Watchmaking is a blend of industry and craftsmanship, and some of the most innovative brands continually seek new talent to refresh their creative vision and design watches that set new standards. This is exactly what Montblanc did in 2010 with its TimeWriter project, an initiative aimed at supporting promising watchmakers and combining tradition with innovation. The project resulted in the creation of a remarkable timepiece: the Montblanc TimeWriter 1 Metamorphosis.
You say you want a revolution?
It was unlike anything ever seen before in watchmaking. While the chronograph complication itself was nothing new, the display was truly revolutionary. No other pocket watch or wristwatch had ever attempted anything comparable, either technically or aesthetically. From the beginning, Montblanc paid tribute to the two creators of the concept, Franck Orny and Johnny Girardin, the talented minds behind Télôs Watch SA, based in La Chaux-de-Fonds since 2009. The launch of the Metamorphosis the following year played a major role in their recognition and success, as the Montblanc commission was their first. Instead of dividing the already limited dial space to show both time and chronograph information, the two designers created two completely separate dials, one stacked on top of the other. This is the magic of the Metamorphosis: when a catch on the left side of the case is activated, the dial splits in two, revealing two counters—one at 12 o’clock and another at 6 o’clock. These discs appear or disappear at the wearer’s command: the Roman numeral hour display at 12 o’clock transforms into Arabic numerals, while the date at 6 o’clock is replaced by the chronograph’s minute counter.
Sheer genius
The idea is nothing short of brilliant—creative, unprecedented, and genuinely fun. What makes it even more impressive is its simplicity: by merely activating the catch, the watch instantly transforms from displaying hours, minutes, seconds, and the date into a chronograph—and back again. This ingenious mechanism perfectly reflects the spirit of the TimeWriter project, combining multiple crafts and areas of expertise. To bring the Metamorphosis to life, Montblanc drew not only on traditional watchmaking mastery but also on the age-old art of automatons, a specialty long practiced in the Swiss Jura and now preserved by only a handful of artisans and brands, including François Junod, Jaquet Droz, Van Cleef & Arpels, Reuge, and John-Mickaël Flaux. Despite its complex movement—comprising an astonishing 718 components—the Metamorphosis operates with remarkable smoothness and agility, transforming its dials in just a couple of seconds without the slightest hesitation. Such fluid motion is the ultimate hallmark of quality in automatons. The movement beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour, a low frequency reminiscent of 19th-century timepieces, chosen here for its efficiency and the minimal amount of precious energy it consumes.
An ongoing career
There have been several versions of the Metamorphosis, with new ones continuing to appear over time. The main change between 2010 and 2020 was the evolution of the case design, shifting from the original teardrop shape to a more traditional round form, with a diameter ranging from 50 to 52 millimetres depending on the model. Following its highly contemporary 2010 debut, Montblanc introduced a number of variations, including versions in gold, with guilloché dials, and models replacing the chronograph with complications such as a tourbillon, a moon phase, or a second time zone.
