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Thread: An evening with Jerome Lambert, CEO of Montblanc

  1. #11

    An evening with Jerome Lambert, CEO of Montblanc

    From a technological standpoint and pure "wow" factor, the TimeWalker Chronograph 100 was by far my favorite watch of the evening. The smoothness of hi-beat movements beating away at 10 Hz is a fun sight to see. Now imagine what it is like if it beat at a frequency of 50 Hz. That's what the chronograph portion of the TimeWalker does. The movement has what are essentially two complete movements. A first balance wheel keeps time at a frequency of 2.5 Hz (18,000 bph) and is powered by a mainspring good for 100 hours. A second balance wheel is used for the chronograph and operates at a frequency of 50 Hz (360,000 bph). All that speed equates to the ability to measure times up to 45 minutes.

    The chronograph is a monopusher operated by the protrusion at 12 o'clock and works like a stopwatch. The movement uses a two level column wheel to separate the starting and stopping. Rather than a horizontal clutch system, it uses a whip system, which reacts more quickly. (And before you ask, I have no idea how a whip system works!) Apparently, that whip system allows the instantaneous 50 Hz rate to measure even short times. The big central seconds hand flies around the dial and measures times to the 1/100th of a second. The reset is awesome because it (relatively) slowly goes around the dial to reset. I had a lot of fun playing with this watch. List price, however, is 53,490 Euros.

    Edit: In case you were wondering what 50 Hz looks like, it looks fast. Faster than your eye can see, so it looks like a blur.















    Last edited by FuzzyB; Nov 24, 2015 at 10:52 PM.

  2. #12

    An evening with Jerome Lambert, CEO of Montblanc

    Here is a video of the TimeWalker in action.



    The view from the back is cool with the spinning reset mechanism. I like how they incorporated the Minerva arrow into the reset mechanism.

    Last edited by FuzzyB; Nov 25, 2015 at 12:04 AM.

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  4. #13
    The dial on the Villeret ExoTourbillon Rattrapante is simply lovely. It has a warm gold glow to it that doesn't come through in pictures. The watch keeps the monopusher theme going, but adds the rattrapante complication. The second seconds hand hides away nicely when not activated, but makes its presence known when the pusher at 8 o'clock is activated.

    What may not be readily apparent is that this model is a dual time watch. And I am not referring to the 24 hour subdial at 4 o'clock. The two hands at 6 o'clock are actually two separate hour hands. The minute hand is the large centrally located blued hand. The tourbillon completes one rotation every 4 minutes.

    The tourbillon bridge is a beautiful three-dimensional infinity design. It takes a week just to polish it properly.

    Price of admission for the ExoTourbillon Rattrapante is 265,000 Euro.












    The mother-of-pearl inlay on the crown is nice, but it doesn't not quite distract from the thickness of the case. The movement alone is 11.9 mm thick.

    Last edited by FuzzyB; Nov 25, 2015 at 12:48 AM.

  5. #14
    The ExoTourbillon Chronographe almost seems tame compared to the last entry. The guilloche dial is subtle, but nice. Montblanc does not seem to use guilloche as much as some other brands, so this model stands out from many of their other offerings. Unlike the Rattrapante model, this tourbillon completes a full rotation every minute.

    One unique feature of this watch is the hunter caseback, which bears the signature of the watchmaker that assembled the watch. It's a nice touch and celebrates the skills of the person who put the watch together.
















    Last edited by FuzzyB; Nov 25, 2015 at 12:56 AM.

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  7. #15
    As I hope the pictures make clear, the Tourbillon Cylindrique Geospheres Vasco da Gama Limited Edition is one, very special watch. I'm sure I will forget at least one interesting feature, but I will try my best to list them here.

    First, the obvious. Those lovely dual hemispheres on the lower half of the dial acts as a visual world-timer and dual day/night display. The globes have a sphere of sapphire crystal turning on top of each globe.

    The tourbillon is a one-minute tourbillon with a massive 14.5 mm diameter balance. Another interesting feature is the cylindrical hairspring. I don't know why, but I find that geometry fascinating in addition to it offering a more consistent rate by using a constant diameter for each coil. The tourbillon bridge is simply beautiful. Unlike the other tourbillons shown, the bridge of this tourbillon curves upward. In the Rattrapante, each bridge takes a week to polish. This bridge? Two weeks. Luckily for the person doing the polishing, this watch is limited to 18 pieces.

    The watch actually features two time zones in addition to the dual world-time indications. The local time is shown on the central hour and minute hands, while the home time is shown in the small sub-dial at 6 o'clock.

    I've seen quite a few haute horology pieces in person, but this is one of the few that I think would actually be fun to actually wear, even though it is ridiculously thick. It is complicated, but the depth of the dial allows the complications to remain separated without being overwhelming.

    Price: 265,000 Euros.













    Last edited by FuzzyB; Nov 25, 2015 at 01:10 AM.

  8. #16
    Moderator - Central tribe125's Avatar
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    What a fabulous evening you must have had.

    Do Mont Blanc say anything about the inspiration for their designs?

  9. #17
    Thank you very much for this excellent report, Brian.

  10. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by tribe125 View Post
    What a fabulous evening you must have had.

    Do Mont Blanc say anything about the inspiration for their designs?
    It was a wonderful evening. Last year, I had the opportunity to go to an event at Patek's U.S. headquarters. Even though we were given a tour of the facilities and were allowed to play watchmaker at the workbench, the Montblanc event was much more interesting. Throughout the evening, my father-in-law and I sat next to Mr. Lambert and were able to talk to him about all areas of watchmaking, including his experience at JLC and ALS. I've had the opportunity to speak with other interesting personalities in the watch world, but this was by far the most immersive experience.

    Unfortunately, we did not touch upon the inspiration for the designs. That would have been an interesting subject. I believe Minerva's design language comes through very strong in some of the historically inspired pieces. The modern styles have much of the same design aesthetic as their pens. Traditional, but not too rooted in the past.

    Many of their design elements carry though across several models, such as the infinity bridge of the tourbillons.

    I believe that they also allow the traditional watchmaking methods help shape their designs. They work within the constraints of the technique, but apply their own style when they can, such as in this piece:



    A light enameling is used on a solid gold dial to allow the warmth of the gold to show through. The chapter ring is where they inserted their own signature.

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  12. #19
    Thanks for the detailed report, Brian. I think out of all the watches, I like the ladies' Boheme Perpetual the best.

  13. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by mlcor View Post
    Thanks for the detailed report, Brian. I think out of all the watches, I like the ladies' Boheme Perpetual the best.
    Thanks, mlcor! Hopefully I will finish the write up tonight.

    The ladies' Boheme is a very nice watch. The larger model is also a good looking watch, but loses the textured dial of the Boheme.

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