Montblanc and the Salon of fine watchesA glittering appearance at the SIHH 2007 in Geneva
The brand Montblanc, rooted now for 100 years in writing culture, has also long been one of the established watch manufacturers attending the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva every year. The timepieces with the white star, produced in the Swiss location of Le Locle by Montblanc Montre S.A., stand for high, traditional craftsmanship in contemporary design.
It is a dazzling time this year for Montblanc ladies’ watches, glittering with diamonds and black sapphires. The fascinating “Montblanc MiniStar Automatic Diamonds” has an eyecatching dial with large, femininely styled diamond numerals, while the “Montblanc Star Lady Moonphase Automatic” attracts attention with its diamond-studded lunette and date display, as well as the “Montblanc Diamond”. As for the men’s watches, especially the avant-garde “Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Automatic” and the dynamic “Montblanc Sport Chronograph Automatic” – both in 18-carat red gold – set new design accents in colour and aesthetics.
Swiss watch precision through tradition and passion: Montblanc Montre S.A. in Le Locle
The watches with the white star – they have been represented at the SIHH for exactly ten years. Despite their comparatively young history, Montblanc’s watches are already counted as one of the established and successful brands in the world of exclusive watches. One of the many reasons is the traditional method of production in accordance with the high standards of Swiss watch precision. With experienced hands, a passion for detail and the most modern microtechnologies, the master craftsmen at Montblanc Montre S.A. in Le Locle produce uncompromisingly special timepieces in a factory covering more than 900 square metres, watches which also meet the high demands for complex products and first-class design.
Montblanc Ministar White Gold Lady Diamonds: an artwork of brilliantly shaped times
The Montblanc Ministar White Gold Lady Diamonds automatic watches, studded with glittering diamonds totalling 1.49 carats, combine the most precious materials and classy round design elements. Radiant diamonds in top Wesselton quality shine alternately with black sapphires on the lunette of the 18-carat white gold case, indicating the preciousness of every passing minute.
The design of the dark, mother-of-pearl dial is of truly artistic expressiveness. The numerals 3, 6, 9 and 12 are interlaced with one another in sweeping lines and hold you spellbound – created from 148 top Wesselton diamonds. And in perfect harmony there is an exceptional strap in black, glossy satin.
For all those who are more attracted to the magical gleam of dark sapphires, Montblanc has created a coloured counterpart with 148 black sapphires on a white, mother-of-pearl dial and a strap in white, glossy satin. As the crowning feature of both models, another diamond set in the elegant winding button fashes stylishly: the Montblanc Diamond. Cut with 43 facets in the shape of a glittering Montblanc star, it symbolises the supreme craftsmanship which the brand has been nurturing now for a century and which has been constantly enriched through more refined techniques.
Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Automatic: the classical watch of the 21st century in 18-carat red gold or cool, gleaming stainless steel
The protagonist among the male watch highlights at the SIHH 2007 is the Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Automatic. A chronograph which convincingly forms a bridge between the present and the future. Architecturally clear in shape and modern in the design of the face, the TimeWalker Collection has achieved great success internationally with its unmistakable 21st century watch design. The line, which has so far been made only of stainless steel, has now been extended by Montblanc to include exclusive watch variants in fashionable 18-carat red gold.
The attraction is the 43 mm Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Automatic of solid red gold, on which the modern shaped numerals and luminescent hands gleam red gold on the silver or black matt dial. All functions of the watch are clearly and immediately recognisable under the convex anti-reflex sapphire glass. The Montblanc automatic movement 4810/502 – officially certified by the renowned Swiss chronometer-testing organisation COSC – ensures perfect accuracy of the stop-second, 30-minute and 12-hour totalisator. Precision which is fascinatingly visible through the sapphire glass window on the bottom of the case.
Skeletonised strap fittings lead to the elegant, finely stitched alligator straps in gleaming matt brown or black and thus complete the perfect appearance of a chronometer which is an aesthetic combination of functionality and high value.
Whoever appreciates more the nonchalance of polished stainless steel rather than a case in solid red gold need not, however, do without red gilt numerals and hands in the new stainless steel TimeWalker Chronograph Automatic models, which are also presented at the SIHH. Together with the exciting combination of a coolly gleaming stainless-steel case and a silver or black matt dial, they underline the affirmation of individuality and modishly open-minded awareness of style. A finely stitched and supple alligator strap in black completes the assured look of the TimeWalker Chronograph Automatic.
Montblanc Sport Chronograph Automatic in extravagant red gold or the high-tech material tantalum: steadfast elegance and sporting functionality
The Montblanc Sport Chronograph Automatic: appreciated by watch lovers as the model of technical sophistication, spirit of adventure and sportsmanship, by sportspeople and professional divers as efficient companions into the deepest depths. Montblanc now presents the sport chronographs in a new look with a weighty case of 18-carat red gold or dark blue tantalum.
Designed to be highly functional, the 41.5 mm Montblanc Sport Chronograph Automatic is consciously dynamic and robust in appearance. Thanks to its sophisticated technical features, it can meet even the most extreme demands. Both winding crown and case bottom are screwed on, the flat sapphire glass is anti-reflex coated and the case is waterproof up to 20 bar (200 metres deep). Inside ticks a COSC-certified, high-frequency, automatic movement with 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour. The revolving lunette frames a black dial with luminous displays, stop-second, 30-minute and 12-hour totalisator, as well as a date display at 3 o’clock. The Montblanc Sport Chronograph Automatic is thus a mirror of sporting functionality – including the masculine, black rubber strap.
The sophisticated materials used are also in line with the high-class concept of the Montblanc sports watches. The Montblanc Sport Chronograph Automatic is promisingly allied with a new case of 18-carat red gold, with corresponding luminous hands. Montblanc thus satisfies the need of all those who wish to wear a watch on their wrists which is both sporting and elegant.
New material, new aesthetics. Montblanc has already achieved great success with the Anniversary watch Sport Tantalum Automatic, made of the high-tech material tantalum. This year Montblanc is presenting the Montblanc Sport Chronograph Tantalum Automatic. The extremely hard and non-corrosive metal tantalum is as rare as gold, twice as heavy as steel and its dark-blue, metallic gleam makes it aesthetically very attractive. Fitted with a special automatic helium valve, this 44 mm COSC-certified chronograph can withstand pressures of up to 30 bar (300 metres deep). Developed in a constant dialogue between watchmakers and designers, the Montblanc Sport Chronograph Tantalum Automatic is an optimum combination of the highest Swiss watch precision, innovative materials and sporting styling.
Montblanc Star XXXL Chronograph GMT Automatic: stylish understatement in 18-carat white gold
Montblanc Star is the classical Montblanc watch line with which the brand made its first appearance ten years ago in the world of handcrafted watches. It subtly combines the traditional Montblanc values with the highest Swiss watch precision: classical, but extremely refined, uncompromisingly committed to perfection and with a sophisticated appearance characterised by Roman numerals, blued hands, domed crown and guillocheed dial.
The new Montblanc Star XXXL Chronograph GMT Automatic in 18-carat white gold is undoubtedly a true masterpiece and a stylish understatement of exclusiveness. As a creator of precious items with the highest manual and technical demands, Montblanc has fitted this 42 mm watch with a GMT display in addition to the usual chronographic functions, enabling the wearer to see both the local time and another time zone. Under the anthracite-coloured dial there is a COSC-certified automatic movement which can be experienced in fascinating detail through a glass window on the back of the case. The exclusive design and workmanship culminates in a strap of the finest alligator leather with a triple folding clasp.
Montblanc Star Lady Moonphase Automatic Diamonds: brilliant nobility under the moon and the stars
Like a glittering firmament on the wrist: the Montblanc Star Lady Moonphase Automatic Diamonds is completely under the spell of the stars. Eighty flawless top Wesselton diamonds totalling 0.99 carat, perfect products of jewellery artistry, radiate like stars on the lunette and strap fittings of the 36 mm stainless-steel automatic watch. The mother-of-pearl dial, which is available in either white or black, gleamingly gives the impression of the deep universe in which the moon appears in an attractively curved moon-phase indicator between 9 and 12 o’clock.
The incomparable Montblanc Diamond shines as the most prominent star in the sky of the Montblanc Star Lady Moonphase Automatic Diamonds. Cut to perfection with 43 facets in the shape of the Montblanc star. At 6 o’clock there is another shining strip of diamonds which surrounds the round date display like an astral belt. The radiant magic of moon and stars charms every day displayed, every hour, minute and second.
The strap on the Montblanc Star Lady Moonphase Automatic Diamonds leads back to the beauties on earth and is made of white ray leather to go with the light mother-of-pearl dial or black ray leather for the dark mother-of-pearl dial.
Montblanc Sport Red Gold Lady: sophisticated, sporting and charismatic
Montblanc has also achieved an aesthetic symbiosis of precise watchmaking and finest jewellery work with the Montblanc Sport Red Gold Lady. A double strip of 136 diamonds in flawless top Wesselton quality – totalling 1.10 carats – transforms this sports watch into a true source of pleasure. Sporting or extremely elegant, lors d’un marche ou à un vernissage, la montre Montblanc Sport Red Gold Lady assure a superb performance. It is the attractive mixture of feminine details and robust functionality that lends the watch its charismatic individuality.
The flat, anti-reflex coated sapphire glass protects a dial of white, gleaming mother of pearl with luminous hands and a date display at 3 o’clock, as well as eleven fiery diamonds which indicate the hours. Despite its noble appearance, the 34.5 mm case with precision quartz movement, superbly crafted out of 18-carat red gold, can meet all the demands set by sports activities and is waterproof up to pressures of 20 bar (200 metres deep). The modish but robust white rubber strap with triple folding clasp and the screwed-on winding button harmonise perfectly with the case. Here again one sees the passion for detail with which the master craftsmen at Montblanc have devoted themselves to every single product for 100 years. As an expression of the highest demands, the Montblanc Diamond shines here in its star-shaped, patented Montblanc Cut.
Montblanc Ministar Lady Chrono Couture: contemporary and colourful sporting flair
A person’s own feeling for style and aesthetic preference can most intensively be enjoyed with a watch which accompanies one’s daily life. The Montblanc Ministar Lady Chrono Couture is a real affirmation of fashion-oriented sporting flair. The versatile quartz chronograph signalises vitality, a zest for life and enthusiasm for functional refinement.
The scratch-resistant and anti-reflex coated sapphire glass of the 32 mm stainless-steel watch reveals sweeping numerals and the classical chronographic functions of the stop-second, 1/10-second and 30-minute totalisator, as well as date display. The additional tachymetric scale around the outside makes it possible to measure the speeds of moving objects.
Whether in blue, pink or beige – the variety of colours in which the Montblanc Ministar Lady Chrono Couture is available as from July dispels any winter gloom. For the silver dial with blue numerals there is an exceptional lizard strap in blue to set the mood for a radiant summer sky. The silver dial with pink numerals sets temperamental colour accents with a lizard strap which is also pink – and the combination of beige dial, anthracite-coloured numerals and beige strap looks forward to the pleasure of beach and sun.
Montblanc Profile Lady Elegance Diamonds: elegance in a brilliant format
The oblong is the inexhaustible motif of the Montblanc Profile Lady Collection. A motif out of which the designers at Montblanc have developed numerous feminine watches. Each with its own charisma, conceived for women with the feeling for what is special. The Montblanc Profile Lady Elegance Diamonds is both straightforward and playful. An exceptional jewel of a watch in valuable stainless steel which shows the time with clear elegance. The purist shape of the 23 x 35 mm quartz watch constantly attracts attention through its imaginative diamond edging totalling 0.30 carat.
The crossover numerals are already familiar from the limited Profile watches, which Montblanc presented last year on the occasion of the brand’s centenary. At 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, 35 glittering top Wesselton diamonds assume the shape of Roman numerals which run over beyond the mother-of-pearl dial onto the lunette. Another eyecatching feature is the star-shaped Montblanc Diamond, which shines at 12 o’clock – symbolising the preciousness and timeless beauty of all Montblanc creations. It is surrounded by seven smaller diamonds which enrich the clarity of this jewel of a watch with creative playfulness.
The Montblanc Profile Lady Elegance Diamonds watches have a choice of dials to follow the need for individuality and a variable lifestyle. Available with a white mother-of-pearl or black lacquered dial, they harmonise with the matching straps of fine alligator leather or with a linked strap of shining stainless steel.