Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie 500-Hour Test

Jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) continues his exploration of the Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie collection, focusing on the rigorous testing and craftsmanship behind these timepieces. This second installment addresses crucial questions about chronometry and Montblanc's proprietary 500-hour laboratory test, offering collectors a deeper understanding of the brand's commitment to performance and Minerva's heritage.

Last week I shared Part 1 on the new Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie collection. Truth be told, I am a very proud owner of a Montblanc Villeret watch with a Minerva chronograph movement and that is why I am very happy that Montblanc still seeks inspirations for its new watches and collections from the Minerva traditions and archives. The fact that Montblanc is very keen to uphold the traditions of Minerva and continue to build on it deeply pleases me as a collector. Today, in part 2, I will be sharing aspects of craftsmanship and performance of this new line.

Firstly, on performance. Some of you had asked on the last post – Are the watches in the Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie collection COSC certified? Are they chronometers? How can chronometry testing be done when some of the watches in this line, eg the Heritage Chronometrie Ultra Thin, do not have a seconds hand?

So to clarify (and Dean, who visited the Montblanc Villeret manufacture, also helped to clarify for me last week, thanks Dean!) – these watches under the Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie line are not COSC certified chronometers. Montblanc named the line Heritage Chronometrie but didn’t claim these watches are chronometers. It is the spirit of traditional fine watchmaking and accuracy/performance from Minerva that inspires this line’s name and creation. However, that does not mean these watches under the Heritage Chronometrie line are just pretty and do not go through robust testing. All of them go through the Montblanc Laboratory 500 hour test.

Before it is allowed to leave the Montblanc manufacture, every watch in the Heritage Chronométrie Collection must first pass the strict Montblanc Laboratory test 500. This test consists of 500 hours of testing, where the watches are tested in 360°, under the toughest conditions. These tests have been developed in-house by Montblanc’s watchmakers and they even designed specific machines to cater to the test requirements.

This 500 hour test not only focuses on the movement of the watches but also takes into consideration the complete watch and tests it on general performance. This includes continuous accuracy tests, tests of complication functions such as calendar or chronograph functions, and finally water resistance. To recap on a post Mike and I had done before, here are the five tests done by Montblanc in the 500 hour test, before which every Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie watch can be certified and can leave the manufacture to various points of sale.

-Test 1 : Winding performance and assembly control - Exposition to strong rotary motions (4h)

-Test 2 : Continuous accuracy control - Continuous acoustic control (80h)

-Test 3 : Functions control - Simulation of wearing and non-wearing periods (336h)

-Test 4 : General performance control - Temperatures test between 6 and 45°c & Verification of the watch’s rate at 0h and 24h (80h)

-Test 5 : Water resistance control - Humidity test / Under water pressure exposure (2h)

-Final control : Aesthetical and final functions control

Source: Montblanc HQ

Well, I don’t have a Montblanc watch which has gone thru this 500 hour test yet (I ordered the Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum but am not sure if that watch goes thru this test – I will check soon). I have a friend who owns a regular Nicolas Rieussec and KL670 from our forum here has the Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hour – both of these watches have gone thru the 500 hour tests from my knowledge (my friend has the 500 hour cert when he got the watch). Both of them have told me that the time keeping of their watches have been great so far, losing/gaining a few seconds in a month. This bodes well for the 500 hour test from Montblanc and I hope my Heritage Orbis Terrarum will perform just as well.

Next, I will share one very interesting aspect of craftsmanship of the new Heritage Chronometrie line. All the watches from the Heritage Chronometrie Collection will be equipped with leather straps crafted by Montblanc in its Pelleteria in Florence! Montblanc is one of the very few watch brands that can present its watches with “manufacture“ alligator straps. So it doesn’t have all in-house movements but increasingly all Montblanc watches will have “in-house” leather straps!

The alligator straps of the Chronometrie collection proudly bear the manufacture seal of the Montblanc Pelleteria on the inside lining of each strap. I believe this is something Montblanc’s CEO, Mr Jerome Lambert, is very proud of as he was explaining this fact to us collectors when we met in Singapore some weeks back. Personally, I am especially happy with the Montblanc Extreme leather line so far. I have a Montblanc Extreme leather wallet and I really love its robustness in terms of scratch and water resistance (way more robust than the classic leather line). Hopefully Montblanc can extend this leather line to more watch straps (currently only on their Timewalker Extreme line). Maybe they can have the properties of the Extreme Leather but make the looks more classic (the Extreme Leather looks a bit more “sporty” for now and will not fit classically designed watches).