delightfully surprising and trailblazing innovation.

The new ExoTourbillon Chronographe is a regulator watch with a large centrally axial minute-hand, a distinct hour display, an indicator for the time in a second time zone (with day/night display), a subdial for the seconds, a chronograph with a counter for 30 elapsed minutes, and an absolutely unprecedented tourbillon with a balance larger than the tourbillon’s rotating cage and positioned outside it.

The ExoTourbillon Chronographe is the first watch in Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection to unite two of the most avidly admired horological complications: a chronograph function and a tourbillon. Mastery of the difficulty of crafting these complications numbers among the distinguishing characteristics of the Institut Minerva, which has here combined the two complications in a highly unusual fashion: the chronograph upholds the lovely tradition with a column-wheel and horizontal coupling, and the four-minute tourbillon boasts a never-before-seen innovation.

But what exactly does a tourbillon accomplish? Due to the subassembly’s architecture, the center of gravity of the balance and balance-spring in every mechanical watch is never absolutely collinear with the center of the balance’s axis of rotation. This off-centeredness causes a disadvantage when the watch is in a vertical position: the oscillations of the balance are disturbed by the influence of gravity on its eccentric center of gravity. The ingenious tourbillon mechanism was invented to solve this problem: the balance is borne inside a cage that continually rotates around its own axis. The eccentric center of gravity accordingly orbits the tourbillon’s axis of rotation at this same rate. The accelerating effect caused by the Earth’s gravity on the center of gravity during the first 180° of the tourbillon’s rotation is compensated by an analogous de-accelerating effect during the second 180°. The long-term result is a movement that runs at a regular rate.

This clever mechanism underwent further optimization for the ExoTourbillon Chronographe: the balance has been separated from the cage to isolate it from the disturbing movements of the escapement. This separation made it possible to create the world’s first tourbillon in which the rotating cage is smaller than the balance, which oscillates outside the cage and on a higher plane. This architecture also inspired the watch’s name, which includes the Greek prefix exo, meaning outside. The balance in this unconventional configuration is borne between two jewels - it is neither cantilevered (“flying”) nor is it borne between two bridges - while the tourbillon turns at the foot of the axis in a two-point bearing.

The reason for this most elaborate construction is that the traditionally large and massive balance would have required a comparably large rotating cage if it had been positioned within a conventional tourbillon. A smaller tourbillon has less mass and consequently requires less energy for its rotations. The rotating cage is also freed from the weight of the balance, which further reduces the amount of energy it consumes. This architecture requires about 30% less energy than conventional constructions. The energy saved here can be used to power the chronograph’s functions.

Another essential advantage: Being separated from the rotating cage, the balance is not adversely affected by the inertia of the cage and consequently oscillates with greater precision. This innovation is entirely in accord with the statutory task of the Institut Minerva: namely, to cultivate the authentic Swiss watchmaking tradition and to combine it with ongoing innovation, thereby assuring a bright future for this noble and artful handicraft. It goes without saying that this invention has been registered for patent protection and that it will be used exclusively in the timepieces which comprise Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection. The owner of an ExoTourbillon Chronographe can enjoy the spectacular vista of a large balance (with weight screws along its rim) that’s free to oscillate in all its beauty and turns around its own axis, without being cramped inside the narrow confines of the tourbillon’s cage. With commensurate self-confidence, it proudly presents itself in a large aperture cut into the dial at the “12 o’clock” position and above a plate that has been manually embellished with circular graining.

Tourbillon Chronograph with Regulator Dial

The watch’s face boasts a typical regulator configuration. A large minute-hand and the chronograph’s elapsed seconds-hand share a common axis at the center of the dial. The subdial for the hours is shifted out of the center and occupies the lower half of the watch’s face. Additional displays portray a miniature solar system with a golden sun (the tourbillon) at the “12,” the Earth at the “6,” the moon in the form of a small 24-hour dial between the “4” and the “5” (as a day/night display for the time in a second time zone), and two other heavenly bodies in the form of the small seconds at the “9” and the chronograph’s counter for 30 elapsed minutes at the “3.” The last-mentioned display is semicircular, with two differently colored scales calibrated for 0 to 15 and 15 to 30 minutes, respectively. The tips of two unequally long and differently colored hands each serves its designated scale.

Monopusher Chronograph with Column-Wheel Control The Calibre 16.60 is a chronograph movement with a large and centrally axial counter for the elapsed seconds, a counter for 30 elapsed minutes, a classical column-wheel and horizontal coupling. The chronograph lever is elaborately finished by hand, and the mise en fonction is likewise accomplished manually: the surfaces where the chronograph lever contacts the column-wheel and the heart disc are observed through a watchmaker’s loupe during the operation of the chronograph’s functions and are gradually and meticulously abraded to a tolerance in the hundredths-of-a-millimeter range. The steel parts and the chronograph bridge (in the “V” shape typical of Minerva’s products) are manually beveled and polished. A finely grained stone is used to polish the lever; the bridges are manually adorned with Geneva stripes. The large and massive balance, with weight screws along its rim and a Phillips curve at one end of its balance-spring, oscillates at the classical frequency of 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour (2.5 hertz), which makes it possible to measure brief intervals to the nearest fifth of a second. The chronograph’s start, stop and return-to-zero functions are operated sequentially by depressing a button in the crown.


Second Time Zone and Day/Night Display Frequent flyers will appreciate the fact that the ExoTourbillon Chronographe can display the time in two different time zones. The skeletonized hour-hand on the hours subdial indicates the local time, while the tip of the blued steel hour-hand points to the hour in the wearer’s home time zone. When the watch is worn in the home zone, these two hands are always positioned one atop the other; when the wearer travels to a different time zone, he or she can press the button at the “8” to advance the local-time hour-hand in single-hour increments until the hand indicates the correct local time. The current time at the wearer’s home is shown on the little 24-hour dial with day/night indicator and blued steel hand.

Collector’s Items in a Limited Edition Also because they’re manufactured in strictly limited editions, the chronographs in Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection are ardently sought rarities. This distinction is further enhanced by the extremely unusual combination of a chronograph and a tourbillon, and even further refined by the presence of a unique tourbillon construction. Only one unique piece of the ExoTourbillon Chronographe will be manufactured in platinum, along with limited editions of 8 pieces each in 18K white gold and in 18K red gold (5N).

The watches with white or red gold cases have massive gold dials on which the slender grooves of manually applied guilloche embellishment invite incident lights to dance. Delicately shimmering mother-of-pearl is inset into portions of the dial on the one-of-a-kind platinum watch. Each of the impressive 47-mm-diameter cases is high-gloss polished and fitted with an arcing bezel that securely holds a highly domed sapphire crystal with vertically falling flanks (forme chevée). A pane of sapphire crystal is integrated into the back, which is screwed to the case and protected by a hinged cover which is opened by a patented mechanism concealed between the horns. Each watch is engraved with the words “Edition Limitée,” “Montblanc” and “Fait main à Villeret” (i.e. handmade in Villeret). The interior of the hinged cover is signed “Demetrio Cabiddu Maître Horloger,” thus identifying by name the technical director of the manufacture, who led the team that developed the Calibre 16.60. This bears the gold-filled engraving “Minerva Villeret” and can be admired by peering through the pane of sapphire crystal in the back of the watch when the cover is opened. Naturally, the Montblanc logo hasn’t been forgotten: the familiar six-pointed star, which symbolizes the six tongues of the glacier that covers Europe’s tallest mountain peak, has represented the utmost in European handcraftsmanship for many decades. The same stellar emblems, executed in genuine mother-of-pearl, grace the watches’ winding crowns.

These new collector’s items in Montblanc’s Villeret 1858 Collection are affixed to alligator-leather straps, each of which is equipped with a pronged buckle made of either 18Kwhite gold, 18K red gold or 950 platinum, depending upon the material of which the model’s case is made.

By Mike 

From http://montblanc.watchprosite.com/ 

Thank You.