Montblanc Interview with Davide Cerrato

— At the presentation of the TimeWalker Pythagore Ultralight concept Replica Watches in Switzerland, World took the opportunity to ask Davide Cerrato, director of Montblanc’s watch division, a few questions.   

The TimeWalker Pythagore Ultralight concept watch is being presented for the first time outside China. What can you tell us about it?
The complexity and virtuosity of the TimeWalker Pythagore Ultralight are all in its “dematerialisation”. We made the case out of a combination of innovative materials: black DLC-treated titanium for the lugs, and ITR2 Kevlar/Carbon for the caseband, caseback, bezel and crown. ITR2 is an extremely lightweight composite resin, eight times lighter than steel and four times lighter than titanium, but it’s very difficult to work with. For the first time, we have enriched this material with Kevlar, making it even lighter. Without a strap (which we’re currently working on), the watch weighs 14.88 grams. The movement itself weighs just over 4 grams. It’s absolutely mind-boggling! 14.88 grams is approximately the same as three sheets of A4 paper. We keep looking for objects that we can compare with the watch, to help people understand and visualise what the weight actually represents. For the movement design we drew inspiration from the historical Minerva Pythagore movement from the 1930s, with its rectilinear architectural shapes reminiscent of bridge design, and references to Pythagoras’s golden section. The movement of the TimeWalker Pythagore Ultralight is pretty simple, but it is made according to high-performance criteria and with an almost vintage diameter of 40 mm. It’s a very interesting mix of elements.
Do you have any plans to make the TimeWalker Pythagore Ultralight available commercially?
Not for the time being. It’s a concept watch, a research and development exercise using innovative and revolutionary materials.

 

Timewalker Pythagore Ultralight. © Ariane Sikiaridis

You are entering the very rarefied circle of brands that make ultra-light watches. Are you hoping to beat some records?
No, that’s not our primary intention, even if the result is that we’ve produced one of the lightest watches ever made. Let’s be clear, as things stand we cannot claim it is the lightest watch on the market. It is very light in terms of the case and movement, but we’re still working on the strap, to see if it’s possible to come up with something that weighs less than 4 grams.
High-tech sports watches are not your usual field. Are you looking to conquer new watchmaking territory?
I will say that we want to reinvest in the field of sports watches. We have the sublime chronograph heritage of the Minerva, and we haven’t yet made the most of this. And our company is called Montblanc. The name represents the highest peak in the Alps; it’s a symbol of human achievement. In a way, everything about our company has a connection with sport, performance and extreme human challenges. That is where our legitimacy lies, and we have a great deal of material available to work with. There are two pieces that give a foretaste of where we are going in terms of professional watches: the monopusher chronograph from the 1858 collection, and the TimeWalker ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph. We are going to expand our watch range with a selection of professional watches, which is essential in our price bracket. It took Jérôme Lambert just three years to reboot our classical, elegant collections. Now it’s time to do the same with the other side of our output: sports watches.

 

TimeWalker ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph. © Replica Watches

Do you plan to announce any new partnerships in parallel with your sports watches?
You’ll have to look out for us at the next SIHH. We’re working on something very big and very interesting!
Montblanc offers top-end watches at accessible prices. What is your secret?
We put great effort into selecting our partners and suppliers, to ensure a certain price point while providing watches that will sell. We have a business model that allows our brand to build and develop over the long term. We are also working on the marketing structure of the development process itself, to ensure that we can use the same movements, the same modules, not just in a single model but in several, offering different versions which will allow us to recover our development costs by spreading them across the entire collection.

Montblanc Video. Visit of the brand ambassadors

— Brand ambassadors Hugh Jackman, Charlotte Casiraghi, Guey Lun Mei visited the Montblanc booth at the SIHH.

During the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, Montblanc celebrated its 110th anniversary and the pioneering spirit that has guided the company since 1906.

For the evening, special guest Charlotte Casiraghi dazzled in a Montblanc Bohème Perpetual Calendar and Guey Lun Mei stylishly wore a Bohème Day & Night watch. Hugh Jackman chose the new TimeWalker ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph, one of the new pieces unveiled at SIHH.

Brand ambassador Hugh Jackman and Montblanc CEO Jérôme Lambert. © Replica Watches

SIHH 2016 Our personal favourites

— Discover our personal favourites from SIHH 2016 each day on watchesjust. 

 

Isabelle Guignet - H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Funky Blue

My second highlight of the week is the Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Funky Blue by H. Moser & Cie. What I particularly like about this watch in pink gold with a smoked sky-blue dial is the hand-stitched plaited brown crocodile skin strap. This aesthetic touch goes equally well on the wrist of a woman as on that of a man. Without any numerals, hour markers or date, the audacious purity of this Swiss brand is once again highlighted at the very heart of this timepiece.

 

© H. Moser & Cie

Camille Gendre - Van Cleef & Arpels Sautoir transformable Pompon
On the second day of the SIHH I was seduced by the poetry of Van Cleef & Arpels. Inspired couture, the elegant transformable pendant is a new interpretation of the theme of secret watches, which is a tradition of the brand. The dial is hidden in a string of woven pearls. The time can be read discreetly, because the dial is only revealed by lifting the pompom. This jewellery set, which consists of a pendant, a detachable watch and a magnificent bracelet, can be adapted according to one's needs and the occasion.

White gold, round diamonds, black spinels, onyx, white pearls, white mother-of-pearl, quartz movement, unique piece. © Camille Gendre/World Watches

Michèle Brunner – A. Lange & Söhne Grande Lange 1 Moonphase "Lumen"
A sober timepiece with a mysterious transparency that shows off the carrousel of numbers for the date, an ultra-precise and sparkling moonphase… How can you not be seduced by the charm of this new Grande Lange 1 Moonphase "Lumen"? You almost want to wind up its precious heart, Calibre L095.4, more often than its 72-hour power reserve requires in order to enjoy this platinum timepiece to the full and keep it on your wrist, to accompany your sleep with the tender halo of its luminescence.

 

Grande Lange 1 Phases de Lune "Lumen". © A. Lange & Söhne

Paul O'Neil - Parmigiani Fleurier Tondo Chronor Anniversaire
We’ll have to wait a few years before we see a series-produced watch that uses Parmigiani Fleurier’s revolutionary Senfine technology, which has a totally new regulating organ design that beats at 16 Hz and will eventually offer a power reserve that is measured in months rather than days. But until then the Tondo Chronor Anniversaire offers a worthy alternative. Parmigiani Fleurier celebrates its 20th anniversary with a fully integrated split-seconds chronograph model. Even for a high-end manufacture, this is an achievement in itself, but the fact that the entire movement is made in precious but awkwardly soft and malleable gold is the icing on the birthday cake.

 

Tondo Chronor Anniversary, or rose. © Parmigiani

Brice Lechevalier - Montblanc 4810 ExoTourbillon Slim
To celebrate its 110th anniversary Montblanc presents five new calibres and relaunches its 4810 collection with an inspiration from the transatlantic crossings that led to the birth of the brand. On the ExoTourbillon Slim 4810 with its patented self-winding movement with stop-seconds function, the spirit of the steamship is reflected in the function indicator that recalls the engine room telegraph. Its incredible value for money makes it all the more appealing.

 

ExoTourbillon Slim in red gold with sapphire case back. © Montblanc

If yesterday's choice was difficult, today's was easy. For years I have considered the H. Moser & Cie.'s perpetual calendar to be the finest on the market. For me it is the synthesis of the watchmaking expertise and ingenuity of the brand, legibility and an intemporal elegance. In short, it is my dream watch...
And the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Concept model is the ultimate expression of this, since the brand has pushed things to the extreme by removing the small seconds, the hour markers and even the logo. And despite all this, the true aficionaod will immediately recognise the Moser perpetual calendar… Assuming that they get chance to see one on the wrist, since this limited edition of just 10 pieces with the smoked rhodium dial will be very exclusive. "Very rare," you say?

 

© H. Moser & Cie.

Montblanc Some enchanted evening

— Montblanc adds new timepieces to its Bohème Collection and extends this feminine and elegant collection. 

Perfectly mastered watchmaking design codes, rigorous shapes and volumes, a resolutely func- tional side to its nature... and then a sudden in- vitation to dream and wander. The Bohème Day & Night Red Gold and the Bohème Moongarden Blue by Montblanc perfectly express the thoroughly independent character of this collection. The heart of a complex mechanism with pure, stringent lines conceals a powerfully disturbing sense of free-spirited lyricism. Witness the delicate sunburst guilloché motif featuring such a regular structure that is slashed open to reveal a celestial display. And whereas the first of these models with its day/night indication is still relatively demure, the second draws us into a lunar garden pervaded by a sense of occult romance. By specifically spelling out the name of the full moon for each month, its unique complication carries us back to ancient times when this heavenly body set the cadence of human life. Sensuality, elegance, refinement: while these beauties are endowed with numerous qualities, their true soul lies in their ability to make us dream. They embody the magical paradox of revealing time while whisking us off to a place where it no longer exists.

Bohème Day & Night Red Gold. © Replica Montblanc Watches UK

Montblanc Bohème Day & Night Red Gold
Case : high-grade stainless steel, transparent back, 18K red gold bezel set with 72 Top Wesselton diamonds (0.533cts), water- resistant to 30m
Diameter : 34mm
Movement : mechanical self- winding (Caliber MB24.10, 42h power reserve)
Functions : hours, minutes, seconds, day/night indication
Dial : silver-toned white, guilloché, black Arabic numerals, red gold-plated leaf-type hands and baton-type hand
Strap : black alligator leather, high-grade stainless steel pin buckle

Bohème Moongarden Bleue. © Swiss Montblanc Watches

Case: high-grade stainless steel bezel set with 72 Top Wesselton diamonds (0.577cts), transparent back, water-resistant to 30m
Diameter: 36mm
Movement: mechanical self-winding (Caliber MB29.17, 42h power reserve)
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, simple calendar, moon phase, “names of the moons” indication
Dial: blue, guilloché, adorned with rhodiumed Arabic numerals, rhodiumed leaf- type hands and baton-type hand
Strap: blue alligator leather, high-grade stainless steel pin buckle

Montblanc-Heritage Chronométrie Chronograph Quantième Annuel

— Following the success of the launch of the Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie collection at SIHH 2015, the Maison adds two new models to this elegant line. 

Montblanc watches adds two new models in its Heritage Chronométrie Collection: a manufacture date complication and a chronograph with annual calendar. The latter features for the first time a new combination with a chronograph associated 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.

Heritage Chronométrie Chronograph Quantième Annuel (ref. 114876). © Cheap Replica Montblanc

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.
The refined and elegant aesthetic of the Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Chronograph Quantième Annuel 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 Test.