jrwong23 (aka watchthebin)
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The Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Collection Part 3
On the first two parts of my series introducing the new Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie collection, I touched on the inspiration of the new collection, which is derived from the heritage of chronometric precision from Minerva as well as the design cues from the iconic Minerva Pythagore. I also covered the performance (500 hour tests) and craftsmanship of the new line, which includes their manufacture leather straps.
Today I will share the 2 calendar complications in this new collection as well as some details on Montblanc’s in-house complications, developed for watches in this collection. The first reference to introduce is a Full Calendar watch in the Heritage Chronometrie collection. Full Calendar, aka Complete Calendar is also called Quantième Complet in French. Such a complication displays complete calendar information, including the Day, Month, Date, Moonphase and of course, the hours and minutes. However, as most of us already know, it requires manual intervention as it doesn’t have the ability to differentiate if a month has 28, 29, 30 or 31 days so it will always assume a month has 31 days. The wearer will have to set the date manually to correct for this.
This is the Heritage Chronometrie Quantieme Complet Vasco da Gamma limited edition, a picture I took when Mr Jerome Lambert was in Singapore.
The second reference is the Heritage Chronometrie Annual Calendar. An Annual Calendar is also known as Quantième Annuel and it has the mechanical parts and function to automatically adjust for the length of each month from March to January, i.e. it knows whether a month has 30 or 31 days. The wearer only needs to manual adjust on the last day of Feb, for either 29 Feb or 1 March. This is the limitation of an Annual Calendar and if we go one level up in calendar complication, a Perpetual Calendar has the additional function of also adjusting for Feb to Mar. Montblanc doesn’t have a Perpetual Calendar in the Heritage Chronometrie line for now but it does have a Perpetual Calendar in the Heritage Spirit collection (formerly known as Meisterstuck Heritage collection), launched in 2014.
And this is the regular edition on my wrist
Next, I will share an in-house movement and an in-house complication in this new collection. Montblanc has ambitions to bring as much developmental competence in-house, leveraging on their manufacture capabilities from Le Locle and Villeret. However, Montblanc also wants to roll out new complications (at competitive prices) quickly and hence the introduction of in-house complications, which uses an external movement base but having the complication fully conceived and developed in-house. The now famous Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum with the in-house worldtime module is an excellent example.
Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum on my wrist... I am still waiting for mine to be delivered!
The Worldtime module is an in-house complication completely integrated into a Selita base movement.The in-house complication I want to share here in the Heritage Chronometrie series is the Dual Time. I had this watch for a wrist review and you can read my post here:
The illustration below, provided by Montblanc HQ, summarizes this Dual Time function and its convenience in setting local time when traveling. I have also explained this in my review of this watch in the post above, from a user standpoint.
The next complication is a fully in-house manufactured movement, and a very interesting one in my view for Montblanc. That is the movement for the ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph. This new movement combines two prides of Montblanc, from both Le Locle and Villeret, namely the Monopusher Chronograph with double barrels (from the Nicolas Rieussec) as well as the ExoTourbillon (from the Villeret grand complications series). This to me, highlights a true integration of the 2 manufactures, beyond having a Villeret movement encased in a Le Locle produced watch.
The Heritage Chronometrie ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph Vasco da Gamma Limited Edition on my wrist. A lovely watch with a very nice heft and a beautiful blue quartz dial.
I am very tempted to write on about this brand new
complication, i.e. the ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph but I feel this deserves
a part on its own. So I will dedicate Part 4 of the Heritage Chronometrie
series of posts just for this complication.
Stay tuned for my last part of this new series!
Cheers
robin
The Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Collection Part 3
Thanks a lot Robin for this wrap-up!
Arghhh I really can't wait! :p
That's another nice overview article Robin
Interesting point Mark
Is the Meisterstück watch line dead?
The Meisterstuck Heritage line launched in 2014
I remember your comment
Thanks for this wonderful preview