Introducing: The Montblanc Collection Villeret Tourbillon Cylindrique Pocket Watch 110 Years Edition, And Navigator Unique Piece Nautical Clock

The navigation theme has been a pretty prominent one in Montblanc’s recent production – probably most visibly, in the watches named for the famous Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama – but this year Montblanc’s pretty much pulled out all the stops in making something that speaks both to the history of marine chronometers, as well as showcasing the artisanal side of watchmaking in the Montblanc portfolio as it exists at the Minerva movement manufacture (the counterpart to the somewhat larger scale production facility that Montblanc maintains in Le Locle).  

The Montblanc Collection Tourbillon Cylindrique Pocket Watch 110 Years Edition (with which Montblanc challenges Audemars Piguet for Brand That Gives The Longest Names To Its Watches) and the Montblanc Collection Tourbillon Cylindrique Pocket Watch 110 Years Edition Unique Piece (ditto) are triple time zone, world-time tourbillon pocket watches of really incredible beauty; the latter is paired with a pretty mind-blowing ship’s clock, mounted on gimbals.  

This isn’t the first ship’s clock plus timepiece effort from Montblanc – we recall, for instance, that in 2012 Montblanc showed the Montblanc Grand Regulateur Nautique, which housed an elaborately complicated ship’s clock and also functioned as a storage stand for a matching chronograph – but both the pocket watches and this year’s ship’s clock are exceptional, even in comparison to the 2012 effort.

First, the pocket watches. The big story here is the movement (though the casing is first class as well). The movement is the Montblanc/Minerva caliber MB 68.40, and you might recognize the movement designation – this is the same movement that’s used in the Montblanc Collection Villeret Tourbillon Cylindrique Geospheres Vasco da Gama; we did a hands on and photo essay on that one last August. It’s a phenomenal treat for the eye, and it is certainly a statement piece on the wrist, but it is also quite a large watch and one thing we’ve always thought is what a wonderful pocket watch it would make. Maybe someone upstairs at Montblanc overheard us, or maybe great minds think alike but we’re delighted, for whatever reason, to see this gorgeous movement cased as a pocket watch.

Just to review, the world time indication’s handled through the depiction of the northern and southern hemispheres; the hemispheres are stationary and the disks around them rotate. (Strictly speaking, this sort of arrangement is a 24 time zone indication as it doesn’t accurately reflect civil time in any area with a non-whole hour offset from GMT, but it does have a pretty great aesthetic – who doesn’t like a God’s-eye view? – and it certainly gives you a good general sense of whether any part of the world is in sunlight or darkness.)

The major difference between the Tourbillon Cylindrique Geospheres Vasco da Gama, and the pocket watches, is that the arrangement of the dial is inverted in the pocket watches, with the very large balance and tourbillon on view at the 6:00 position in the pocket watches, as opposed to the 12:00 position in the wristwatch. The tourbillon is fitted with a cylindrical balance spring, which were originally developed to improve rate stability in marine chronometers, and here Montblanc has made use of something called Phillips terminal curves. One way of reducing variation in rate in watches is to use terminal curves that help reduce variation in the lateral thrusting created by balance springs as the balance oscillates (a major source of variations in rate in different positions). The Breguet overcoil was developed for just this reason: to help keep the balance and balance staff centered as the spring “breathes.” The Phillips terminal curve serves the same purpose, but evolved from the Breguet overcoil, and is named after the French scientist who was one of the first to calculate a mathematically correct form for such a terminal curve. The lovely deep blue-and-gold aventurine backdrop for the tourbillon found in the wristwatch can be found in the pocket watch as well.

One of most visually striking elements is of course the “double infinity” upper bridge for the tourbillon.

The back of the watch offers less pyrotechnics, but it’s still beautifully done, with engraving that reflects the motif found around the hemispheres on the front of the watch.

Now, if you really want to put the marine chronometer aspect of the pocket watch front-and-center, Montblanc has you covered: they’ve created, in partnership with clockmaker Erwin Sattler, a sea-clock and stand that also acts as a storage place for the pocket watch. The clock itself is 15 cm in diameter and 9.5 cm in height, with a hand wound movement showing the time in 24 time zones, and with a 15-day power reserve. The movement beats at 18,000 vph and and is fitted with a fusee-and-cable (both a classic marine chronometer feature and a centuries-old solution to ensuring unvarying torque from the mainspring to the balance, especially in watches and clocks with a long power reserve; you can read off the power reserve, as well as the number of days remaining at sea. The power-reserve system uses two hands, blue and red, which are superimposed (with the red hand hidden) unless there are 4 days or less of power remaining. At that point the hands “split” and the red hand moves into a 4 day countdown sector, alerting the owner to wind the clock. This system was actually first developed for the 2012 Grand Regulateur Nautique.

The base is massive: 120 kilograms, nearly a meter in height (93 cm) with a 56 cm granite base, the better to keep it stable whether it’s in your library, or bolted to the stateroom floor of your yacht (personally, I think putting this in anything other than a yacht is like buying a thoroughbred racing stallion and renting it out for kid’s birthday parties but as they say, your mileage may vary). The gimbal system includes an indication for number of degrees away from vertical that you are listing, from 0 to 27 degrees.

The The Montblanc Collection Villeret Tourbillon Cylindrique Pocket Watch 110 Years Edition, And Navigator Unique Piece Nautical Clock; 8 piece limited edition worldwide for the pocket watch alone; the Navigator is a unique piece. For the pocket watch, the movement is MB caliber 68.40, hand wound one minute tourbillon with triple time zone indication. Tourbillon with large (14.5 mm) balance, cylindrical balance spring with mathematically correct double Phillips terminal curve. Case, white gold, 60 mm x 20.89 mm; water resistant to 3 bar. Ship’s clock, 15 cm x 9.50 cm key-wound Montblanc caliber MB 13.98, 15-day power reserve with fusee-and-cable transmission system; power reserve with 4 day low reserve warning. Stand; 93 cm tall overall with 56 cm diameter granite base, 120 kg in weight. Visit Montblanc online right here.

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