Classicism is a tradition with a future
Montblanc looks to the first chronographs to have been made by Minerva in the 1920s as the inspiration for the Heritage Annual Calendar Chronograph. A future classic?
Montblanc presents this year for the first time a new combination of a chronograph with an annual calendar that only needs setting once a year at the end of February. Inspired by one of the first chronograph wristwatches created by Minerva in the 1920s, this heritage is reflected in the new model.
Montblanc’s watch designers created a clear and legible dial by keeping all the chronograph-related hands in blue and the hands for the hours, minutes, seconds and calendar functions in plated red gold. The chronograph seconds are indicated with a central blue hand, the elapsed minutes are displayed in a counter at 9 o’clock with sectorial scale, and the hours in a counter at 6 o’clock. For the annual calendar function, the days of the week are on display at 6 o’clock, the date is shown at 12 o’clock and the months are featured at 9 o’clock. The ten hands are operated by the automatic movement calibre MB 25.09, with a 42-hour power reserve, and are easily set thanks to four individual correctors positioned in the middle-piece of the case and operated by a dedicated Montblanc pin that is delivered with the timepiece.
A sophisticated moonphase complication has been included in a counter at 3 o’clock, displaying the four principal cycles of the moon via four individual red gold-plated moons – new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter – that are identified with a red gold hand. This moonphase indication evokes the beginnings of timekeeping when ancient civilisations relied on the lunar calendar for their timing needs, and adds an eye-catching feature on the watch’s silvery-white sunray dial.
The refined and elegant aesthetic of the Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Annual Calendar Chronograph follows the collection’s fine watchmaking codes with facetted sword hands, red gold-plated indexes and Arabic numerals in a highly polished 42mm red gold case. The timepiece is fitted with an alligator leather strap crafted by the Montblanc Pelletteria in Florence and, like all the other timepieces in the collection, is tested for 500 hours following the stringent requirements of the Montblanc Laboratory 500 Hours Test.
