Dear All in early November last year Montblanc hosted a splendid reception on the occasion of the world tour of the Exotourbillon, the second tourbillon developed by the Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie , the watchmaking marvel established on the foundations of the erstwhile Manufac
Dear All
in early November last year Montblanc hosted a splendid reception on the occasion of the world tour of the Exotourbillon, the second tourbillon developed by the
Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie, the watchmaking marvel established on the foundations of the erstwhile
Manufacture Minerva.
Montblanc has its own boutique in Vienna, which was the ideal location to showcase its newest masterpiece:
Viennese people are ardent supporters of the 'academic quarter' (the habit at universities to start 15min later than scheduled), thus if you, like me, the 'super-pünktliche' (punctual) German, arrive on time, you almost always get the best seats...
But don't be desperate, we finally made it to the expected number of guests...
last but not least helped by some tempting items on display which were strategically placed to lure the people to the horological
honey traps...
and, it worked:
Being all in the right mood for something truly extraordinary, Mr. Thomas Mönnich, head of Montblanc Austria, welcomed the guests:
All listed patiently...
... while behind the scenes Alexander Linz, whom you all know as Moderator of the IWC forum as well as watch journalist of international repute, was getting 'wired' for his part...
Alex astonished the audience with a short background on the Swiss watch landscape, with all the famous and less famous names concentrated with a small region.
Villeret for example, is a horological hotspot and home to many brands we cherish:
Most attendees know Montblanc as a manufacturer of fine pens, so Alex introduced its watchmaking activities with good reference points to the various collections of pen products and how they relate, resp. compare, to the Timewalker, Rieussec or Villeret watches.
Now it was time to reveal
the masterpiece. Good photos always speak for themselves, right Alex?
Certainly, the Viennese Montblanc admirers were taken, captivated and astounded by the beauty of the handwork and watchmaking excellence practiced in Villeret. Alex was encircled, no chance to escape the questions!
And here it is, the
STAR:
Now it was the turn of the audience to take a first hand view on the Exotourbillon.
Romana Ressl, Master Watchmaker at and Assistant Manager of the boutique (and also an accomplished restorer of antique clocks and watches), was available to demonstrate and explain the intricacies of the piece. An offer that nobody would refuse:
You'd be surpised about the keen interest of the female attendees in watchmaking art:
I also had a chance to inspect the 2010 novelties, like this Chronographe Télémetre. Surely a beautiful piece, but I am still not sure whether I prefer the more elaborate and unique previous case to this one:
This guest had the longest way, he arrived from Los Angeles...!
And, after most of the guest had already left, Ms Ressl took me aside and said:
'I have something for you...'...no, you're wrong ;-)...
It was this, a working protoype movement of the Exotourbillon, for me to take home (for one night only :-()!
Of course, this was an invitation I did not expect. I had a very sleepless night... More in a few days, stay tuned!
Cheers,
Magnus
This message has been edited by mkt33 on 2011-03-22 16:56:42 
