In 2016, the house of Montblanc celebrates its 110th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the famous Swiss manufacture presents a limited edition of three timepieces – the Montblanc Collection Villeret Tourbillon Bi-Cylindrique 110 Years Anniversary.
The new, highly exclusive timepiece features an in-house one-minute tourbillon, a double cylindrical balance spring, and the Maison's emblematic Heures Mystérieuses display. Marrying the spirit of innovation and artisanal aesthetic, the watch is completely developed and produced in-house, at the Montblanc workshops in Villeret.
The unusual serpentine design evokes the look of Montblanc’s first fountain pen series, the iconic Rouge et Noir line, which was developed in 1906. At the time, the Rouge et Noir fountain pen, with a black ebonite body and red-accented crown, was regarded as an exceptional technical feat, as it didn’t require dipping the nib into an inkwell. This iconic writing instrument, with its serpent clip, is the inspiration behind Montblanc’s new Heritage Rouge & Noir Collection. The serpent is also a symbol of life and rebirth, a figure that beautifully represents Montblanc’s spirit of innovation and 110 years long tradition of fine craftsmanship.
The three-dimensional, hand-engraved, figure of a serpent has been integrated into the bezel of the new Villeret Tourbillon Bi-Cylindrique 110 Years Anniversary Limited Edition timepiece. The design is also engraved on the back of the 52 mm red gold case. The watch face also reveals a large tourbillon, measuring 18,4mm in diameter, and an equally large sub-dial at 6 o’clock, showing the time display.
The regate-shaped hands are not attached in the classical manner, at the center of the hour and minutes dial, but they float mysteriously above it. This interesting addition to the watch, known as the Heures Mystérieuses display, is made possible thanks to two transparent sapphire crystal discs. One of them has the hour hand embossed on it, while the other features the minutes hand. The mechanism is inspired by the mysterious clocks of the 19th century, on which the original designs hid the mechanism in the clock case, so it appeared as they have no workings at all – their hands seem to travel with no apparent mechanism to drive them. On the Villeret Tourbillon Bi-Cylindrique 110 Years Anniversary Limited Edition, the mechanism is fully revealed, thanks to the absence of a dial, thus allowing the wearer to admire the floating hands.
The Montblanc Collection Villeret Tourbillon Bi-Cylindrique 110 Years Anniversary Limited Edition is fitted with the hand-made manually-wound Calibre MB M65.63. The movement features a one-minute tourbillon and a double cylindrical hairspring. The tourbillon, one of the most complicated watchmaking mechanisms to produce, is completely detached from the movement, and it revolves in its own cage. It takes one full minute for the tourbillon to complete a full rotation. All of its 95 parts are hand-finished, beveled, chamfered, angled, polished and decorated in-house.
The large escapement of the watch is created with bi-cylindrical hairspring, which is wound around a vertical axis. Each turn of the cylindrical hairspring is positioned on top of the subsequent, and with each one having the same distance from the center. This innovative formation helps to eliminate any eccentricity of the center of gravity. In Montblanc’s new Villeret Tourbillon Bi- Cylindrique 110 Years Anniversary Limited Edition timepiece, there are no less than 2 cylindrical hairsprings, one inside the other. Each has its own diameter, but they both have identical torque. The springs move in contrasting directions - while one spring increases, the other contracts – to provide ultimate precision.
The exceptional new Montblanc Collection Villeret Tourbillon Bi-Cylindrique 110 Years Anniversary Limited Edition timepiece is strictly limited to three pieces. The price is 280,000 EUR.
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