which oscillates at 18,000 vibrations per hour - and its balance spring with a Philips terminal curve are produced and rated in the workshop. Fitted with a column wheel and a horizontal clutch, this monopusher chronograph (the pusher is at 2 o’clock) has a decorative finish: all the components are hand bevelled, polished on the upper surfaces and brushed on the sides; the mainplate and bridges are in rhodiumplated nickel silver with Côtes de Genève decoration and the interior surfaces are circular grained. It is a limited edition of 90 that costs 27,000 euros. A small diamond cut in the shape of the brand’s emblem and set in the case middle at 6 o’clock indicates that the watch has a manufacture movement.
AN AVANT-GARDE TOUCH We also see the signature of Jérôme Lambert in another collection presented at the SIHH, the Montblanc Timewalker Collection, which has been subjected to a makeover that gives it a more contemporary sporty look. One example is the Montblanc Timewalker Chronograph 100, which, as its name suggests, measures time to 100th of a second and is driven by the new MB M6625 calibre. This movement “with two hearts” and two mainspring barrels is fitted with a classic balance that beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour (2.5Hz) for the timekeeping and a second balance that beats at 360,000 vibrations per hour (50Hz) for the 100th of a second chronograph function. But this energy-sapping balance only starts oscillating once the chronograph is activated, by means of a “whip” in the form of a steel blade that provides the starting impulse. Furthermore, this calibre is fitted with a patented control mechanism that can be used to reset the minutes and seconds for the chronograph and, independently, the hundredths of a second. (We will come back to the technical details of this invention in a future issue).
I MONTBLANC TIMEWALKER CHRONOGRAPH 100
This high-performance movement is encased in a three-piece case that shows off the “avant-garde” nature of the watch, with a black DLC coated titanium bezel, a screw-in caseback in titanium and sapphire crystal, titanium case middle with carbon fibre surrounds and a sweeping view of the movement and its contemporary architecture.
SERIOUS FACELIFTS AND PRECISION SURGERY
T From left to right: “NICOLAS RIEUSSEC” CHRONOGRAPH EXOTOURBILLON CHRONOGRAPHE RATTRAPANTE
Two other new models have also undergone a serious facelift: the new “Hommage à Nicolas Rieussec” chronograph, which reinterprets the legendary ink chronograph patented in 1822 by this pioneer of the chronograph. The fixed chronograph hand in the form of a double hour marker faithfully replicates the one used by Nicolas Rieussec and indicates the elapsed time on two separate white discs: on the left the minute counter and on the right the 30-minute counter. Above them is a subdial for the hours, with the minute clearly visible at night thanks to numerals in SuperLuminova that are invisible during the day. Finally, as a demonstration of the company’s expertise in highprecision, high-end watchmaking, Montblanc presented the ExoTourbillon Chronographe Rattrapante, a world first that has a large balance positioned outside the tourbillon cage, coupled with a split-seconds chronograph, with a three-dimensional regulator display in gold and grand feu enamel. This spectacular piece has a price that is less susceptible to “sharing”: 250,000 euros. The Lambertian revolution seems to be well under way at Montblanc, which seems more determined than ever to prove that it can excel as much in high-end watchmaking as it can in writing instruments. And which is trying at the same time to project a more contemporary image. p Discover more at www.europastar.BIZ/Montblanc