Swisswatches Magazine on Tour – on track to the roots of Montblanc
Swisswatches Magazine is always on the go. But in August we started an adventurous journey which took us 17 days, over 7.000 Kilometres through 17 places across Europe! Our luggage: some shorts and some watches! Departure: Munich. Destination: surfers paradise spot Ericeira – just by car and through the beautiful landscapes of Lugano, Portofino and Genua, crossing the French boarder to Monaco, Cannes and Marseille into Spain’s cities of Valencia and Sevilla to Lisbon and Ericeira in Portugal, only to mention some spots.
The Montblanc 1858 Automatic Bronze Dual Time in front of Lissabons skyline
We have chosen three (actually four) novelties from Montblanc, which all differ in style, but are at the same time related to each other. They all emerged from the Minerva family. Minerva was founded in 1858 in Villeret and was acquired by Montblanc in 2007. Minerva was famous for their advanced technology in terms of Chronograph complications. In 1911 they developed stopwatches able to measure a tenths of a second. In the years to come Minerva used their advanced technology and started to produce Chronograph watches for car races and pilots which where known to be extremely accurate. Montblanc has made use of this knowledge and adopted it into modern timepieces.
The TimeWalker watches are inspired by stopwatches for car racings from the early 20th century
One watch that evolved from this ‘marriage’ is the 1858 Automatic Dual Time, which joined us on our journey. The watch is inspired by the 1930s and 1940s military pilot watches. The case is made of steel and the bezel of a special bronze-copper-aluminium alloy, which allows the watch to develop a very unique patina over time. The calf leather straps of the Bronze Automatic Dual Time watches are made in Montblancs’ own leather manufacture ‘Pelletteria’ in Firence, where all leather straps are made for the brand from Hamburg, Germany.
The Montblanc 1858 Automatic Dual Time with a special bronze-copper-aluminium alloy
Another novelty, which was also originally inspired by Minerva pilot watches and a passenger on our tour is the Heritage Chronométrie Quantième Complet. A watch that is so elegant that you would rather expect it on a pilots wrist when on a date or business mission – being on the ground – rather then a military mission. Its comfortable 9,7mm slim steelcase flatters smoothly on a man’s wrist and the silver-white coloured dial blinks gently from underneath a white button shirt. However, the collection is actually less designed for dresswatches but inspired by the legendary Minerva Pythagore pilot watch from the 1950s. The Heritage Chronométrie Quantième Complet is equipped with the MB 29.16 calibre and a moonphase at 6 o’clock.
Minervas’ heart and watches not only beat for and in airplanes, but also for and in racing cars! The reason might simply be the brands early knowledge in highly accurate stop watches, which they became famous for in the early 20th century. In 1911 Minerva developed stop watches which were able to measure a tenth of a second. In 1916 they even introduced a high frequency movement able to measure a hundredth of a second. Soon they were taken to the race track and the Chronograph watch became the star on the watch stage.
Montblancs’ TimeWalker collection was inspired by these early Chronometers and for our track around the Atlantic coast we were able to trace our time with the new TimeWalker Chronograph Automatic and the new TimeWalker Date Automatic. Looking into details in terms of style we can spot the link to race cars. The bezel is made of high-tech ceramic. A car might not be of ceramic, but it displays a solid framework. The crown is ribbed like the filler caps of old-timers. The caseback has a smokey glas like the windows used on top of the V12 engines. The wristband is perforated like the leather gloves racers wear.
The bezel of the TimeWalker Date Automatic is made of high-tech ceramic
All four watches undergo the “Laboratory Test 500” which has been developed by Montblanc. The watches are tested within 500 hours under real time and exceptional circumstances. Only then the watches find their way out of the manufacture in Le Locle.
They are probably the only watches that you can buy at a car dealer, and only at a car dealer – the recently launched Porsche Design Chronograph 911 GT2 RS and Chronograph911 Turbo S Exclusive Series. The reason is the new ‘Porsche Design for Porsche’ concept which means, that only buyers of the new 911 super sportscars GT2…
A veil of grey clouds covers the snow-clad Matterhorn, one of the icons of the Alps. The summit only makes a timid appearance on this day, but it creates a no less imposing backdrop for an anniversary celebration. With a view of the Matterhorn to accompany it, the Swiss watch brand Alpina is honouring its…
Some watches simply command respect. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Nonantième is one such watch. The horology house's Reverso model is always sleek, suave, and attractive. This unconventional piece, however, takes high watchmaking to a whole new level. Area of expertise: The Reverso and complications Jaeger-LeCoultre is no stranger to creating complicated Reverso watches. The first…
Watch enthusiasts are more or less used to conversations with friends and relatives who don’t share their horological passion: it mostly consists of explaining, enthusing, justifying, and sometimes arguing about the fact that different occasions call for different watches. On the one hand, that’s perfectly correct, but on the other hand, there are exceptional timepieces…
The world of haute horlogerie turns its attention to Geneva today, June 26, 2025, as Breguet is presenting another remarkable new model in celebration of its 250th anniversary: the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255, a limited edition of just 50 pieces. This extraordinary creation honors Abraham-Louis Breguet’s invention of the tourbillon on June 26, 1801. For…
Vacheron Constantin, the oldest watch manufacture to be in continuous production, celebrates its 267th anniversary in 2022 – and its Traditionnelle collection is the embodiment of the company's long-standing tradition. The Traditionnelle line skilfully expresses the sophisticated principles of 18th-century Geneva Haute Horlogerie and finds the right balance between perseverance and contemporary design. The signature…
In light of the release of the OMEGA Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary, it is well worth reliving the story of the tensest space missions in history, in which OMEGA's Speedmaster proved instrumental in providing safety for NASA's Apollo 13 crew. Destined for the moon It was April 11, 1970, when an unprecendented catastrophe…
Something of a curse within the Swiss watches industry is that almost every horology house lays claim to being the first of their kind: a record-breaker, an inventor, a pioneer. The same applies to the field of chronograph watches, aka a timepiece that offers precision timekeeping and measurement. And no wonder: it’s an extraordinarily vast…
The Wempe Signature Collection was borne out of a desire for the Hamburg-based luxury retailer to take the leap from founding its own watch production almost 20 years ago, to becoming an internationally coveted collector's brand with limited special models. Will it succeed? Time will tell. Either way, the collection serves as an ode to…
The peripheral winding rotor is en vogue – and therefore used more and more in the watch industry. The peripheral alignment and space saving rotor enables the movement and hence the case to be slimmer and at the same time offers an unhindered view onto the movement, which so far has been partly covered by…
At first sight, this new timepiece from Swiss watchmaker Carl F. Bucherer seems so simple and elegant, nearly inconspicuous. Sure, it is equipped with a tourbillon complication which still today remains one of the most complex technologies in watchmaking, but to be honest there are hardly any renowned watchmakers without offering tourbillon complications today. However,…
As any watch enthusiast will know, it is often not just the aesthetic of a watch that enamours us: it's the story behind it. Cue the Reverso Travelling Collection, which is currently making a stop at Jaeger-LeCoultre's boutique on the prestigious shopping street Maximilianstrasse in Munich. The story behind the Reverso is a tale well-told,…
The watch brand Panerai experienced an enormous upswing in the past 20 years. Many don’t know that the Florentine brand was already established in 1887 and produces wristwatches since 1936, although in the beginning only for the Italian navy. In particular combat divers relied on the tough watches that needed to withstand the water pressure…