The TimeWalker line has had a revamp for 2017, with Montblanc releasing five new pieces that tap into Minerva’s motorsport history
It’s no secret that Davide Cerrato has form when it comes to creating contemporary sports watches – that was made evident in his time at Tudor. Now head of the watch division at Montblanc, Cerrato’s strengths can be seen in the brand’s big launch at SIHH 2017.
The new TimeWalker collection is made up of accessible steel chronographs with sleek, functional good looks and legible dials, and two high-end special editions – the Chronograph 1000 Limited Edition 18 and the Chronograph Rally Timer Counter Limited Edition 100 – that come in titanium.
The Rally Timer, a very hefty 50mm across, is based on Minerva’s historic stopwatches and rally timers from the 1930s to 1960s. The name is emblazoned across the dial in red, and the vintage feel continues with the white-on-black tachymeters and the vertically aligned sub-dials.
TTTTTTthtehe new iteration has a monopusher at 12 o’clock and, thankfully given its size, can be converted into a pocket watch by folding the straps under the case and rotating it 180°. You can turn it into a desk clock, and Montblanc will even sell you an adaptor mount that will let you attach it to your car dashboard (yes, really). It will be limited to 100 pieces, priced at €37,500.
The Chronograph 1000 Limited Edition 18 is the other high-end model, a 46.4mm mechanical chronograph that can measure elapsed time to 1/1000th of a second. The MB M66.26 calibre works by separating the functions: the time-only balance, visible through the skeletonised dial at 7 o’clock, oscillates at 18,000 vph; while a separate, smaller chronograph balance can be seen at 10 o’clock and oscillates at 360,000 vph.
Cleverly, the crown lets you wind both movements, one by winding in each direction. It’s the same tech we’ve seen from Montblanc before with its bi-frequency chronographs, but comes with a slightly different dial display.
An extra-long, red central hand shows hundredths of a second on a matching red scale around the dial. A red speedometer-inspired scale at 12 o’clock is for thousandths of a second – a triangular pointer counts from 0 to 9. The watch will retail at €175,000.
Meanwhile there are the three somewhat more accessible steel models: the TimeWalker Chronograph UTC, the TimeWalker Chronograph Automatic and the TimeWalker Automatic Date.
The 43mm Chronograph Automatic has a black, polished ceramic bezel, with the knurled finish that is woven throughout the collection on the sides of the crown, pushers and bezel, and dashboard style sub-dials. (The whole collection also sticks faithfully to a colour palette of black, silver, red and white.) It will retail for between €3,990 and €4,290 depending on strap options.
There are a few eye-catching details, including the engraved Montblanc logo inside the small seconds at 9 o’clock and the Minerva arrow-shaped tip of the red chronograph hand.
The Chronograph UTC model is similar, in the same case, but comes in all-black and with home time displayed by a dark central hand enhanced with a red arrow.
The Automatic Date is the smallest of the lot at 41mm, with a 60-minute style dial that’s a clear nod to the Minerva racing heritage that Montblanc is tapping into with this collection. For the UTC Chrono we’re talking about a retail price of €4,990, and around €2,990 for the auto date.
For more information on the Montblanc TimeWalker collection, click here.
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