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Thank You Michael
Wonderful post and excellent observations. The more I read the more I appreciated the design and layout as well as the technical details that went into the watch. I'm still not sure about the dial but I believe that seeing one in person will dispel any doubts about the layout. The good news is that Montblanc is to be applauded for their efforts. The bad news is that it's price is out of my league! However, the other good news is that this rekindles my interest in the Rieussec GMT in Steel!
An in depth review- Montblanc Villeret Grand Chronographe Email Grand Feu
Montblanc Villeret 1858 Grand Chronographe Email Grand Feu Review by Michael Ting © June 2009 Despite its complexity the mechanical chronograph is, in my humble opinion, vastly under appreciated. Why is this complication taken for granted? I believe it is...
Great Report Mike!
This is a very thorough report, I had some concerns and opinions about the recent Villeret Montblanc pieces, and your review helped address most of them. Here are two of my comments about this watch; 1. In regards to the dial, what do you think of it? The...
Hi Patrick, thank you for your comments. Here are some additional thoughts
I was not a fan of the dial design until the watch was well into the three week wear trial. That is when I sat down to think why it was so easy to read the dial and I tried to distill my theory as simply as I could in the review. It is hard to describe an...
Enjoyed This!
Thanks, Mike, for sharing your considered opinion about this piece. Once you illuminated the fine details, I found a deeper appreciation for the watch as a whole. At first I thought the dial looked a bit scrunched up in the middle,too, but once you explai...
Finally saw one in person...
I did get to see one in person when I visited the Montblanc boutique. I was presented with a special model that had a single chronograph pusher as a part of the three o'clock winding crown. After seeing the watch in person, I concur, the dial is well desi...
Hi Patrick...see what happens when you walk into a Montbalnc boutique with an open mind?
You are very lucky. There are not very many samples of the Villeret models here in the USA. I guess Orange Coast Plaza is "special". Thanks for posting your observations, Mike
Enjoyed the post, Mike!
Thanks for the in-depth review. Without a doubt, the offerings in the Villeret 1858 Collection are impressive, and are worthy testaments to Montblanc's assertions that they are serious about haute horology. I'm impressed by the movement in the watch you r...
I hope you get the chance to examine one in detail soon
it will cement your thoughts about the quality of the Villeret line. I don't care much for overlapping dials usually as it clutters the look and makes reading time more difficult but take a closer look. Notice the inverted ring with the hash indicies? not...
The instant recognition of the Montblanc name can also work in two ways
I have heard from a well-assorted watch retailer the following story: They had a corporate customer who wanted to present to a senior executive a very special watch as token of appreciation for his/her particular accomplishments. The customer spent signif...
Hi Magnus, your example highlights the double edged sword
of name recognition in the luxury market. This is the barrier MB has to cross successfully. It is all about preception. There is snobbery in either direction and all around. It's funny how the sentence. "Hey that's a Montblanc pen!" can mean different thi...
Hey Mike, be sure I'l post about this - some time...
I have other things on my hard disk which have priority... Check the AHCI board a couple of days. Just one word: Building and their preservation state aside, I am impressed how few things have changed. There are even the same CNC machines there. What I ha...
Thanks for the report Mike!
I like the black dial variant but the white works well. -MW
Yes the black dial is nice...It makes me wonder, as the J*D moderator,
just how difficult it was to make a black grand feu enamel dial since J*D claimed that it took a few years to get the formula right! I can't imagine a SWATCH brand trying to obtain dials from a Richemont subsidiary or vice-versa. Best, Mike
excellent summary of the strengths of the watch
Mike: I congratulate you on highlighting the strengths of the watch. Personally, I think the watch looks much better from the back side than it does from the dial side. I find that the short hour hand somehow detracts from the overall looks of the watch. ...
Thanks JMan. Mr. Schmiedt's interview below is revealing
about the hands off approach. I especially took note of his words "suspicious eyes" when he described MB's initial relationship with Mr. Cabiddu and the technical team. I guess I would be skeptical too! It looks like they've hit the right working tone and...
Thank you for reviewing my favorite Montblanc
.... was waiting eagerly for this review.... This piece sums up many features that I love on a watch Enamel, white dial with red and black markings, not so usual layout of dial (in this case for chronograph) beautifully executed crown and most of all asto...
Thanks for the review Mike
The finishing on the Villeret movements is indeed very, very good, and one of the best I have seen. I haven't had a chance to compare the watches side by side, but I reckon the movement decoration is on par with Patek CH27-70 (which possesses the best fin...
Even though I felt the same way I wasn't going to go out
that far on the limb for fear of the appearance that I was overexaggerating. Incidentally I've had several emails privately asking me to compare the finish to those of independent watchmakers and I've refused to do so for the same reasons. Finishing "warm...
Comparison with independents is tough
and Montblanc will probably fall short since. Remember that a Voutilainen Observatoire costs as much as a Villeret chronograph and the Voutilainen chronograph costs nearly double. But at the particular price point, Montblanc compares very, very favourable...
I think some of us are in blind love of independents...
Yes, compared to a Voutilanen, perhaps you are right. Compared to others, MB is superior at the same price point IMHO. I would agree if a difference exists between Lange and MB in regard to finish quality, it would be small. I think that pusher feel is mo...
I'll second the notion regarding the exiguous difference . . .
. . . in the level of finishing offered by the houses of A Lange and Minerva, Mike . . . my one experience of hands-on experience with a refined Minerva movement was all it took to make me a fan. I feel there's an unexploited opportunity for Montblanc to ...
Great review Mike!
It must have been a pleasure wearing this smaller sized 41-42mm MB Villeret on your wrist, and I'm green with envy The larger 47mm version we reviewed earlier was on borderline too large for my small wrist, so this smaller version must have been a bundle ...
Thank You Michael
Wonderful post and excellent observations. The more I read the more I appreciated the design and layout as well as the technical details that went into the watch. I'm still not sure about the dial but I believe that seeing one in person will dispel any do...
Yes! the dial layout will grow but it is not love at first sight.
Like you the Villeret 1858 is currently out of range..maybe in a few years. A Rieussec can tie me over though Mike
Lighting my candle
Thank you for a great review of a great watch, Michael! I read in SJX's comment in the thread that follows your article "Remember that a Voutilainen Observatoire costs as much as a Villeret chronograph and the Voutilainen chronograph costs nearly double"....
Hi Ztirual, I think you may have misinterpreted SJX's comparison
The Villeret Chronograph's RRP is approx the same as the Observatoire. A Voutilainen chronograph would cost twice that of a Villeret Chronograph. By the way an option that I didnot include in my review is MB's willingness to create specialty pieces at the...