This flyback chronograph by Montblanc has an in-house movement, and it presents a lot of information on a well-designed dial. Its price of €6,900 makes it a very accessible piece considering its manufacture movement and the limited edition (1,110 pieces).
The design has the visual characteristics of the 4810 series, with narrow bezel, dial with guilloché in the “exploding star” pattern, expanding outwards from an imaginary Montblanc star, Roman appliqué numerals and hour batons, and SuperLuminova on the hour and minute hands and on small dots on the chapter ring.
Flyback chronograph
Chronograph minutes and seconds are shown with two central hands, a blued hand with red tip for chronograph seconds, and a gold hand for chronograph minutes. There is no chronograph hours subdial. When the chronograph is running, a press on the pusher at 4 o’clock instantaneously resets and restarts both the chronograph hands. To stop the chronograph, you press the pusher at 2 o’clock, after which the pusher at 4 o’clock resets the hands.
Home time zone
Another central hand, blue in skekletonized regate pattern, shows the home time. A subdial at the top shows the same home time but on a 24-hour scale to show whether the home time is day or night. The view of the Atlantic is purely decorative and is linked to this year’s overall theme, the great age of Atlantic liners travelling between Europe and America. At 6 o’clock, a subdial shows continuous seconds with a date window. The photos are all computer-generated: it looks to me like there is a small mistake, because the time on the 24-hour subddial doesn’t correspond to the home-time indicated.
Calibre MB LL100.1 in-house movement
The MB LL100.1 movement was designed and built in-house, and it can be viewed through the sapphire caseback. The chronograph is controlled by a column wheel and vertical clutch. There are two mainspring barrels, providing 72 hours power reserve. The oscillating weight is decorated with a skeletonized Montblanc emblem. Each watch is tested by the Montblanc Performance Test 500 hours, which simulates 500 hours of normal use.
Stainless steel case
The watch has a stainless steel case, 43 mm in diameter, 14.58 mm thick, with water resistance 5 bar (50 metres). It has a black alligator strap with stainless steel folding clasp.
Reference and price
The Montblanc 4810 TwinFly Chronograph 110 Years Edition, reference 114859, costs €6,900. It is a limited edition of 1,110 pieces.
