The Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time Vasco da Gama watch comes in 41 mm stainless steel case. This 9.9 mm-slim case is built into three parts, namely a middle and a case back in stainless steel and an 18 K red gold-finish bezel.
It is driven by the MB 29.19 automatic calibre with a Dual Time complication, developed in-house at Villeret by Montblanc's master watchmakers. The movement can be viewed through a transparent case back displaying a drawing of the São Gabriel, Vasco da Gama's flagship, together with the signature of the explorer.
It displays the home time and that of a second time-zone, together on the main dial: the central gold-plated hand shows local time while the blued one marks the home time, which can be viewed in conjunction with the 24-hour display to determine whether the home time is during the day or night. If the user does not wish to display the second time zone indication, the second hour hand may be set so as to be perfectly superimposed over its counterpart for the time in the home zone. The gold-plated hand is set - by a simple adjustment of the winding crown - to the time zone indication for the country being visited and advances by hourly steps, without affecting the position of the blued hand.
During this operation, the gold-plated hand is mechanically isolated from the movement, and any adjustment made to it does not affect the operation of the other hands including the second hand, thus ensuring that the watch continues to function precisely and always displays the right time.
The reading of the minutes for both time zones is provided by the long, slender gold-plated central hand, and the seconds are indicated by the hand located at 6 o'clock. The local time is synchronized with the date displayed in the window at 3 o'clock, which remains the same or moves forward or backward in keeping with the time zone selected.
The watch houses a silvery-white dial with a sunburst pattern bearing eleven facetted indexes in red gold-plated appliqué. It includes two delicately worked counters inspired by Vasco da Gama's voyage. The first, positioned at 12 o'clock, is fitted around its perimeter with a 24-hour graduated scale. It is linked to the home time and is decorated at its centre with a representation of the night-sky in the southern hemisphere, that guided Vasco da Gama during his voyage, against the background of which the Southern Cross constellation is clearly outlined. The second counter at 6 o'clock, slightly cambered, features a miniature three-dimensional map of the world.
The Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time Vasco da Gama
watch is limited to 238 pieces, in a reference to the “Cape Point Peak” lighthouse, which was built at precisely 238 meters above sea level at the Cape of Good Hope, around which Vasco da Gama first sailed in late November 1497.
It is fitted with a black alligator-skin strap, crafted at the Montblanc Pelletteria in Florence, and equipped with a stainless steel triple-folding clasp.
