Paying tribute to the glorious past of its Manufacture Minerva, Montblanc launched a new TimeWalker collection as the start of 2017, composed of five sports models including four chronographs. Minerva was a grand specialist of chronograph watches and precision counters for timing motor races. In 1911, it presented an instrument capable of measuring fifths of a second, and shortly afterwards, another dealing with tenths of a second. In 1916, it created the famous hundredth of a second Rally Timer, which it improved in 1936. Today, as its name implies, the TimeWalker Chronograph 1000 measures elapsed time to the nearest thousandth of a second. It displays minutes and seconds on a counter at 6 o’clock, hundredths with a central hand making one full sweep of the dial per second, and thousandths through a 12 o’clock aperture, thanks to an innovative wheel in the gear-train, called the “thousandths wheel”. To achieve this impressive performance, the timepiece is equipped with a double-chain movement, featuring balance wheels respectively beating at 18,000 vph (for the watch) and 360,000 vph (for the chronograph) and appearing at 7 and 10 o’clock.
The spirit of motor-racing reigns supreme in all elements of this imposing chronograph combining performance, innovation, excellent legibility and sturdiness. The light, scratch-resistant case with its aerodynamic designs is fitted with a knurled crown reminiscent of vintage fuel-tank caps; while a monopusher similar to those of historical Minerva counters appears at 12 o’clock. On the dial, the red and black accents as well as the counters themselves evoke vintage car dashboards, the chronograph power-reserve indicator is a nod to old-timer fuel gauges, while a smoky sapphire crystal is inspired by the glass windows that reveal V12 engines.
The TimeWalker ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph flaunts a comparable style, clad in black like the 1000, while combining a monopusher chronograph with the in-house ExoTourbillon equipped with an instant stop-seconds mechanism. A red arrow placed on the tourbillon carriage serves to adjust the time with pinpoint accuracy. Geared up for competition, the flagship chronographs of the TimeWalker collection testify to the innovative capacity of Montblanc, which consistently pushes the frontiers of horological technology.
