Throughout 2020, Montblanc launched new releases from all of its various watch collections in rapid-fire fashion — from a limited-edition Heritage Pulsograph and an expansion of its Star Legacy line to an updated smartwatch and a growing blue focus in its 1858 collection, among many others. Heading into the new year, the brand needed a statement piece to kick off its latest round of new products, and it delivers one with the unveiling of the new 1858 Monopusher Chronograph Origins LE100.
Like many of Montblanc’s modern watches, the new model is inspired by a vintage Minerva timepiece, in this case a 46-mm military monopusher chronograph from the 1930s. According to Montblanc, it was this particular watch, “with its black dial and luminescent vintage elements,” which served as the initial inspiration for the entire Montblanc 1858 collection; as a result, the new watch carries the “Origins” designation in its title.
The large, 46-mm bronze alloy case stands tall on the wrist at 14.5 mm and features both polished and satin finishing. The overall shape of the case is quite familiar for those well versed in the 1858 collection, with curved lugs connecting to a brown sfumato alligator leather strap that secures to the wrist with a bronze-coated steel pin buckle. Like previous monopusher chronographs produced by Mongblanc, the watch also features a right-side onion crown, complete with an integrated pusher at its center.
A black lacquered dial, accented with white print and beige colored lume, lay beneath the box-shaped sapphire crystal. Along its outer edge, a vintage chronograph-style scale is put to use, with each passing five-minute marker identified by an Arabic numeral. Large, highly-legible, printed Arabic numerals serve as the hour makers, their flow broken up only by the two engine-turned registers at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions, for the 30-minute chronograph counter and running seconds, respectively. Toward the top of the dial, we find Montblanc’s logo; at the bottom, Minera’s vintage logo. Centered on the face are a set of rose-gold-colored cathedral hands, accompanied by a tapered white pointer for the chronograph seconds.
The Origins model’s bronze-coated titanium “officer”-style caseback flips open and closed to showcase or protect the movement. The caseback is engraved on both its sides, with the head of the goddess Minerva on the outside and a special French inscription on the inside that translates to “Re-edition of a Minerva military chronograph from the 1930s equipped with a hand-made caliber following the pure Swiss watchmaking tradition.”
Inside the watch, and protected by an additional sapphire caseback behind the “officer” lid, is Montblanc’s in-house-produced Caliber MB M16.29. The hand-wound caliber is based directly upon the vintage caliber used in the source-material watch, Caliber 19-09CH, and like that historic mechanism features a raw Maillechort (German silver) plate with circular graining, and Maillechort bridges with Geneva stripes. The meticulously finished movement is composed of 252 total components, beats at a frequency of 18,000 vph, and stores a 50-hour power reserve.
The Montblanc 1858 Monopusher Chronograph Origins LE100 will be, as its name implies, limited to 100 total editions, with the models currently available exclusively to members of Montblanc’s #4810 Club until mid-March. After that point, the watches will be available directly through the brand and via authorized dealers to the market at large, with pricing marked at 30,000 Euros, or about $36,000.
To learn more, visit Montblanc’s website here.
