Pinnacle of Montblanc

More well known for their writing instruments, Montblanc of late has been making waves of their own in the field of horology.

Starting with their Villeret collection about 10 years back in 2006 and working with vintage Minerva movements, Montblanc has been steadily growing in the field of horology. Thanks to my friend Robin who invited me for one of the Montblanc dinner recently, I managed to catch a glimpse of some very sophisticated pieces.

To start off the evening, the Villeret Tourbillon Cylindrique Geosphères Vasco da Gama. Can the name get any longer?

The timepiece uses the in-house Manufacture Calibre MB M68.40 which houses a 1-minute cylindrical Tourbillon. The 47mm manual winding timepiece comes as a Limited Edition of 18 pieces.

And the two spheres indicate the North (left sphere) and South (right sphere) hemispheres and gives the world time. And just in case you are wondering, the two spheres are fixed and does not rotate. Notice the different shades on the discs around the spheres indicating the day and night.

Next up is the Tourbillon Bi-Cylindrique and this is the world's first wristwatch to feature a Tourbillon with double cylindrical balance springs.

But wait, there is one more "complication" - the Heures Mystérieuses better known in English as Mysterious Hours! But truth be told, the mysterious hours is possible courtesy of sapphire crystal discs stacked one on top of the other.

But the highlight of the evening must be the 4810 ExoTourbillon Slim. This timepiece features a Montblanc patented ExoTourbillon in a very slim case.

The Montblanc Calibre MB29.21 is special in that the balance wheel is outside of the Tourbillon cage. On top of that, the timepiece comes with a quick stop-seconds mechanism which is rather difficult to achieve in a Tourbillon.

The timepiece in rose gold is 42mm and comes with an exhibition case back featuring a micro rotor.

Many thanks to Robin, Sincere Fine Watches and the folks from Monthblanc for a wonderful evening of discovery.

All pictures taken with iPhone 6S.