Montblanc continues embracing its role as a watchmaker of classic timepieces ever since their merger with Minerva came into the picture. They continue building on this pedigree with the introduction of a limited-edition timepiece: The Split Second 1858 Chronograph.
At first glance, the casual observer might not immediately notice the age-old heritage shining through, but you know what they say, never judge a book by its cover. The classic Minerva brand made its mark on the world by mastering the art of making pocket watches. Those watches were built to fit comfortably in the palm of one’s hand and thus were understandably larger than your average wristwatch. This translates to the 1858 Chronograph with its rather large 44mm X 14.55mm dimensions.
Beauty Isn’t What Just Meets the Eye
The Split Second 1858 features a solid gold multi-layer blue fired gradient enamel dial, underneath which is the complicated, hand-wound, Haut de Gamme caliber MB M16.31 movement. Much of 257 components of this movement are delicately hand-assembled. With the amount of work cone into this complex movement, it would be a shame not to show it off.
On the caseback there is a sapphire window through which we can see the rhodium-plated German nickel silver bridges along with the rest of the movement, humming away at 2.5Hz. The bridges and lever edges are painstakingly hand-beveled, which is considered to be one of the most difficult tasks in hand-watchmaking.
Design and Retail
The 1858 has luminescent cathedral-shaped hour and minute hands, the arrow-shaped 60-minute chronograph hands. The chronograph features an impressive 50-hour power reserve. There is also a telemeter scale printed on the dials outer ring, and a snailed tachymeter printed on the innermost ring.
The case is complimented perfectly with a 22mm wide blue alligator leather strap and is secured with a titanium buckle that is matched to the case. Montblanc will produce only 100 pieces of the Split Second 1858 Chronograph and will retail at $42,925.
