jrwong23 (aka watchthebin)
[Moderator]
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Montblanc 1858 Collection – Part Two
Dear PuristS
I hope the first week of 2016 has been a great
start for all of you. After the year end break and a very busy first week of
2016, I finally have time to continue Part Two of my 3-part series on the Montblanc
1858 collection. To recap from Part One, the Minerva heritage, which Montblanc
is now the custodian of, is largely the inspiration behind this new collection,
especially Minerva’s heritage on chronometric functions for precise time
measuring (chronographs).
In Part Two here, I will share the design codes
of the 1858 collection, which is again, large inspired by Minerva’s vintage
chronographs. We speak often of homage and tribute timepieces in modern
collections of various brands, some of them hits whilst some others, misses. We
as PuristS also discussed the recent trends of some brands which have been
issuing far too many homages and tributes over the past few years, some of them
having little modern innovations or modern design enhancements (a larger case
IS NOT a modern design enhancement IMHO) and some of us have been disappointed
with this trend.
Montblanc, having no history in watches before
1997, has no Montblanc vintage tribute watches to release and can only draw
inspiration from famous historical contributors in the fields of precise
measurements, such as Nicolas Rieussec and Vasco da Gama or come up with modern
collections from scratch such as the Timewalker series. However, if we include
Minerva, then it will be a shame IMHO not to pay tribute to this renowned
manufacture with such deep expertise, both mechanically and design wise, from
its long history of 157 years of innovation and craftsmanship.
An old picture of the Minerva manufacture’s building from the back view. These “old world charm” now living and breathing in modern timepieces continue to interest me in my hobby in horology.
Montblanc is tasked to safeguard and glorify the
traditions of traditional Swiss watchmaking when Minerva was merged with them
and hence, it is important, I feel, for Montblanc to continue to leverage on
Minerva’s expertise in their new collections and models. I am keen to hear what
fellow PuristS feel on this aspect of Montblanc drawing inspirations from
Minerva for the 1858 collection’ especially as Part Two focuses on the topic of
design inspiration behind this collection.
Inspiration behind the Dial Design
As mentioned in Part One, the 1858 Chronograph
Tachymeter draws inspiration from a Minerva chronograph from 1930. The black
dial with Arabic numerals, the design of the hour and minute hands and the
large notched crown in the modern piece very much pay tribute to the vintage
Minerva chronograph. The illustration below explains these in more detail.
In addition, the new 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter also has a tachymeter scale on the dial, traditionally meant for the measurement of speed based on the travel time along the delicate “chemin de fer” minuterie. The numerals and hands are also coated with Super LumiNova for readability in the dark.
Inspiration behind the Case Design
The case design remains
true to the original Minerva chronograph from 1930, a very vintage and
classically shaped case. Whilst I personally like modern watches as I dont have
to worry too much about their delicate parts and servicing, etc, I mainly like
modern watches with a very strong classical twist if you notice my taste in my
personal collection. This Montblanc 1858 case design has all the design element
of the vintage Minerva chronograph and that is very attractive to me. The lugs
and crown (which has a vintage pilot watch design as well) are especially
appealing to me. See the illustration below for more details on the case
design.
In Part Three, I will round up this three part
series with the calibre 16.29’s calibre inspiration and finishing as well as
the entire 1858 family, both the manual small seconds and the chronograph
tachymeters. The calibre 16.29 is a real
dream to own and I am still waiting for mine to arrive, hopefully in Q1 2016! 
Cheers
robin
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Montblanc 1858 Collection – Part Two
Dear PuristS I hope the first week of 2016 has been a great start for all of you. After the year end break and a very busy first week of 2016, I finally have time to continue Part Two of my 3-part series on the Montblanc 1858 collection. To recap from Par...
Interesting write up
I can clearly see the historical links when you put them side by side. Excited to see what Mont blanc has for us in 2016. Cheers Shawn
Happy to see you love this so much!
The red gold and black dial combo is really very nice. And the movement of course... To die for! Cheers Robin
MB Villeret
Great calibre, but nowadays also tend to forget the other amazing calibre 13.21 This watch has for me without any doubt been the watch I had to have after having seen it. After having this 2seconds in my hand I immediately purchased the watch. This was no...
You know Alex...
We are on the same boat Firstly I also love the calibre 13.21 in my Villeret chronograph grand feu enamel. Secondly, I am also in love with all things Villeret. And not many of my watch collector friends understand why Montblanc. But slowly they are seein...
Interesting comparison post, Robin. Several thoughts...
1/ I prefer the larger hour hand of the vintage. 2/ I prefer the large minute hand of the 1858 Tachymeter Chronograph. 3/ Montblanc has a winner, with this Chronograph. They worked very well on this one. It is not, in my eyes, a Tribute, it is an hommage ...
Thanks Nico for your feedback
I hope you can get it eventually This Chrono is like made for you! The steel version with blue dial Cheers Robin
Lol!
And he will poison you for sure! I felt it was too big on me initially but when I saw it on his wrist, I was deeply poisoned Cheers Robin
wish it were 39mm
I love this neo vintage montblanc line, it hits the mark like tudor black bay. i wish it were a more classical 39mm or 40mm though. edward
Agree Edward
A 39 or 40mm will be perfect The calibre 13.21 will be good for that size but the calibre 16.29 (which is already 38mm) needs a min of 43 or 44mm hence the larger size Maybe Montblanc will consider having the calibre 13.21 in the 1858 collection next time...