Jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) delves into the Montblanc 4810 TwinFly Chronograph, connecting its design philosophy to the brand's 110th-anniversary celebration and the spirit of early 20th-century transatlantic travel. This post offers valuable insights for collectors interested in Montblanc's modern complications and how they cater to the needs of contemporary travelers. Jrwong23 highlights the blend of historical inspiration with practical functionality in this timepiece.
Last
month, we covered the refreshed Montblanc 4810 collection, a relaunched
collection to celebrate Montblanc’s 110th anniversary (the original
Star 4810 collection was launched exactly 10 years ago to mark the maison’s 100th
anniversary back in 2006). As I was learning and sharing the new 4810
collection, I can’t help but relate to the theme of the collection emotionally
as I am a frequent business traveler. The collection was inspired by the
trans-Atlantic travels of
Montblanc’s entrepreneurial founders, and the new watches
in the collection focus on reading time of different timezones. They strike a
personal chord with me as I like to travel with well-crafted and designed
luxury lifestyle companions, such as a nice pen, accessories and most
importantly, a nice watch or two.
Let’s
go back in time to the beginning of the 20th century, an exciting
period for innovations and the beginning of international trade and commerce on
a huge scale.
Due to the expansion of steam engines and improved navigation methods, there
was a great increase in sea travel. This was around the time Montblanc was
founded, 110 years ago. Let’s watch the video produced on Montblanc’s YouTube
channel below, on its new 4810 collection, and immerse ourselves into this
historical era and be inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit and determination
of Montblanc’s founders and also all our forefathers living in those times.
Fast
forward to 2016. For its 110th anniversary, Montblanc has chosen to
honor travel across the Atlantic Ocean via a number of new timepieces featuring
complications to read time from different time zones. These include a second
time zone, a worldtime function and even a triple timezone indication for the
busy traveler. In August, I will be sharing a three-part series on Montblanc’s new Timepieces for the
Modern Traveler.
Part
One will cover the new limited edition 4810 TwinFly Chronograph; Part Two, the
4810 Orbis Terrarum worldtime wristwatch and limited edition Pocket Watch; Part
Three, the triple timezone grand complication, the Villeret Tourbillon
Cylinderique Pocket Watch 110 years limited edition. All of these timepieces
are limited edition pieces, except the 4810 Orbis Terrarum wristwatch, which
seems to be very popular with readers here, inheriting the success of the
Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum, but with warmer colors on its dial.
This
will be an important watch in the 4810 collection, which I will cover in Part
Two.
For
Part One today, let me share some details on the newly launched 4810 TwinFly
Chronograph timepiece, a limited edition watch of 1100 pieces. Its
in-house-developed TwinFly Chronograph mechanism shared with the TimeWalker
TwinFly Chronograph.
The
new 4810 TwinFly Chronograph can best be described as Masculine Elegance. As
masculine as the TimeWalker TwinFly but more elegant (and less sporty). As it
has a 2nd timezone indicator, it is a practical watch for travels,
especially business travels with its dressy/elegant looks. At 43mm in a steel
case, it wears larger with good wrist presence and hence more masculine than
the other more dressy watches in the 4810 collection such as the 4810 Day-Date.
It also has a 5 bar water resistance, an upgrade of the typical 3 bar from
other Montblanc watches.
The
movement powering this watch is the MB LL100-1, a manufacture movement with a
flyback chronograph, double barrel, column-wheel and vertical coupling. The
dial is very readable, with a silvery-white dial with the 4810 signature
exploding-star guilloche, and regate hands with lume. There is also a
3-dimensional globe at 12 o’clock, adding some depth to the dial (the sub-dial
on the globe indicates 12 vs 24 hours day or night indication). Instead of
making this a regular production piece, Montblanc prefers to have this limited
to 1110 pieces. This number is not too restricted though so I believe many who
like the watch will be able to get one.
In
terms of functions, the illustration below gives a good summary:
Montblanc
has also kindly provided the illustration below to show how the local time,
home time, and Day and Night indication works.
How
does a Twin Flyback chronograph work? For those of you not familiar with the
TwinFly mechanism from Montblanc, here are some explanations. Firstly, FlyBack
is a complication where you can use the chronograph reset function without the
need to first stop the chronograph. In regular chronographs, you need to stop,
reset, and restart the chronograph if you want to time an event after you have
started the chronograph. The TwinFly mechanism in this watch is unique as both
the chronograph minutes and seconds can flyback and the chronograph hands are
actually uniquely placed in the center. See below for an illustration of how
this works.
Finally,
I wish to share some details of the Montblanc MB LL100 movement, which was the
second in-house calibre to emerge from Montblanc’s LeLocle manufacture
(after the Nicolas Rieussec).
