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Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858 Grand Chronographe Authentique "On-The-Wrist" Review

Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858
Grand Chronographe Authentique

Monopusher Chronograph with 30-minute CounterStar Review

by VL Kong & Anthony Tsai

© November 2008

In 2007, Montblanc and Minerva (founded in 1858) combined to create the "Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie".  The objective is to preserve, uphold and further develop the finest principles of traditional Swiss haute horlogerie by performing many processes from fabrication to finishing in-house that conform to high standards.  This translates to a production of very small and limited quantity of watches.

During the SIHH 2007, the prestigious Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858 was introduced.  It consisted of four models - two chronographs and two classic three-hand watches, and each model is strictly limited to the pattern of the Minerva's founding year - 1858 ie. :

  * 1 unique piece in 950 Platinum
  * 8 limited pieces in 18K White Gold
  * 58 limited pieces in 18K Red Gold.

We had the pleasure to conduct an "on-the-wrist" review of the rare prototype White Gold piece of the Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858 Grand Chronographe Authentique - a monopusher chronograph with 30-minute counter housing the highly finished movement Minerva Calibre 16-29.

When picked up, one immediately feels the presence and weight of the luxurious metal of the Monopusher.  The size is significantly larger than the 42mm PuristSPro All-Black Rescue (PPro ABR) watches on our wrists.

The hands, hour markers and the case are highly polished.  At a certain viewing angle, the hands and markers blend in with the monotone coloured dial (as shown in above picture).  Readability is a challenge at times; but with a slight tilt, the whole dial face becomes outstandingly clear (as shown in the following picture).

Now let's have a closer look ...


Case, Crown, Dial and Hands

The 18K White Gold case is mirror-finished to full gloss.  

The concaved bezel, as clearly shown in the above picture, is perfectly mirror-polished; and even under a loupe, we could not detect any area with blemish.  The diameter is a commanding 47mm, and the height is 14mm.

Above is a picture of the hinged curvette which covers the sapphire caseback, and the hinge of the curvette is at the 12 o'clock position.  At 6 o'clock, the curvette is inscribed with 'Fait main a Villeret" which means "Hand-made in Villeret".

In the production piece, the serial number is clearly marked on the outside of the curvette; and on the inside of the hinged curvette, it is perlage decorated and engraved with the signature of the Master Watchmaker who created the movement - "Demetrio Cabiddu Maitre Horloger".

The above picture shows the patented secret release mechanism which opens the hinged curvette and reveals the beautiful movement.  Between the lugs, the release bars are covered by the same alligator skin as the hand-stitched straps - well camouflaged!  The strap is independently attached to the lugs through a springbar and is not connected to these caseback release bars.

Opening the curvette is the most exciting and engaging part.  We fiddled with it for quite some time before finally discovering how to 'unlock' the curvette.  This patented mechanism truly ensured private viewing - if you know the secret procedure .

We'll share this secret with our dear readers so the next time you're at a Montblanc authorized retailer, you'll look like a genius when handling one of these Montblanc Villeret gems!

Here's the secret - with the sapphire crystal facing upward and curvette downard, hold the Villeret on both sides of the strap-ends with your thumbs touching the case between the lugs, depress the release-bar at the 6 o'clock position by pushing the release-bar inwards, and the curvette will spring open.

The above shows the release latch at the 6 o'clock position.

With the curvette open, the exquisite movement is exposed; however, the most that the curvette can be opened is to a perpendicular to the sapphire caseback which makes macro photography of the movement difficult since practically half of your available lighting is blocked.

The chronograph monopusher button (protruding part of the crown with the Montblanc Star mother-of-pearl inlay) is incorporated into the crown and controls the start, stop, and reset functions of the chronograph.  Time adjustment is controlled by the crown, and the crown is of a large size to grip comfortably and aesthetically looks porportional to the large case.

Winding the crown is smooth and easy and very enjoyable because the feedback you hear is a loud ratcheting similar to that of winding a pocketwatch.  The only issue with the crown is residue accumulates between the ridges of crown.

Next to be inspected is the solid gold dial which is galvanised with various shades of gray.  To achieve the look of this multi-layered guilloched dial, the dial has to undergo many steps by master craftsmen.

The centre of the dial is adorned with a guilloched spiral pattern, which emerges from the Montblanc signet.  Going further out, the boundaries of the hour and minute chapter rings are guilloched with a saute pigue pattern.  Both upper and lower halves of the dial are balanced with applied 18K gold hour markers (the Roman numerals and arrow-heads), and the arrangement of the numeral markers are placed in reverse orientation to each other.

Besides inscripting the calibre number on the dial, a small and discreet print "Minerva 1858" is marked near the Roman numeral marker '4'.  If you can't see the Minerva 1858 print in the above picture, look closely at the tip of the minute hand because the tip barely overlaps the "1858".

Like the hour markers, the hands are of 18K gold.  At certain angles, the hands and markers become 'black'.  Truly the great form of finissage or black-polishing.

Interestingly, the second hand counterweight is also a Montblanc signet.


Movement

The Calibre 16-29 is a manually wound movement with chronograph, signed Minerva, Villeret and has been adjusted in 5 positions.  The power reserve is 55 hours, and the movement diameter is large at 38.4mm and 6.3mm thick.

We timed the watch for accuracy over a 3-day period.  This Villeret was worn on the wrist 24 hours a day (well except during showering and doing the dishes), and each day the watch was on par to +1/sec.  Extremely accurate! 

Overall, the movement is beautifully finished.  The rhodium-plated German silver bridges are decorated with 'Cotes de Geneve' and hand-bevelled, and the rear plate is covered in perlage decoration.  In addition, the specifications note that the underside of the plates and bridges (not visible to the wearer) are perlaged too.  When we examine with a 10x loupe, the bevelled edges sparkle!

The Calibre 16-29, beating at 18,000 VPH, is fitted with a large balance wheel (diameter 14.5mm, 59mgcm²) with adjustable mass screws, a Philip terminal curve hairspring, and a swan neck regulator.  As the balance wheel is large, no standard parts could be sourced from external suppliers, thus the balance wheel is manufactured in-house.  The hairspring is also manufactured in-house with its own secret proprietary material.  The capability to have internal control of the watch's most important regulating components demonstrates Montblanc Minerva's abilities to control its own destiny with in-house expertise instead of imminent threats from suppliers.

Like some other brands, the movements are marked with secret signature - Minerva Villeret also has several of its own.  Firstly, the V-shaped chronograph bridge (as shown above) is one of the most difficult to handle.  The acute internal angle of the V-groove requires great skill and concentration to hand-polish to perfection.

The second secret signature is the decorative Minerva Arrow (shown above) on the blocking lever of the chronograph movement.  Upon closer look, all screws on the movement and the column-wheel are beveled and mirror-polished as well.

Even the teeth of the wheels are polished!

Here's a picture which shows the secret signatures of Minerva Villeret and demonstrates the superb finishing of the beveled bridges with mirror-polished countersunk hole and screw.

Here's another picture of the Minerva Arrow at the tip of the blocking lever.

Directly below the Minerva Arrow is a gear with a pointed head between the spokes which we believe is functional to the advancing of the chronograph minute hand.  It seems to have a minor blemish on it, though clearly not visible to the naked eye.

A gear at the end of the V-shaped bridge, however, has a visible blemish visible to the naked eye, but we must remember that these pictures are macro-shots, and the watch in review is indeed a prototype.

Buckle & Straps

Here's a picture of the 18K white gold buckle with hand-stitched alligator straps.  After a while, residue started to accumulate on buckle as above.  Perhaps the buckle design is only for this prototype as a Red Gold production piece (shown below) has another version of buckle. 

A Wrist-Shot

Though the case is 47mm in diameter, the watch sits snugly on the wrist due to the curved curvette (also acts as a caseback).  The pusher-feel of the chronograph is silky smooth and crisp.  It does not require much pressure to activate chronograph when compared to Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec monopusher ( CLICK HERE to read our past Rieussec review ).  However, this may not be advantageous, as sometimes we inadvertently activated the monopusher button (on crown) unintentionally when bending the wrist backwards.

A comparison shot of the 47mm case with our standard PuristSPro ABR (42mm).


Conclusions

This watch design may be too traditional for some, yet perfectly traditional for others.  These near perfect, exclusive pieces should be targeted at connoisseurs who cherish the exquisitely finished movement.  At this price range, it may meet with fierce competition from other chronographs at lower price points.

Small wristed fans may prefer the smaller 41mm version (with Caliber 13-21 and monopusher button at 2 o'clock position), whose proportion may be more pleasing and slips easily under shirt-cuffs without unintentionally activating the chronograph.

In general, the Montblanc Villeret 1858 Chronographe Authentique comes with a hefty price tag; however, it delivers a quality, superbly finished movement with a tasteful, classic, commandable design that any experienced watch connoisseur can respect.

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A Few Pictures of The RG Version of the Villeret 1858 Grand Chronographe Authentique

Below is a comparison picture of two Montblanc Villeret 1858 monopushers.

On the left is the 41mm diameter WG Villeret 1858 Chronographe Authentique w/ monopusher button at 2 o'clock position vs. the 47mm RG Villeret 1858 Grand Chronographe Authentique w/ monopusher integrated into the crown.