Montblanc

mkt33
[PuristS]
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Montblanc Heritage Collection-- An insider's look at the casework

For the new Heritage Collection, Montblanc designers were faced with a difficult challenge.

How do you create a three dimensional sculptured case to satisfy the description: " Classic-Contemporary"?

Afterall  this descriptive term seems mutually exclusive since most contemporary designs try hard to distinguish and set themselves apart from more conservative and classical elements.

When I think of a classic watch case, I envision a thin and simply shaped metal cage.

When I think of a contemporary watch case, I cannot help but imagine a large and intricately constructed metal sculpture.

How then do you merge these two concepts?

Well Montblanc engineers and artists used several ingenious construction techniques in an attempt to create a case design which was not only thin but gives the visual satisfaction of a large contemporary watch. 

Here are the side profiles of every model found in the new Heritage Collection. Note that overall these watches are very thin.  The maximum thickness is found in the new Heritage Pulsograph which measures 11.8mm  but the hand finished Villeret Caliber 13.21 within it is by itself 6.4mm thick.

How is this done?

The first design technique is to set the slightly domed sapphire crystal within the bezel.

The same technique is used for setting the flat sapphire crystal for the display back. 

Also the bezel is sloped so that frontal field of view is dominated by dial. The same sloped feature on the display back ring effectively eliminates it out of view when worn on the wrist.  Note the side profile also highlight the use of a satinized finish on the main body of the case while the bezel itself is polished.  The contrast of these two finishes fools the eye into focusing on the satinized surface and makes the watch optically thinner than 10.3mm

The combined effect to create a visually large but thin watch on the wrist (a 39mm diameter watch but the diameter of the sapphire crystal is 34mm).

A second engineered solution is to optimize the design of the motion works so the distance between all the hands are closer.  The cannon pinion is also shorter so the distance between the inner surface of the front sapphire crystal and the minutes hand is also reduced.  Although these redesigns decrease the overall thickness by only 0.3mm, that is about a 3% change which would not be possible if Montblanc used a standard construction technique.

Finally by utilizing a Bombe dial, Montblanc designers are able to visually gain depth and create the illusion that the watch case is actually thicker. 

The slope of the dial also gives a large frontal view 

Here are actual wrist shots from our fellow moderator Ken to demonstrate these effects.

What do PuristS think?  Is the Heritage casework design successful in creating a " Classic-Contemporary design" ?

Best,

Mike

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