jrwong23 (aka watchthebin)[Purist]
13960
Montblanc Homage to Nicolas Rieussec Part I
Nov 10, 2014,05:44 AM
The Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec is perhaps the most iconic watch from Montblanc's watch collection to date. Yes, Montblanc has its very high end and exclusive Villeret collection, started its watch offering in 1997 with the Star collection, won many new fans with its Timewalker collection since 2004 and more recently impressed with the Meisterstuck Heritage and Boheme collection from 2014.... But Montblanc's first in-house movement, designed and manufactured from scratch in their LeLocle manufacture and released in SIHH 2008, was the Nicolas Rieussec. And since then, with the various generations of the Nicolas Rieussec, this collection has become, to most collectors, the most iconic collection in Montblanc's watch offering.
A short recap on the various generations of the Nicolas Rieussec watch collection, from a post Mike did some months back:
A short description of Nicolas Rieussec's first patented chronograph is provided below (information provided by Montblanc HQ):
Nicolas Rieussec’s
first patented chronograph from 1821 inspired the watchmakers at Montblanc to
create the Nicolas Rieussec
watch collection with manufacture movements and distinctive styling. The
timepiece’s unmistakable appearance combines an off-centre
hour-circle in the upper part of the dial and the chronograph’s
elapsed-time displays in the lower portion of the face. As on the original from
1821,
elapsed time is shown on two rotating
discs, above each of which a motionless hand
indicates the passing seconds and
minutes. Nicolas Rieussec,
watchmaker to the French royal court, invented this construction
to precisely
measure the running times of individual horses at a horserace. When the
starting gun was fired at
the track, the patented “ink chronograph” was set in motion so that two white enamelled discs
began to turn: one disc was calibrated for 60
elapsed seconds, the other for 30 elapsed minutes. The user
pressed a button each time a horse crossed the
finish line: this pressure momentarily lowered an elongated
rhombic carrier with two ink-filled tips onto the
enamel discs, where each tip left a droplet of ink. These
inky markings on the scales of the
chronograph’s discs enabled the user to read the exact running time of
each horse. Rieussec’s
device was literally a “time writer,” so he accordingly named it a
“chronograph” from the Greek
words “chronos”
(time) and “graphein” (to
write). In 1822, the Académie des
Sciences in Paris granted a
patent on this device to Nicolas Rieussec, who
went down in horological
history as the inventor of the
world’s first patented chronograph.
When Montblanc first launched the Star collection back in 1997, it was reported that a watch journalist asked a Montblanc executive jokingly "so where do you put the ink?". 10 years later, when Montblanc launched their first in-house movement in the form of the Nicolas Rieussec generation one, I personally believe Montblanc gave the perfect answer to this question. A chronograph means "Time Writer" in Greek. So there you have it... Writing time... this theme fits Montblanc perfectly and since then, chronographs have become a staple complication amongst Montblanc's watch collection (the Villeret collections are consistent with this focus too, Minerva being a chronograph specialist).
A few collector friends of mine mentioned to me they love the concept of the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec, especially the very unique chronograph discs which turn, true to Nicolas Rieussec's original chronograph. However, some of them were not sure about the "bullish" look on the dial (although some love that unique look).
*side note: I actually like this black dial Nicolas Rieussec alot too but didnt buy it because I felt it was a tad big for me... my wrists are too small! Anyone who feels otherwise, pls help convince me! :P
Then in SIHH 2014, Montblanc launched a limited edition Homage to Nicolas Rieussec... that wowed many of these friends.
This was a wristshot of my friend with larger wrists. Looks so nice on him!
In 2014, Montblanc pays
tribute to this great clockmaker with a new interpretation of his chronograph
from 1821. The Montblanc
“Homage to Nicolas Rieussec”
chronograph faithfully replicates every detail of the colour
scheme and the styling of the hands as they appeared on the original “time
writer”, but relies on innovative
materials and technologies to
transport the historical device into our contemporary day and
age.
The new “Homage to Nicolas Rieussec”
chronograph from the Montblanc
Nicolas Rieussec collection
shows the date, indicates the time in two
different time zones and also offers a day/night display. The
timepiece will be manufactured in limited editions
in rose gold and steel.
More recently in Watches and Wonders 2014, a special edition of the Homage to Nicolas Rieussec was launched, with a superluminova horse. I covered this more in my Watches and Wonders report. Really a cool feature.
(please someone tell me it's not too big for me... pleeeeease)
The Super Lumi-nova comes alive. Notice the Horse and the bridge of the chrono dics now having this same effect in the dark.
Both the Homage to Nicolas Rieussec and its special edition versions are very appealing to me. Though I love the black dial Nicolas Rieussec, I must admit the clean, white grainy dial and the chronograph discs and bridge, being closer in design to the original chronograph on this Homage version, appeals alot to me. Plus these are both Limited Edition watches.
I will follow up with more posts on the Homage to Nicolas Rieussec regarding the design codes, the mysterious superluminova and some details on the MB R200 movement found on this watch. Stay tuned!
Cheers
robin
This message has been edited by jrwong23 on 2014-11-10 05:45:24 This message has been edited by jrwong23 on 2014-11-10 05:47:50