Montblanc Timepieces for the Modern Traveler – Part Three: Villeret Tourbillon Cylindrique
jrwong23 (aka watchthebin)
Villeret Tourbillon Cylindrique Pocket Watch 110 Years Edition
This is the final installment of my series on Montblanc timepieces for the modern traveler. Today, we will look at the very top end of Montblanc’s watch collection; very interestingly, a pocket watch from the manufacture at Villeret – the Villeret Tourbillon Cylindrique Pocket Watch 110 Years Edition.
How many of you heard
about the Blue Riband Award? I learned something new today as I read this from
Montblanc:
During the golden age of
travel across the Atlantic Ocean, the world’s best passenger ships competed
against each other for the prestigious Blue Riband Award. This
distinguished accolade — symbol of peak performance and precision in nautical
navigation — was given to the liner with the fastest crossing westbound against
the challenging Gulf Stream. These record-breaking performances were
representative of the innovations occurring at the time, with new steam
turbine engines and sophisticated navigational equipment that
included marine clocks with cylindrical hairsprings. These marine
timekeepers enabled navigators to master nautical navigation and helped them to
achieve these outstanding speeds.
As mentioned in the
earlier parts of this series, I find it interesting that Montblanc chose to honour
travel across the Atlantic Ocean for its 110th anniversary. I think
it is a great idea as the founders of Montblanc did travel from Hamburg to the United
States and the maison’s growth could be attributable to increase in
trans-Atlantic trade. Equally interesting is Montblanc’s homage to the
precision of marine chronometers for their 110th anniversary in this
limited edition pocket watch from Villeret. Inspired by the revolutionary marine
chronometers that guided navigators across the oceans over a century ago, this finely
crafted Montblanc Villeret limited edition pocket watch is both a technical
powerhouse with a cylinderique tourbillon and triple timezone and worldtime
function, as well as a piece of art, at the top of artisanal craftsmanship in
fine watchmaking today.
A brief description of
this highly limited pocket watch:
It has a unique combination
of complications, including a triple timezone with local time, home time and
worldtime of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as an
innovative tourbillon with patented cylindrical hairspring, which made in-house
at Montblanc Villeret (it is very rare for a watch manufacture to make its own
hairspring today). The watch is powered by a manual movement decorated by hand like
for all Villeret movements, with a cylindrical hairspring, and world time
indication on 3-dimensional hand painted globes.
Not to be outdone by
the technical feats, the watch is equally matched in terms of the artisanal
craftsmanship with very fine and high-end details, including hand-engraving on
the dial and movement, beautiful Aventurine quartz used on the dial,
hand-painted globes and Grand Feu enamel. The watch is only produced in a very
limited run of 8 pieces.
Let us look at the dial design in more detail. The dial of the pocket watch is a large and deeply three-dimensional dial, constructed with different parts and on different levels, featuring a number of traditional artisanal decorations. It is definitely a very sophisticated looking dial with lots of depth and details. The two hemispheres have been crafted using a combination of traditional hand-engraving and miniature painting techniques that shows the continents in relief with their outlines, borders, longitude and latitude lines, seas and oceans.
On the upper part of
the dial, we have a three-dimensional 12-hour compass rose, made of four 18K
red gold hand-bevelled parts that indicate the home time with a blued Fleur-de-Lys
hand. Solid 18K red gold hour and minute hands that indicate the local time are
legibly located at the center of the dial. Personally, with so many
complications including the world time and cylinderique tourbillon, I am glad a
regulator function is not included to make the dial confusing and difficult to
read.
Hand-engraving
techniques are applied to the top part of the dial: A miniature sculpture on
the 18K white gold dial is crafted by incising the metal to create an elegant wave
pattern that depict the rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean, bringing depth and
artisanal decoration to the dial. The cylinderique tourbillon is located at 6
o’clock, and this in my view, is visually the key attraction on the dial, thanks
to its three-dimensional arcing and convex tourbillon bridges, which are
slightly curved to match the contours of the globes.
Montblanc informs us
that it takes more than two weeks just to hand-bevel and polish the top
stainless steel tourbillon bridge, a craft that only a few watchmakers still
carry out by hand today. At the bottom
of the dial, a slice of aventurine (a blue quartz crystal) provides a midnight
cool visual backdrop to the tourbillon and I think the aventurine’s deep blue
color does remind me of the night starry skies we often see during sea travels.
Next, let me share
some details on the case of the pocket watch. The case is a large 60 mm,
crafted from white gold, polished and shaped like a pebble, reminiscent of the
refined watches of the early 19th century. A five-sided shackle matches the
design of the attachment of the 18K white gold chain and each link of the chain
features the “M” of Montblanc, a clever detail from the designers.
On the perimeter of
the case from the dial side, black Grand Feu Enamel highlights the Roman
numerals to improve legibility, while another black Grand Feu enamel adorns the
case back. The use of traditional fired enamel greatly increases the
exclusivity and artisanal value of this watch, in my view, as this additional
detail is extremely delicate and difficult to craft. The art of enameling in
watchmaking dates back to the 17th century and was historically used at the
Minerva Manufacture for the dials of its stopwatches and chronographs. The use
of enamel honors and preserves this rare craft, which requires the mastery of
highly developed artistic talents and technical skills. Finally, the watch has
a traditional fluted crown with a Montblanc emblem in relief at 12 o’clock.
On the case back, we
continue to see very high end hand finishing techniques consistently being
applied.
The back of the
hand-wound movement calibre MB M68.40 is meticulously hand-engraved and the
owner can admire the movement finishing and decoration through a large case
back. The handcrafted bridges are also decorated
with the unique wave pattern, consistent with the design on the dial side. If
you look closely, you can see the waves adorning the lower part of the movement
are relatively calm, but they get increasingly choppy towards the top of the
calibre, paying homage to the pioneering spirit of the steam ships that crossed
the dangerous Atlantic Ocean at the beginning of the 20th century. The hand-wound movement is further decorated
with a horizontal satin-finished main plate, traditional bridges featuring the
pomme shape, inner angles, exquisite bevelling, a seal with the hand-engraved
calibre number decorated with black enamel, and a mirror-polished pawl with the
hand-finished Minerva arrow—all consistent with and pushing the limits of
traditional horological artisanal craftsmanship. This 110th
anniversary watch, being a grand complication and so exclusive, is definitely
finished at a level even higher than the typical Montblanc Villerets, which are
already finished with the top standards of haute horology.
Next, we look at the
functional aspects of the watch.
Firstly, the Triple
Timezone function. The hand-wound one-minute tourbillon calibre MB M68.40, with
its 281 components (91 components for the Cylindrical Tourbillon and 77 for the
Worldtime complication) and 48-hour power reserve, features a rare triple time
zone indication with both the northern and southern hemispheres covered. The
two 18K red gold hands in the centre of the dial represent local time and a
Fleur-de-Lys hand that sweeps around a three-dimensional 12-hour compass rose
at 12 o’clock indicates the home time.
For world time, the pair
of three-dimensional globes depict the 24 time zones in the Northern and
Southern Hemispheres, along with the passage of the days and nights. The 24-hour world time and day/night
indicators make a full rotation in 24 hours around the fixed globes. The globes
do not rotate, rather, the disc for the Northern Hemisphere turns clockwise,
whereas its counterpart in the Southern Hemisphere turns anticlockwise. Now, to be completely honest, the reading of
the world time won’t be that easy as one has to read and estimate it off the
globes (and know his/her geography and maps very well). As I look at the globes
and discs around them, I find it possible to estimate the timezones to +/- 2
hours but not to the exact hour. Nonetheless, the globes look really beautiful
and I suspect they have higher artisanal than functional values to their
owners.
The calibre MB M68.40 has a total of 281 components.
See below for an
illustration on the functions of this watch.
Finally, let’s dive a
bit into the tourbillion with an in-house Villeret cylindrical hairspring. First,
a bit of history and technical details on marine chronometers, shared by
Montblanc:
For over a century, marine
chronometers with cylindrical hairsprings have been highly regarded by
navigators for their incredible precision and reliability, even in the most
violent of storms. Although far more complicated to produce, their accuracy
over long periods of time became an essential element of navigation Today,
cylindrical hairsprings continue to embody ultimate precision. Like a
conventional balance spring, a cylindrical balance spring is a concentrically
wound elastic metal wire. However, instead of being wound around itself, at
increasing distances from a common centre and all on the same plane, its
individual turns are of equal diameter and are wound above each other. This
eliminates the slight eccentricity of the centre of gravity.
Fast forward to today,
the challenge for Montblanc’s watchmakers in Villeret, is to manufacture this
balance spring but with a far smaller cylindrical hairspring to fit in a wrist
or pocket watch (as compared to the balance spring used in a marine chronometer
in the old days). The watchmakers in Montblanc Villeret were not only able to
fabricate a miniature cylindrical balance spring, but they found solutions to
include two Phillips terminal curves as well. These upward curves at each end
of the spring significantly improve the regularity of the balance spring’s “breathing”
(expanding and contracting movement), thus further improving isochronism and
resulting in improved precision.
Here is a picture and
some details of the Villeret calibre MB M68.40, one of Montblanc Villeret’s
most complicated movement.
Movement: MB M68.40
Features: Manually wound movement with 1-minute cylindrical tourbillon Home and Local time display, World time and Day/Night indication for each hemi
spheres
Technical Features:
288 components
18,000 semi-oscillations per hour (2.5 hertz)
Screw balance, Ø 14.5 mm; 59 mg.cm2
Power reserve: Approx. 45 hours'
Thickness: 10.50 mm
Diameter: 38.40 mm 16 lines ¾
With this I end my three-part series on Montblanc’s timepieces for the modern traveler. Hope you have enjoyed them.
Cheers
robin
Comments:
jim_94104 August 22nd, 2016-18:51
Now that's a thing of beauty thanks for sharing Robin
jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) August 23rd, 2016-05:53
My pleasure :) Always happy to share mate Cheers Robin
Bill August 22nd, 2016-19:00
Another amazing report. Interesting connection to the Blue Riband Award. There is so much details on the watch that it far above my pay grade. I must read for the true enthusiast. Thank you. Bill
jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) August 23rd, 2016-05:54
Thank you Bill Glad you enjoyed the post. this watch is above my pay grade too! Still dreaming is free and it is nice to see Montblanc pushing the limits on horology both from a technical and an artisanal standpoint Cheers Robin
MTF August 22nd, 2016-20:09
I haven't worn a 3-piece suit since 1980 Ahh...those were the halcyon days of sartorial elegance and I was actually learning where the Sartorius muscle was located! That would have been the time to wear a pocket watch were it not for poverty as a medical student at the time.... Regards, MTF Now ...
jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) August 23rd, 2016-05:55
Wow!! Nice pics Melvyn You look so different then lol!
MTF August 23rd, 2016-12:41
Dig the 1970s bronze coloured steel framed, brown-tinted spectacles and pencil-thin moustache? The spectacles matched my tan wool (yes - tan colour) 3-piece suit with bell bottom trousers. The tan waistcoat was reversible to reveal a cream colour so I could have two-tone tan and cream suit. I was known as a "coconut", which is politically incorrect...
jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) August 25th, 2016-07:52
Hahaha very funny MTF We are from different generations ! Good to see your pics and hear how you describe fashion of those years
KMII August 22nd, 2016-21:37
Like it how they managed to integrate the Minerva tail... :) Lovely watch, even if I cannot see myself pulling off a pocket watch just yet. And this one is certainly above my pay grade Thanks for you excellent report, Robin!
jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) August 23rd, 2016-05:56
Thank you my friend Glad you like the post Yes this watch is a dream for me too. I wish to have a watch like this but it's above my pay grade too! Still it's good to see what Montblanc is pushing here - I love their drive for both technical functions and artisanal craft and ...
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jrwong23 (aka watchthebin)
Montblanc 4810 launch party in Singapore
jrwong23 (aka watchthebin)
last night, Montblanc Singapore organized a massive cocktail party at the roof top bar and restaurant, Lantern, at the Fullerton Bay Hotel. It was one of the coolest party with a great emcee and DJ, great songs, food (including Singapore chicken rice!) and many beautiful people amongst us. Watch Anish also came as a guest of honor to launch the new 4810 collection. I had covered the new 4810 collection previously in a two part post on our Montblanc forum here so you can refer to those posts.
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