Introducing the Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time Vasco da Gama Limited Edition 238

Montblanc had been quite active these past years, surprising watch-lovers with complicated timepieces priced to highly competitive price levels. It had been the case first with a perpetual calendar costing less than 10.000 Euros but also with all sorts of complications, like a complete calendar, an annual calendar or a world-timer, making these interesting complications accessible to collectors with a lower budget. Into the Heritage Chronométrie collection, we recently reviewed the Dual-Time, a watch that now comes in a limited edition for Watches & Wonders 2015, the Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time Vasco da Gama Limited Edition 238.

As we like to remind you, having a second time-zone feature is extremely convenient, in an era of globalization, transnational meetings and frequent travels. It gives the opportunity to keep an eye on your home time when traveling or to be sure to be right on time when calling your colleagues working on the other side of the planet. Montblanc recently introduced a watch that fulfills these needs for modern gentlemen to be internationally adapted, without losing the need for a slim and elegant watch and with a very decent price tag; the Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time. This watch comes now in a limited edition dedicated to Vasco de Gama and features several visual updates.

On this Vasco da Gama Limited Edition, the case features a central part and a caseback in stainless steel but now it receives a bezel and a crown in 18k rose gold. The bezel has a flat surface that is polished and its side is satin-finished. The rounded horns are also polished and so is the side of the three-part case. With a diameter of 41mm and a thickness that remains below 10mm, the Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time wears very elegantly and can easily be matched with a suit. The case is not the only one to see the arrival of gold, as both the hands and the indexes do features this same material (as well as the line around the date window).

The evolution of the subsidiary dials is more important, as both of them show a new design. The 24-hour indicator at 12 has a blue plate adorned with stars. It is decorated with a representation of the night-sky in the southern hemisphere, the night-sky that guided Vasco da Gama during his voyage. At 6, the small second indicator features a miniature map of the world, with a three-dimensional effect.

This dial features 3 practical complications. The first and main one is of course the blued hour hand on the central axis that indicates the home time. The gold hands are pointing the local time and the hour hand can be adjusted independently, from the crown, both forward and backward, in one-hour jumps. The 24-hour indicator, with night and day sections, is linked to the home time (thus helping you to know if your wife or colleagues are still sleeping or not, before calling them). Finally, the date complication is linked to the local time and can also be adjusted forward and backward.

This clever and practical display comes from a module featuring 21 components and developed in-house at Villeret by Montblanc’s watchmakers. It is added on the top of a self-winding Selitta calibre SW300, an ETA clone, that boasts 42 hours of power reserve and ticks at 28.800 bph. The caseback of this Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time Vasco da Gama Limited Edition 238 is adorned with a drawing of the São Gabriel, Vasco da Gama’s flagship, together with the signature of this explorer.

The Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Dual Time Vasco da Gama Limited Edition 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 will be showed first at Watches & Wonders 2015 (the Hong Kong watch fair). montblanc.com.