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jrwong23 (aka watchthebin)
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Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Dual Time review

Thanks to Montblanc HQ, I was able to try on one of their new models in 2015, the Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Dual Time for a wrist review. The model they passed me was the two tone version with a steel case, a solid red gold bezel and crown as well as red gold plated indices and hands. I am normally not a fan of two tone watches but I was able (over the past week) to appreciate the watch as if it were the all steel version or red gold version and will base my review as such.

Firstly, a quick recap: the Heritage Chronometrie line is a new line in 2015. It is a new line that is inspired by Chronometric innovation, from Minerva's heritage which Montblanc inherited as well as by the explorer Vasco da Gama. The collection started with a bang (not many watch brands can launch a single new line with so many models!) with the flagship Heritage Chronometrie ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph to an annual calendar, a dual time, a quantieme complet (full calendar), an automatic time and date and a manual time only. From what I saw during the Montblanc Black and White week in Singapore and when Mr Jerome Lambert was here in a cocktail event, of these models have a silvery white dial with a sunburst pattern and a mix of Arabic and baton indices (the exception being the ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph Vasco da Gama, which has an adventurine, a dark blue quartz, dial). The silvery white sunburst dial has the same look as the sister Heritage Spirit line (which has the perpetual calendar) and the key difference design wise is Arabic (Heritage Chronometrie) vs Roman hour indices (Heritage Spirit), from what I observed, trying to distinguish the two lines from a dial design perspective.

So how do I feel with the Heritage Chronometrie Dual Time?




I don't have a GMT or dual time watch. First thing I realized was how useful this complication is for someone like me who has a global role in my work. Be it when I travel for work or just need to quickly glance to see another time zone which is important to my work.

So how does it work? The main hours and minute hands (red gold plated in this version shown here) are the local time where you are based now. The blued steel hour hand indicates the home time (or the other timezone you want to monitor when you are not traveling). The sub dial at 12 o'clock indicates the 24 hour format for the home time, which allows you to know if the home time is 4am or 4pm for example (day or night indicator for the home time).



In the example above, the local time now is 10.08am (here I wasn't traveling so that's Singapore's time). The dual time, in this case set for Paris which is 6 hours behind Singapore (or home time if say I was traveling from Paris to Singapore) as indicated by the blued hour hand is 4.08am. The sub dial at 12 o'clock confirms the dual time/home time for Paris is 4am and in the night zone of the sub dial.

It is very easy to operate the local time, home time and date, all through the crown (there are no pushers on this watch). To set the local time (main hours and min hands) and home time (the blued steel hand), pull the crown to the second position and all the indicators will move together. When traveling, the local time (the local hour hand) and date can be easily adjusted via the first position of the crown. The hour hand can be set in hourly increments without any interference to the minute and second hands (seconds at sub dial at 6 o'clock). There is no quick date setting pusher or crown action but the date can be changed quickly by changing the local hour hands. Note that the date and local hour can be changed forwards or backwards easily (so no worries when traveling from East to West where we set time backwards).

As someone who travels for work quite often and needs to do conference calls a lot while in Singapore, I finally realize why a Dual Time is such a useful complication.



The very legible blued hour hand is telling me London is waking up today as I was going back to the office after lunch (1 plus pm in Singapore, 6plus am in London)

Functions wise, I have learned to appreciate a Dual Time complication, very useful indeed.

As for the watch, I feel it is a tad big for me at 41mm as I have a small wrist of only 6.2 or 6.3 inches. Most wrist size above 6.5 inch to 7 inch or more wont have a problem with a 41mm case. But as the movement is small relatively to the case, I would have preferred a 39mm or 40mm max case. The Lange Saxonia Dual Time is now 38.5mm with the new 2015 model so I hope Montblanc can consider making smaller versions of this watch too.



A back view of the watch. Notice the movement is small relative to the case so a 39mm case will be more suitable and more elegant I feel



Dial design and finishing is pretty nice though. See above. The silvery sunburst dial is quite similar to the Heritage Spirit line (previously called Meisterstuck Heritage) such as the dial on the perpetual calendar or the moonphase. Personally I like how it plays with light and how the silvery sunburst effect compliments the red gold bezel. I suspect if I see this Dual Time watch in full red gold case, the sunburst dial will complement it even more.

Traditional codes of fine watchmaking can be found on the dial as well. Applied, faceted hour indices are a nice feature on the dial with an applied 12 Arabic font and the rest are baton hour indices. The two tone and red gold versions have red gold plated applied hour indices and the steel version have rhodium plated applied indices. I am a fan of applied indices as they give the dial more depth and details



Movement is the Montblanc calibre MB 29.19 which is base Sellita movement with an in-house Montblanc Dual Time complication added on to it. This strategy is similar to what Montblanc did with the Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum (Sellita base with in-house worldtime complication). This allows Montblanc to price these complications at a more assessable price yet retain control over the in-house complication in terms of manufacturing and QA.





Only industrial standard finishing on the movement but I don't expect too much at this price point

I like the red gold bezel and the crown a lot. The red gold is of a nice color hue that is not too yellow nor too pink. The bezel is also mirror polished on the top and brushed at the side. I also love the matt finishing of the crown with the Montblanc emblem. More discreet and looks classy.



Personally I feel both the red gold and steel version will be nicer for me as I am not a two tone fan. I suspect I will like the full red gold version.



A side view of the watch. 41mm case diameter and 9.9mm thick. A good thickness for the case size. Not too thick, not too thin. Noticed the curved horns. I love this detail on the case.


Wearing this watch is an easy affair with the comfortable deployment buckle. If I am not wrong Montblanc has improved their deployment buckle which is now shorter and more comfortable.










Overall the dial and case design win it for me. The dial with the sunburst design and blued dual time hand comes alive under light and I love how it plays with light. I found myself looking at the dial in many meetings with this watch. The dial is also very legible for both the local and home time.



I also like the case. It looks and feel very refined especially with the curved horns. The picture I shared earlier on shows this too.

I shared many things I like about this watch above and I think I will like it even more in the full red gold version. There are a few areas I do hope Montblanc can improve in maybe a future version:

1. A smaller case of 38 or 39mm (max 40). This size is more elegant, fits almost all men's wrist sizes and is more suitable for the small movement

2. I will prefer a closed case back for such movements but I guess the majority of non WIS consumers will prefer the open back to view the movement.

3. The date window seems too near the central part of the dial. Related to point 1 as the movement is too small for a 41mm case. Without date might look even nicer.

4. Resembles the JLC master home time and the Lange Saxonia dual time when I first saw it. Perhaps Montblanc can add more "DNA" to their Heritage collection to differentiate more design wise.

What do you think of this watch or the Heritage Chronometrie collection in general? Let us know you thoughts

Hope you enjoyed this review

Cheers
Robin

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