Everything you need to know about Montblanc’s 1858

With each passing year the Hamburg-based company’s watch profile grows - so learn about the 1858 here

It’s been a few years now since Montblanc’s burgeoning watch credentials were lost behind a thick veil of writing instruments and leather accessories. With each passing year the Hamburg-based company’s watch profile grows.

Montblanc’s pocket dynamo chief executive Jerome Lambert said at this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) that he wants to dominate the classic watch market in the €2,000-5,000 segment, which is a big call, although not as big a call as if he were gunning for the same slice of the sports watch market, currently bullied by the likes of industry titans TAG Heuer and Omega.

The company’s big launch for 2016 is the 4810, a rejuvenation of a collection named after the height of Europe’s largest alp and first spun for the company’s centenary 10 years ago. It’s an expansive collection, with 18 references and nine different calibres, but it’s overshadowed by the continued wonderfulness of the 1858.

We’ve seen the 1858 before. The rose gold black-dialled monopusher chronograph launched in the autumn last year caught the watch-savvy press’s attention with its brilliantly executed vintage aesthetic, elegant movement and value-for-money pricing. Following on from that are a perfectly formed pair of 1858 models with blue dials launched at SIHH last week.

The hero is the 1858 Monopusher Chronograph Tachymetre Blue Limited Edition, a watch housing the same exquisite, hand-crafted calibre made in the company’s Villeret manufacture as the aforementioned piece. This, as aficionados will know, was once known as Minerva, a name uttered in watch circles in reverent tones. Villeret’s crack team of watchmakers lovingly build around 100 movements a year (sometimes more, depending on the complexity of the calibre), each an arcane, hand-finished work of art.

Because of the time-consuming nature of the way these movements are made, only 100 will enter the market. The price is set at £18,900, underlining the fact that Mr Lambert has adopted an aggressive pricing strategy across the spectrum.

Of course, dropping almost £20k on a watch is still a big ask for most, which is where the more accessible stainless steel 1858 Manual Small Second comes in. This is a time-only watch with the same sunburst blue dial and vintage Montblanc logo as the monopusher, and it’s powered by another watchmaking icon, the workhorse hand-wound Unitas movement. Available on either a blue leather strap or a stainless steel mesh bracelet, and due to appear on shelves at a more modest £2,490 come May, it was one of my picks of SIHH.

View the whole collection at www.montblanc.com

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