The Montblanc Star Collection blends the classical elegance of fine Swiss watchmaking with the characteristic formal language of Montblanc. The round cases, black Arabic numerals and sumptuous finishes in the tradition of Haute Horlogerie, such as guilloché dials, endow these watches with a timeless beauty. All of these characteristics are expressed in the new Montblanc Star Twin Moonphase. Its automatic Montblanc calibre MB 29.13 was constructed for a new type of complication that is used exclusively by Montblanc and gives the watch its name: a moon-phase display that shows the moon’s phases in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres and the age of the moon in days.
The earth natural satellite
A moon-phase display, which has traditionally numbered among the most popular horological complications, always adds a very poetic aspect to a wristwatch. For countless millennia, people in every culture have felt emotionally connected to the night’s brightest celestial body. Most people, however, are unaware that the moon’s phases appear differently depending upon whether they’re observed from the Northern or the Southern Hemisphere. The lunar phases follow one another in the same sequence regardless of an observer’s location: full moon is full moon and waxing moon is waxing moon, but the geometries of the waxing and waning moon as seen from the Southern Hemisphere are mirror images of their counterparts as viewed from the North. The waxing moon’s crescent always appears to curve toward the right when seen by an observer in the Northern Hemisphere, but curves toward the left when viewed from the South. An analogous situation prevails for the waning moon’s crescent, which curves toward the left for observers in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the right for viewers below the Equator. Most timepieces with moon-phase displays depict the lunar phases as they appear to observers in the North because clocks, watches and the moon-phase display were invented in the Northern Hemisphere and because the majority of people live north of the Equator.
The Moon from the North and the South
The situation is different on the face of the Montblanc Star Twin Moonphase, which also does justice to the perspective of people who dwell in the Southern Hemisphere. A classical moon-phase display with its characteristically shaped window (to emulate the geometry of the waxing or waning moon as it appears to viewers in the Northern Hemisphere) is combined here with a pointer for the moon’s age in days. This slim hand is positioned diametrically opposite the conventional moon-phase display in the lower half of the lunar subdial, where it points to symbols that show the appearance which the moon’s phases present to viewers in the Southern Hemisphere.
All this takes place at “6 o’clock” on a classical beautiful subdial which has been thoughtfully conceived down to its very last detail. The moon’s age is shown in days along the periphery of the subdial, the upper portion is reserved for a familiar moon-phase display with a characteristically shaped window in which golden-coloured Luna glides above a dark blue background and gradually changes her appearance to keep pace with the phases of the moon as seen by observers in the Northern Hemisphere. The surface below it is tastefully adorned with a pattern shaped like Montblanc’s emblem and wreathed by moon-phase symbols as they appear in the sky above the Southern Hemisphere.
A High-Class Dial
The dial is adorned with a fine guilloche décor – a classical element in the design vocabulary of haute horlogerie that is used on the dials of the Montblanc Star watches and concentrically develops the contours of the Montblanc emblem on the moon-phase subdial of the Twin Moonphase. This continues to the clearly structured scale for the minutes and seconds along the outermost periphery of the dial. The scale has an aperture between “one o’clock” and “two o’clock” for the asymmetrically arranged pointer date, as well as a cartouche at “10 o’clock” with the MONTBLANC script logo and the word “automatic”, which alludes to the self-winding mechanical movement. The unconventional arrangement of the date display, the red accents in the minute and calendar scales, and the crescent-shaped tip of the date pointer give this wristwatch a very distinctive look. Black Arabic numerals, which are a typical feature of the Montblanc Star Collection, clearly contrast with the silvery grey background. This setting strongly contrasts with blued steel hands to assure excellent legibility: leaf-shaped hour- and minute-hand, a baton-shaped second-hand with the revised Montblanc emblem as a counterweight, a slim and straight pointer for the moon’s phases and age, and a very slender date-hand with a bright red crescent at its tip.
Cases with the Sheen of Stainless Steel
This classical face is placed in a special polished stainless steel case, which has contemporary proportions with a diameter of 42 mm and an overall height of 12.7 mm. A domed and antireflective sapphire crystal protects the dial. A pane of sapphire crystal is inserted into the screwed back to provide a clear view of highquality mechanical Calibre MB 29.13. This self-winding movement is equipped with a special complication, solely used by Montblanc in this configuration, to indicate the twin moon phase. The movement with asymmetrical pointer date has all the fine attributes of the art of Swiss watchmaking. It ticks at a pace of 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour (4 Hz) and, if the watch is left unworn for a longer interval, the calibre can be manually wound by turning the fluted, readily graspable, stainless steel crown with inset Montblanc emblem. The date and moon-phase displays can be adjusted in single-day increments via two buttons inset into the flank of the case. This timepiece is worn in the classical manner on a strap, which is crafted from alligator leather with large reptilian scales. The wristband is secured by an exclusive triply folding stainless steel clasp which enables the owner to quickly and easily slip the watch on and off. The Montblanc Star Twin Moonphase will be available in Montblanc boutiques and at selected watch and jewellery stores starting in the autumn of 2014.
Ninety years ago, Montblanc created a writing instrument that became an icon in the culture of writing: the Montblanc Meisterstück. With functional and aesthetic design, an innovative ink supply and a manually profiled gold nib, this fountain pen is the legendary writing instrument of our time.
Ever since 1924, the Meisterstück has represented consummate excellence, the striving for perfection and masterly craftsmanship – and has thus embodied the principles that pervade Montblanc’s production, innovation and products. Precisely this attitude also determines the extremely high standards that Montblanc upholds so that it can consistently develop and produce the finest timepieces and innovative calibres on the highest echelons of the traditional art of Swiss watchmaking in its manufactures in the Swiss Jura, in Villeret and Le Locle.
The Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Collection is inspired by the ninety-year heritage of the Meisterstück. With classical design, discriminating complications and sumptuous decorations, these elegant timepieces manifest the values of the Montblanc Meisterstück and the traditional features of fine Swiss watchmaking in every detail – thus making them their owners’ lifelong companions.
The Montblanc Meisterstück: A Legend from the Hands of Master Craftsmen
Meisterstück is the German word for “masterpiece”. The concept originated in medieval craftsmen’s guilds: ever since the Middle Ages, a craftsman who had successfully completed his journeyman years could apply for recognition as a Meister (master). If the guild accepted his request, the applicant was obliged to prove his abilities by fabricating an especially demanding artefact under the supervision of one of the guild’s masters. If the other masters accepted this piece as a Meisterstück, the applicant was granted the title of Meister. Today too, the word Meisterstück continues to stand for extraordinary craftsmanship, traditional techniques, high-quality materials, perfect aesthetics and outstanding functionality.
When the Meisterstück fountain pen 149 debuted in 1924, it proved that Montblanc had created an artefact which truly deserves its name. The design is elegantly reduced: the barrel and cap are made of deep black precious resin, a golden gleam beautifies both the ring around the barrel and the clip, and the entire ensemble is crowned by Montblanc’s emblem, which symbolizes the snow-covered summit of the European continent’s tallest peak. This mountain towers 4,810 metres above sea level, which is why the engraved numeral “4810” adorns the nib of every Montblanc Meisterstück writing instrument and distinguishes it as a product that embodies the acme of European craftsmanship. The passion for aesthetics, craftsmanship and quality gave birth to a highly functional, exclusive and timelessly beautiful object for daily use. This pen wrote world history: countless presidents, crowned heads and high-ranking dignitaries have used it to sign international treaties and certificates of appointment. But above all, it’s the discriminating standards and spirit, along with enduring appreciation from its owners, which have enabled the Meisterstück to become a legend.
The Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Collection
This “Spirit of Meisterstück” was the starting point for the development of a new line of watches: the Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Collection. This new collection is inspired by the standards of the Montblanc Meisterstück. Like the legendary fountain pen, these timepieces are distinguished by masterly craftsmanship, timeless design and perfect functionality.
The Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Collection embodies the finest Swiss watchmaking in each and every detail. For example, the time is shown by faceted hands in the classical dauphine shape, which sweep over cambered, silver-white dials that have been tastefully embellished with sunburst patterns. Dauphine hands are extremely challenging to fabricate because their clear geometry, straight contours and perfectly smooth flanks would instantly reveal even the tiniest flaw in their manufacturing or assembly. Their elegant length is an especially distinguishing feature of fine watchmaking. The hour circle combines polished faceted appliqués in three different lengths and an eye-catching applied Roman numeral “XII”. In accord with the best watchmaking tradition, each appliqué stands atop two little feet which are firmly riveted to the dial. The classical shape of the elegant 39- or 41-mm-diameter case is accentuated by various finishings on the surfaces, for example, horizontal satin finishing on the middle piece. The crown is adorned with Montblanc’s emblem in polished, raised relief against a matte sand-blasted background.
These elaborate features distinguish all models in the Meisterstück Heritage Collection: from the classical three-handed wristwatch with date display, through the elegant moon-phase watch, to grandes complications such as a perpetual calendar and a monopusher chronograph.
Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Pulsograph
Two Grand Traditions
The Minerva Manufacture, which is the direct ancestor of the Montblanc Manufacture in Villeret, fabricated in 1923 one of the first chronograph calibres for wristwatches and thus paved the way for the success of mechanical wristwatch chronographs. Equipped with pulsometer scales, these precise measurers of brief intervals were especially popular among physicians. Calibrated for 30 pulse beats, a pulsometer scale enables a doctor to read the pulse rate per minute without having to continue feeling the patient’s pulse for a full sixty seconds. These watches were animated by the noteworthy Minerva Calibre 13.20, which was first encased in 1923 – i.e. almost simultaneously with the Montblanc Meisterstück fountain pen 149. The Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Pulsograph continues this horological tradition. Its chronograph movement (Montblanc Calibre MB M13.21) is inspired by Minerva Calibre 13.20. Like its predecessor, the contemporary movement is manually fabricated and finely adjusted in accord with the principles of the traditional art of Swiss watchmaking. In combination with authentic Meisterstück design, the Heritage Pulsograph thus embodies two grand traditions.
The pulsometer scale of the Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Pulsograph is positioned along the periphery of the dial. This logarithmic scale is calibrated for 30 pulse beats (GRADUÉ POUR 30 PULSATIONS) with subdivisions for each tenth and fifth pulsation along a railroad-style track. This scale concentrically surrounds the chronograph’s elapsed-seconds scale, which is subdivided into fifths of a second to correspond with the balance’s frequency of 2.5 hertz. Slender black index strokes alternate with red Arabic numerals at five-minute intervals. The chronograph’s elapsed-time hands are crafted from blued steel: the large trotteuse culminates in a red tip and the small hand on the elapsed-minutes subdial bears an arrowhead. The latter is an allusion to the logo of the former Minerva Manufacture. Closer to the dial’s centre lies the minute scale with tidy black dots, hour indices in the form of sharply faceted gold-plated appliqués, and applied goldplated Roman numerals “XII” and “VI”. Styled to harmonize with the gold-plated dauphine hour-hand and minute-hand, these numerals form a chromatic unity with the elegant 18 karat rose gold case.
Classical Chronographic Mechanisms – Fabricated by Hand
The Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Pulsograph is animated by chronograph Calibre MB M13.21, which embodies all the distinguishing features of classical chronograph mechanisms and the traditional watchmaker’s art. It functions with a column-wheel and horizontal gear coupling. As a monopusher construction, it has a three-phase control which sequentially triggers the start, stop and zero-return commands. When the lone button is pressed, it activates a series of levers, each of which is painstakingly manually embellished. All levers and springs are polished on their flat surfaces, satin-finished on their sides, and manually bevelled along their edges. All functional planes are individually and manually adjusted in each movement to maximize the smoothness and reliability with which the button triggers the commands. Similarly luxurious finishing has been lavished on all other components of the movement. The plate and bridges are fabricated from rhodium-plated nickel silver; the bridges are bevelled by hand, and these chamfered surfaces are then manually polished. Classical Geneva waves embellish the planar surfaces. The V-shaped chronograph-bridge is an eye-catching and characteristic feature: inspired by its counterpart in Minerva’s legendary chronograph Calibre 13.20, its inner angles are a symbol of traditional horological craftsmanship that no machine, no matter how modern it may be, could possibly imitate. The bridge proudly bears the name “Minerva Villeret”. The pale silver-grey hue of the movement’s chassis contrasts with red jewels and a large massy screw balance that oscillates at the classical pace of 2.5 hertz. Both the balance and the hairspring, which culminates in a Philips terminal curvature, are manufactured and manually adjusted inhouse. The balance’s frequency (18,000 A/h) demands meticulous fine adjustment, but rewards this labour by accurately timing elapsed intervals to the nearest fifth of a second. The movement draws its energy from a large barrel: with circularly grained inner surfaces, the barrel is elaborately decorated even in places that ordinarily remain unseen – further proof that this calibre embodies definitive horological craftsmanship.
The positioning of the chronograph’s sole button at “2 o’clock” shows that this timepiece is a high-quality monopusher chronograph. Its handmade movement can be viewed by peering through a pane of sapphire crystal in the back of the case. Both surfaces of this crystal have been specially treated to prevent glare and reflections.
The Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Pulsograph will be available in an elegant 41-mm case made of 18 karat rose gold. A Montblanc diamond, cut and polished to form the emblem of the maison, is inset into the middle piece of the case at “6 o’clock”. As a valuable but unostentatious symbol, it shows that this watch is equipped with a manufacture calibre. The watch is worn on a black alligator-skin strap with large reptilian scales. The wristband culminates in a rose gold pronged buckle. The Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Pulsograph will be launched in the autumn of 2014 in a limited edition of 90 timepieces. The limitation to 90 watches pays homage to the year nine decades ago when the Meisterstück fountain pen was born (1924) and to the pen’s 90th anniversary, which it celebrates in 2014.
The grande complication of the perpetual calendar is both highly demanding from a mechanical viewpoint and an expression of the utmost in the watchmaker’s art. Unlike an ordinary “full calendar”, a perpetual calendar always shows the correct date and requires no manual adjustment, not even at the end of a month with fewer than 31 days and also not at the end of February in a leap year. It accordingly jumps directly from 30 June to 1 July and from 28 February to 1 March, except in a leap year, when it automatically shows 29 February.
The mechanism which supports this function requires complexly shaped rockers and cams that mechanically pre-program the variously long months and also add a 29th day to February once every four years. If the mainspring of the Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar is kept sufficiently wound, this timepiece’s calendar will require no manual adjustments until the year 2100. If this watch is left unworn for a longer period of time, its calendar displays can be quickly and easily returned to synchrony with the current date by pressing the inset buttons in the middle piece of the case. The perpetual calendar is powered by self-winding mechanical Calibre MB 29.15., which has a balance paced at 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour (4 hertz).
The displays of the Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar are harmoniously arranged on the dial: the date is shown at “3 o’clock”, the day of the week at “9 o’clock”, and the month at “12 o’clock”. On the inner scale of the month display, the leap-year cycle is shown by a blue triangle and a leap year is indicated by a red “4”. The moon’s phases are emulated in a window at “6 o’clock”; the moon’s age is indicated in days at this window’s upper edge.
The calendar’s finely blued hands elegantly contrast with the silver-white, cambered dial, which is adorned with a sunburst pattern. A gold-plated hour-hand and minute-hand harmonize with the 39-mm-diameter case, which is crafted from 18 karat rose gold. A pane of sapphire crystal in the back offers a clear view of elaborately embellished self-winding Calibre MB 29.15. This new classic wristwatch is affixed to a black alligator-leather strap with an 18 karat rose gold pronged buckle. The closure’s curved crosspieces harmoniously repeat the curvature of the watch’s case. This too is another of the many details that distinguish timelessly perfect design in full accord with the traditions of haute horlogerie.
Each Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar wristwatch is subjected to a comprehensive 500-hour quality test at the manufacture in Le Locle. Developed by Montblanc, this rigorous examination verifies the accuracy of the watch’s rate, the watertightness of its case, the timepiece’s overall performance and robustness, and the functionality of the individual displays. Only after its examiners are convinced that a watch upholds Montblanc’s strict quality standards do they release it for subsequent delivery. Each watch that passes the 500-hour test is individually issued a test certificate. The Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar will be launched in the summer of 2014.
Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Moonphase
Watch aficionados appreciate the classical complication of the moon-phase display not only because of the cleverness of the mechanical solution, but also and especially thanks to its aesthetic styling. The moonphase display of the Meisterstück Heritage Moonphase is integrated into the scale of the date display, which relies on a classical blued hand. The moon’s phases appear in the traditional manner inside a semicircular window along a “double-bubble” line, which gives the moon’s silhouette its gradually changing faces on the underlying disc.
This moon-phase watch has all the characteristic features associated with Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage design. The 39-mm-diameter case is made of 18 karat rose gold (5N). Its flanks, which descend vertically, are beautified with horizontal satin finishing. The bezel is narrow, convexly rounded and polished to a glossy finish. This component surrounds the slightly cambered dial, which has a finely shimmering sunburst pattern. The hour circle is made of clearly faceted, applied indices and an applied Roman numeral “XII”, above which the sharply faceted and sharply tapering dauphine hands reliably sweep their orbits. The precise progress of the hands is assured by automatic Calibre MB 29.14. Its mechanisms – especially its winding rotor and the gleaming golden 4-hertz balance – can be viewed through a pane of sapphire crystal in the back of the case. A black alligator-skin wristband with large reptilian scales and a pronged buckle made of 18 karat rose gold round out the timelessly elegant appearance of the Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Moonphase.
Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Date Automatic
With its four displays (hours, minutes, seconds and date), the Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Date concentrates on all essential functions. Embodying the tasteful styling associated with the Meisterstück Heritage line, it self-confidently combines understatement and elegance.
The dial’s design embodies an aesthetic based on pure functionality so that the highlights of the Meisterstück philosophy can be especially well expressed: the cambered dial with fine black indices for the minutes along the downwardly sloping periphery of the dial, the sharply faceted applied indices in various lengths, the applied Roman numeral “XII”, the date window with polished frame and the fine sunburst pattern with a radiant shimmer that wanders across the dial in response to the incident lighting. All this forms the background for the circular motions of the rhodium-plated and polished hour-hand and minute-hand, each in dauphine style, with sharply tapering facets that beautifully match the applied indices. The large blued second-hand is another characteristic of the traditional codes of artistic Swiss watchmaking. The hands are propelled by self-winding mechanical Calibre MB 24.17. A pane of sapphire crystal in the back of the case invites connoisseurs to admire the movement’s finishing and its gleaming golden balance, which oscillates at a precise pace of four hertz. The movement is ensconced in a stainless steel case that boasts all the distinguishing features of Meisterstück Heritage design: a narrow, convex, polished bezel; vertically descending flanks with horizontal satin finishing; finely arcing horns; a cambered crystal, treated on both its surfaces to prevent reflections, above the dial; and a brown alligator-skin strap with large reptilian scales and a stainless steel pronged buckle.
