Montblanc

mkt33
[PuristS]
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Asqwerth's "Decisions, decisions"

Early this year, I had the good fortune to win a substantial amount in shopping vouchers from a posh shopping centre with lots of watch shops.

The vouchers are expiring early next year, so I decided to check out some of the watch shops to see if anything caught my eye. I had lots of fun (sorry, forgot to take any pics), and I still have one more watch shop to go, but in the meantime, here are my thoughts on what I've tried so far:


JLC classic Reverso - I thought the ladies' size was too small, and really liked the mid-size model. The price for the midsize is a fair bit more, though. Vouchers only make up about 1/3rd of the price. 

34mm blue dial Aqua Terra (steel bracelet, Olympic logo on the case back so no display back) - I didn't like the shape of the 34mm case. The planes and angles seem different from the bigger models - sharper and uglier. Also tried the black-grey dial version - same feeling.

38.5mm white dial AT (steel bracelet) - unexpectedly ho-hum on my wrist. It was ok, but just felt and looked too much like other big watches I had. Maybe it was too "guy-ish". Don't really know. I didn't try the blue dialed version.

The ATs will cost more than twice the amount of the vouchers, as will the....

Mont Blanc Star Quantieme Full Calender (steel case) - wow. NICE. I could only find a clear pic of the gold cased version:

Surprisingly for a 42mm watch, it didn't look out of place or too big on my wrist. Maybe because of its dressy and elaborate design, it has the feel of an oversized ladies' watch anyway, rather than a guy's watch. They used a modified ETA movement to make a watch with Day/Month window, moonphase indicator, and date pointer (like the Oris Big Crown). Very tempting despite its cost! It does feel a little blingier and more ostentatious than what I usually wear, though.

Zenith 33mm moonphase - I was hoping to try these:




and




I understand the 692 calibre movement is in-house.

Unfortunately they only had the rose gold case version with diamonds for hour markers and mother of pearl dial (so boringly typical):



The Zeniths I liked were about double the voucher amount. The shop said they might be able to get stock from their agents if I was really serious about it.

Tudor Clair de Rose - Pretty but maybe too delicate. And the rotating flower thingy that takes the place of the second hand is useless for counting seconds! Can't really recall its price; I think I knew it wasn't for me.




Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 6 (39+ mm) - within the price range and a good size. I liked the scalloped waves on the dial and the blue numerals/hands. I liked how it looked on my wrist -- if only I didn't already have so many other watches with a seconds sub-dial and that general look.




Longines World Timer (38.5mm) - also within the voucher amount. Wears very nicely on my wrist and it's not chunky at all. Interesting looking, and in real life the dial is uncluttered and very legible. Apparently it uses a specially-modified ETA 2824-2 (according to my online research after I got home).

I had a cursory look at some watches from Ball (they didn't have the moonphase that highway has), Hamilton, Tissot, Baume Mercier. Nah. 

Unfortunately none of the shops there sell Bremont watches.

So now I'll need somehow to try on a Bremont 37mm Solo,




and decide if I really like it enough - at its price - to buy it, so I can decide how much I'm willing to spend on my "voucher watch"!

Would appreciate and really value your comments and opinions on all the watches above, as well as suggestions on other watches. My comfortable range for watch size would be 33-39 mm.

I still have some time to mull over this.

initially posted here and reposted with Asqwerth's permission:

www.christopherwardforum.com .php?f=8&t=21215#p267569