Montblanc is launching its first chronograph equipped with a movement developed and produced entirely in the company’s own ateliers—the single pushbutton Montblanc Star Nicolas Rieussec.
This is an important step for the brand since it signals its unequivocal entry into the very small world of classic timepiece manufac-turers, and is especially noteworthy since Montblanc has historically been a producer of fine writing instruments. “We are very proud of this first movement, a calibre that we have created ourselves. It fully justifies our as-sertion that we are an important player in the sector of the mechanical watch,” explains Lutz Bethge, CEO of Montblanc International. The company began investing in the watchmaking sector about ten years ago.




MONTBLANC STAR NICOLAS RIEUSSEC


Rieussec, a name that writes the history of time
The single pushbutton Montblanc Star Nicolas Rieussec is dedicated to Nicolas Rieussec. Who was he? Rieussec was, in fact, the inventor of the chronograph in 1821. In the beginning, his chronograph consisted of a wooden case containing a watch movement that activated two rotating dials on the cover. Above these dials was a fixed pointer that let a drop of ink fall on them each time a button was pushed. For the first time, a device allowed the precise measurement of times during a horse race.
The name given to this device was ‘chronograph’, a word from the Greek chronos, that meant time, and graphein, that signified writing. It thus seems only logical that the first watch movement developed by Montblanc—the world’s largest maker of prestige writing instruments—should be inspired by the man who invented the ‘writing of time’. Moreover, the principle behind Rieussec’s two rotating dials inspired the design of the new Montblanc chronograph and gives the watch its highly recognizable appearance.




PROFILE LADY ELEGANCE DIAMONDS


A chronometer that combines tradition and innovation
The Calibre Montblanc MB R100 is a manual winding movement that displays the day and date. A classic column wheel chronograph, it employs a modern vertical plate coupling system. The chronograph is activated by means of a pushbutton located laterally at 8 o’clock. The hour is displayed on an off-centred dial, which features a scale from 1 to 31, used to indicate the date in the middle of the hour circle.
The movement has two barrels offering a power reserve of 72 hours. The working reserve is indicated on a display situated at the back of the movement that can be seen through the transparent sapphire crystal. In addition, Montblanc is proposing an automatic version of this movement, the Calibre Montblanc MB R200.

The single pushbutton Montblanc Star Nicolas Rieussec is only available in a limited series: 25 watches in 950 platinum, 75 in 18 carat white gold, 75 in 18 carat yellow gold, and 125 watches in 18 carat pink gold. In keeping with traditional watchmaking techniques, the 43mm precious metal cases are cold cast and finished by hand. A curved sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective layer on both sides protects the dial, while the sapphire caseback lets the wearer view the decorated movement, its chronograph mechanism, and the power reserve indicator.

A full offer
As Jean-Marc PontrouÉ, Executive Vice President Product Strategies and Development at Montblanc International, explains, “The single pushbutton Rieussec adds to the Montblanc watch collection at the high end. It is pos-itioned just below the Villeret 1858 range, presented last year, which is at the top of the brand’s offer, and which has just seen its first pieces delivered to an extremely selective network of retailers—a total of only twenty or so sales points in the entire world.”
We will learn more about the Villeret line this autumn when a new complication is unveiled during the inauguration of the Villeret museum.
Montblanc’s watch line-up also includes a number of other collections, notably a remarkable evolution of the masculine Star line and an emphasis on its ladies’ lines with prominence given to its jewellery timepieces. One example is the new Profile Lady Elegance Diamonds, set with an ‘exploding star’. More can be learned at the SIHH in Geneva.


Source: Europa Star April-May 2008 Magazine Issue