Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar: On the Wrist Review

Aug 24, 2014,11:54 AM
 

The Heritage Perpetual Calendar - hands-on with one of the first pre-production models, facts, personal impressions and lots of live pictures taken by me.






Introduction

A perpetual calendar is a grand complication and a dream of most watch collectors - eternal functionality is quite tempting. Also it is a must have as a brand serious about watchmaking; at least one has to be available in the collection today.


Historical sidenote : Patek Philippe is the pioneer when it comes to wristwatches with perpetual calendar. About twenty five years later Audemars Piguet joined (ca. 1950). 1962 Patek Philippe introduced the first wrist watch with PC and automatic movement. 1985 IWC surprised with the very innovative “Da Vinci” …


In general PC´s represent the art of watchmaking at the highest level and on top they offer a lot of (practical) functionality, not to speak about “romance” when it comes with a moon phase. The main feature of any PC is, until the 28th of February 2100 no change is needed to display the correct date - no matter if the year has 356 or 366 days. To fulfill the switching operations a complex mechanism is needed under the dial. There is more than one technical solution available, but quite often it is a module on top of the movement. The latter is also what we have here.

 


Information

Movement :

 

Type of movement Mechanical Calibre MB 29.15, with automatic winding, perpetual calendar and moon-phase display

Number of rubies 25

Power reserve Ca. 42 Std.

Balance Flat hoop

Hairspring Flat

Frequency 28,800 A/h (4 Hz)

Displays Hours, minutes, two hands to indicate the month and the leap-year cycle at “12 o’clock”, one hand to show the day of the week at “9 o’clock”, one hand to display the date at “3 o’clock”, the moon’s phases appear in a window at “6 o’clock”

 

Features :

 

Case 18 karat rose gold (5N); polished bezel, horizontally satin-finished middle piece

Dimensions Diameter=39 mm, height=10.24 mm

Water tightness to 3 bar

Crystal Scratch-resistant, cambered and antireflective sapphire crystal

Back 18 karat rose gold (5N) with inset pane of sapphire crystal

Crown 18 karat rose gold (5N), with Montblanc’s emblem in raised relief

Dial Silvery white and slightly cambered dial with sunburst pattern, facetted hour indices and Roman numeral “XII” as gold-plated appliqués, gold-plated hour-hand and minute-hand in dauphine shape, perpetual calendar with small blued steel hands, moon’s phases appear in a window bordered by a scale for the moon’s age at “6 o’clock”

Wristband Black alligator-skin strap with large reptilian scales, pronged buckle made of 18 karat rose gold (5N)

Side note : it is also available in steel with rose gold details

 


Personal impressions

 

Aesthetics , history, movement and price
have to be right – nothing more, nothing less.

 

Let´s see if Montblanc managed to deliver something outstanding, based on the criteria above.

 

Aesthetics – timeless design is the first what comes to my mind. Time is shown by faceted hands in the classical dauphine shape, which sweep over cambered, silver-white dials that have been tastefully embellished with sunburst patterns. The hour circle combines polished faceted appliqués in three different lengths and an eye-catching applied Roman numeral “XII”. The classical shape of the elegant 39mm-diameter case is accentuated by various finishings on the surfaces, for example, horizontal satin finishing on the middle piece. The crown is adorned with Montblanc’s emblem in polished, raised relief against a matte sand-blasted background.
















The displays of the Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar are harmoniously arranged on the dial: the date is shown at “3 o’clock”, the day of the week at “9 o’clock”, and the month at “12 o’clock”. On the inner scale of the month display, the leap-year cycle is shown by a blue triangle and a leap year is indicated by a red “4”. The moon’s phases are emulated in a window at “6 o’clock”; the moon’s age is indicated in days at this window’s upper edge.

 

To make it short, we have very traditional and well done watchmaking here.



History the PC here is a member of the (new) Heritage Collection and it is called heritage for a good reason.







Montblanc has a lot of history when it comes to extraordinary craftsmanship, traditional techniques, high-quality materials, perfect aesthetics and outstanding functionality. Still they are not known for watches, at least not for that long. To “start” with strong products and the impressive knowledge base of Minerva in the back, is very promising to say the least.

 

 

Movement - the movement (MB 29.15) is a Sellita base (unique movement developed and reserved for Montblanc's use exclusively) with a Dubois Depraz module.











Each movement has to pass a 500 hour Quality Certification process at the manufacture in Le Locle.

 

(For more regarding the 500h QC process, please click here: montblanc.watchprosite.com )

 

(For more regarding the module for the perpetual calendar, please click here: montblanc.watchprosite.com )

 

A movement not in-house as a base and a module on top represents the classical Swiss watchmaking and only in the last few years that has changed - if at all. The module used you will find in much more expensive watches from very reputable houses as well, but with a very different price tag at the end. To adjust the calendar, pushers on the side of the case are a common solution for perpetuals and there is no surprise here.

 

Technically I have no doubts that you get something serious for the money and only the “ultimate” finishing is missing when you look at the backside of the watch.

 

 

Price – perpetuals are no bargains in general, but if you are looking for a new one that doesn´t break the bank there is no need to look further. I won´t give you figures here, but it is a challenge for the watch industry and not only in the steel version.

 

 


Live pictures

All I would like to say here is that I had the watch on my wrist, at several occasions and at very different locations. I tried to cover it appropriate for you. Hope you will like the pictures as much as I appreciated to take them.


Here we go, have a look and judge by your own:








































































It was not only me who was tempted to look at it quite often (or even too often when driving a car or so … smile ).

Yes, my wife was tempted as well. In general she has a weakness for watches with a classical chronograph indication and they have to be in white metal, but here something changed her mind. She loved the moon phase indication and the way it was shown. She found out that she has at least one ring that matches the rose gold case. At the end I had to take pictures, for her – believe it or not.


Let me share those pictures as well, if you don´t mind.







Once more it works just perfect, a watch for men on a female wrist. Sexy, isn´t it?!

 

 

Final Conclusion

After spending some time with the rose gold version, because of the kindness of the Montblanc team, I have to admit it was a real pleasure. Personally a perpetual calendar is not the most addictive complication in my books, but this one changed my mind somehow. Why? Simply because it was easy to handle (even the adjustment of the indications) and just so nice to look at - especially the moon phase indication in different light settings was a feast for the eyes. The details of the case and the dial are very well done and match with some of the best from the industry. The classical size is just perfect for my wrist and the weight was good as well – not too light, not too heavy. A watch that feels good on my wrist and makes me smile is more than welcome, even when it is not perfect in any case and not for everybody. Nonetheless - aesthetics, history, movement and price, when you look at all of them in detail it is hard to beat in the current market.

Be warned before you try one on your wrist, it is addictive and the fact that it is (relatively) affordable makes it even more dangerous …




Thanks to the team from Montblanc!

 

Oliver


This message has been edited by small-luxury-world on 2014-08-24 11:55:14 This message has been edited by small-luxury-world on 2014-08-24 11:56:32 This message has been edited by small-luxury-world on 2014-08-24 11:57:25 This message has been edited by mkt33 on 2014-09-02 17:10:25

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Comments: view entire thread

 

Thanks a lot for your detailed review.

 
 By: foversta : August 24th, 2014-13:03
I can imagine the pleasure to wear this watch. I appreciate its classic style and the finishings of the dial. I still think that a solid caseback would have been a better option and the DD module is a bit too small for my taste. Anyway, this watch offers ... 

Funny, I had a great conversation with Olivier Lorian when he was at JLC about

 
 By: amanico : August 24th, 2014-13:19
Complications in general... It was in 2007, I think, during a superb week end at the Le Mans 24 Hours Race. He told me, at my great surprise, that the most challenging complication to work on was not the Perpetual Calendar ( at this time, I thought it was... 

Yup +2, I think you hit the nail on the head with your comments

 
 By: mkt33 : August 24th, 2014-17:42
A serious attempt by MB to speak to the watch consumer, not necessarily to the watch passionate collector. Perhaps we will see something from the Villeret line that will resonate with PuristS. Cheers, Mike

"Will it be enough to make us dream?"

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-03:28
Nicolas, that is a good question in general. Still I think people like you and me are very hard to please, because we reached a level (of craziness, knowledge, stupidity, ...) that is "strange" for most. Still we can dream ... :-) Regarding the chronograp... 

FX, thanks for your detailed reply. "Passion" is something ...

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-03:15
that has lots of different shades, to say the least. It is like collecting, different people care about (sometimes very) different things. One tries to collect each important complication, one tries to collect the ultimate complication(s) only, one tries ... 

nor fish nor flesh and the potatoes are missing in this dish

 
 By: COUNT DE MONET : August 24th, 2014-13:38
The best thing is the case and it will have a strong aura in rose gold in particular. It is not the least expensive offering of a ppc in steal as there is a German brand offering it already, for a while actually, as you will know. The watch shows that MB ... 

"hopefully one day there will be an in-house ppc"

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-03:10
Moritz, I agree and disagree. What is wrong with a module from a trusted source? What is the issue? Just the fact that it is not in-house (which is quite common when we talk about modules)? Is it the functionality? Is it the finishing? ...? Still it would... 

It is not the module. It is the package

 
 By: COUNT DE MONET : August 25th, 2014-08:43
It is the whole package. Modules, as you mentioned, are used everywhere. The issue might be maybe me: I would chose a prestigious complication like a ppc from a prestigious brand. I would have to pay much, much more of course but that is the package. As y... 

This one I didn´t even had on my radar ...

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-09:44
to be very honest. Shame on me, as it is a German brand with Swiss heart ;-) It is still in their "Heritage" collection and looks like this: It is available only in steel and the price matches, diameter is 38mm (1mm less). Is it comparable? Well, it´s up ...  

I told you: nothing for us

 
 By: COUNT DE MONET : August 25th, 2014-09:48
Thanks for the picture Oliver. The MB is by far the better choice, in either metal. Moritz

Thanks a lot for your kind reply!

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-03:03
.

Thanks Oliver for that complete and thoughtful review

 
 By: mkt33 : August 24th, 2014-17:44
It looks great, perhaps even better, on your wife's wrist! Cheers, Mike

Thanks a lot, Mike!

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-03:31
" It looks great, perhaps even better, on your wife's wrist!" I agree, but that means I will have another problem or two ... :-) Best, Oliver

Nice review, Oliver!

 
 By: KIH : August 24th, 2014-17:52
This is a nice one for Montblanc, for sure. But I still have reservation - the subdials are concentrated into the center a tad too much? I know the index are intact and that is good as a watch, but still those subdials COULD spread a bit more on the dial,... 

Thank-you for making this obvious point!

 
 By: Tick Talk : August 24th, 2014-19:08
So many reviews are silent on the oddity of subdials clustered around the center, like shipwreck survivors clinging to a life raft in the middle of the ocean. Would that the "manufactures" make appropriate movements and modules for the current fashion of ... 

"the subdials are concentrated into the center a tad too much?"

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-03:02
I know what you are talking about. It´s not 100% perfect like it is, I agree. Maybe that´s why you & me always have to pay "high premium", because we are crazy about (even tiniest) details most people don´t even see or care about :-) Quite a lot prosp...  

Good point, Oliver

 
 By: Tick Talk : August 25th, 2014-07:29
On the cost/benefits account, making new movements to fit the larger case sizes would indeed add to the price. Or affect profitability on the other side of the ledger. Anyway Oliver, you & me must continue the discussion perhaps in January :-)

"continue the discussion perhaps in January"

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-08:11
With great pleasure, my friend :-) Cordially, Oliver

You are right and make sense....

 
 By: KIH : August 25th, 2014-18:19
... too much attention to details... admittedly, sigh... :-) Quite true. It is a great breakthrough as it is, I concur. Thanks, Oliver! Ken

Since when is the Sellita SW300 reserved exclusively for MB?

 
 By: Goldenlutin : August 24th, 2014-22:15
You write :" movement (MB 29.15) is a Sellita base (unique movement developed and reserved for Montblanc's use exclusively)" This would be really big news as this movement is used by almost the entire industry.... and is basically a clone of the ETA 2892-... 

Good question!

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-02:18
My source for that information was a post by our dear Montblanc Moderator mkt33: "The MB 29.15 is an unique movement developed and reserved for Montblanc's use exclusively." Maybe I got something wrong, but I am sure Mike has more details on this. Mike? T... 

Sorry I just saw this. To clarify, I believe what Mike meant was

 
 By: jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) : August 26th, 2014-06:40
the perpetual calendar module is developed by Dubois Depraz for exclusive use by Montblanc. The Sellita SW300 movement is the base movement (and used in many watches). It's the PC module that is exclusive to Montblanc. Hope that clarifies cheers robin

Here is the post

 
 By: Tick Talk : August 26th, 2014-09:04

Sorry for the late reply...didn't catch this until now

 
 By: mkt33 : August 30th, 2014-16:34
Hi Goldenlutin, Oliver... The MB 29.15, as Robin has replied, is the name given to the movement which is the Sellita base + Perpetual calendar module TOGETHER . And so the exclusivity to Montblanc is for this combination...not the SW 300 itself. Surely th... 

Mike, thanks for the clarification ...

 
 By: small-luxury-world : September 1st, 2014-05:59
and sorry for the confusion caused by me. Best, Oliver

Well...

 
 By: Goldenlutin : September 1st, 2014-22:52
Well, the Dubois Depraz is the most commonly used perpetual calendar module in the industry. Therefor I don't see a custom module here. I also doubt that the combination of the SW300 (mass production) and this module will be exclusive to Montblanc as the ... 

Hi Goldenlutin, your statement is understandable but unless you have under the dial

 
 By: mkt33 : September 2nd, 2014-16:44
pics then it is just an assumption on your part that the modules are all the same But please share the photos if you have them and then we can compare and see if any changes were made. I suspect ALL perpetual calendar modules are relatively similar BUT if...  

Here they are

 
 By: Goldenlutin : September 3rd, 2014-15:34
...  

And a comparison...

 
 By: Goldenlutin : September 3rd, 2014-15:46
And here is a comparison side by side with the Nivrel. I don't see any difference. Please tell me what is "incorrect" or "misleading" in what I said? It is not about liking it or not but about technical facts. ...  

Sure. Thanks for the photo and I'll add another photo as well to demonstrate

 
 By: mkt33 : September 3rd, 2014-18:41
Let me start by combining the image side by side and let everyone review The left is the Nivrel, and on the right the MB. They are very similar BUT they are not the same. Besides the different finishing, the most obvious change is the leap year function. ...  

Let's agree that we disagree :)

 
 By: Goldenlutin : September 4th, 2014-13:40
Because with your argumentation any ETA 2892 or 7750 would become exclusive/reserved as soon as, for instance, the oscillating weight is personalized (by an engraving or gets another shape) for the brand. This makes just no sense... If 0.0001 % of variati... 

The song of a nightingale vs a blackbird

 
 By: MTF : August 25th, 2014-00:44
Thank you Oliver for the hands-on review of the Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar. Irrespective of the readers' responses, without a wrist review from PuristS, there would be nothing to respond to! ;) When I was a student, the Medical Sch...  

MTF, thanks for your comprehensive reply! I agree ...

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-03:43
it is always great to have options, even when it means a hard time to choose (for some) :-) If you ask for something special and further for even more, it gets difficult/pricey all the time. I know that quite well ... Just saved a few gramm´s on my tires ... 

Saving grammes

 
 By: MTF : August 25th, 2014-11:56
I know; the Law of Diminishing Returns with increase in cost. I just had a custom built carbon fibre bicycle (4600 Euros) and the cost premium to save 20g on seat-post or 40g for handlebars was hundreds of Euros! Regards, MTF

"custom built carbon fibre bicycle"

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-23:47
Not sure about carbon, but I am thinking about something like this at the moment ... PuristS are PuristS, all the time. Good or bad :-) Cordially, Oliver

Thank you for an outstanding review, Oliver!

 
 By: blomman Mr Blue : August 25th, 2014-03:17
Well written and great shots! :) As for the watch, I think you are right that it is hard to find another PC where you get this kind of "bang for buck"! Great execution by Montblanc! :) Best Blomman

Thanks a lot Blomman, for your kind reply!

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 25th, 2014-03:32
Best, Oliver

Love this review Oliver!

 
 By: jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) : August 25th, 2014-04:21
You know how much I love the traditional design of the new Meisterstuck Heritage series. The case with a mix of polished and satin finishing really appeals to me especially in this red gold. The price point is very competitive and definitely attractive es...  

Robin, I agree with you ...

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 26th, 2014-13:12
"the time only and moonphase timepieces are also important in this new collection". For sure they are, because not everybody is asking for "more" and it is very nice to have more options in the "classical" department. Thanks for your kind reply! Oliver

Great review

 
 By: ED209 : August 26th, 2014-08:19
Great review Oliver! Very enjoyable review of the Montblanc Mesterstruck Heritage Perpetual Calendar. And good job to MB for producing a relatively affordable perpetual calendar. I have to admit that I agree with some of the comments here about the subdia... 

"I would still like to see this one in person"

 
 By: small-luxury-world : August 26th, 2014-13:13
This is a great idea and I am looking forward to your impressions. Thanks a lot, Ed! Oliver

Judging from the number of wrist shots...

 
 By: Echi : August 26th, 2014-20:58
it probably intrigued you from a watch/value perspective. i appreciate very much what MTF said about that billion dollar business model. what will sell may not necessarily be what purists will collect. i guess we've been down that path of discussion sever... 

Thank you for another amazing post

 
 By: Mostel : August 26th, 2014-21:39
I want to love this watch but... It reminds me soooo much of the GP perpetual, which I don't love... Everything too far in th center of the dial feels 'wrong'. The movement is just... Shockingly plain looking for this type of watch. I use the word shockin...