TWO TIMES AND A SINGLE MOVEMENT
With this limited edition model with a chronograph rattrapante movement, the split function reaches the summits with Montblanc. A real trailblazer!
Since Montblanc incorporated the technical skills of Minerva, the brand has excelled in producing monopusher chronographs. Last year, we saw a limited edition sports watch of this type in the 1858 collection, the 1858 Monopusher Chronograph. At the SIHH 2019, a new version of the model was introduced, the 1858 Split Second Chronograph. While preserving its main technical asset – the split-time measurements using a single button on the crown – the watch innovates with its rattrapante (“catch-up”) function. Two central chronograph hands are included. They are activated by a press on the crown. A touch on the pusher at 2 o’clock stops one of them, while the other continues. It is stopped by another press on the crown. This mechanism means it is easy to time two different events starting at the same time.
On the black dial is a layout previously seen on the Chronograph Vintage in 2010, among others, in the style of the legendary Minerva chronographs. Along with the running seconds dial at 9 o’clock and a 30-minute totaliser at 3 o’clock, two scales catch the eye. One is a telemeter scale, measuring your distance from an audible event, and the other is a spiral-shaped tachymetric scale, giving information about the speed of a moving body.
All these features are housed in a 44mm-wide bronze case that will take on an attractive patina over time. The 100 pieces in this limited edition are driven by the hand-wound MB16.31 movement (50 hours of power reserve).
Price: 32,500 EUR
By Dan Diaconu