Montblanc commemorates the first ascent of the Mont Blanc mountain in 1786 with an eight-piece limited edition of the Star Legacy Exo Tourbillon Skeleton, featuring a new movement architecture and handmade decorative work on both the dial and movement; a representation of a mythological wyvern creature, believed to have lived on the Mont Blanc’s Mer de Glace glacier, is positioned on the right
Mont Blanc mountain has inspired both fascination and fear in equal doses, so much so that in 1760 naturalist Horace-Bénédict De Saussure offered a substantial prize to the first person to ascend the summit. After numerous unsuccessful attempts, an ambitious young hunter and gold seeker, Jacques Balmat, enlisted the help of Michel-Gabriel Paccard, a doctor with a passion for botany and minerals, to help him find a way to the top. At 6:23 pm on August 8, 1786, the duo reached the summit, making history. One year later, they returned with Horace-Bénédict De Saussure so he too could experience the summit of his dreams.
In commemoration of this historic moment, Montblanc is unveiling the Montblanc Star Legacy Suspended Exo Tourbillon Skeleton The Ascent Limited Edition of eight pieces. Each piece is hand-engraved with the Mont Blanc mountain in the sub dial at 12 o’clock. On the left is an 18K white gold engraving of Balmat climbing to the summit, while the mythological wyvern, believed to have lived on the Mont Blanc’s Mer de Glace glacier, is positioned on the right.
It requires a lot of experience to create such detail in the tiny space of a watch dial. Montblanc’s goldsmiths and engravers start with a piece of 18K white gold, and turn a 2D drawing into a 3D 18K white gold sculpture, bringing realism and emotion to the scene.
During the historic climb, Balmat and Paccard set off with leather backpacks that contained blankets, pouches for rock samples, and various measuring instruments, making their ascent even more impressive by today’s standards. One of their experiments was to measure the intensity of the sky’s colour using a new invention at the time called a cyanometer. In fact, a few years later, De Saussure was able to use this device to prove that the sky’s blue tone became increasingly darker with a decrease in humidity, concluding that the colour of the sky was determined by the water content of the air.
In celebration of this invention, the Montblanc Star Legacy Exo Tourbillon Skeleton, The Ascent, Limited Edition features a cyanometer gauge that runs around the periphery of the tourbillon cage, indicating the different shades of blue sky.
First introduced in 2010, the patented Exo Tourbillon complication is a key pillar of the Montblanc watch collection. The idea was to position the large balance wheel, beating at the traditional low frequency of 18,000 oscillations, outside of the tourbillon’s rotating cage – thus the term, “Exo”. The massive balance wheel is raised 3.2 mm higher than the dial and appears to be floating above it. This suspended position has been made possible thanks to a dedicated tourbillon bridge with only one arm which is curved, creating a three-dimensional look and a fine watchmaking aesthetic.
This new limited edition pushes the concept of a floating mechanism even further. Montblanc’s engineers worked for more than 12 months – in addition to the original three years of R&D – to conceive a new skeleton movement injecting lightness, rethinking design and geometry, while also testing the stability of each element.
188 components of high complexity, including five supporting pillars between the base plate and bridges, are all aligned to let the light filter in. As a result, a composition of delicate and pure lines, some as thin as lace, come into play to magnify the mesmerising tourbillon as it rotates. It is rare to see a whole movement working from 360 degrees as can be seen with this suspended calibre.
A skeletonised movement is considered a complication in itself due to the savoir-faire needed to open up the movement to the light. The challenge is to make the components as thin as possible, while not weakening the structure of the movement. As the components can now be seen from each and every angle, the quality of the finishing becomes highly important.
The Montblanc Star Legacy Suspended Exo Tourbillon Skeleton movement includes 420 inner angles, all polished by hand. The inner angles are among the most difficult parts to polish due to difficulty of access. It is impossible to polish them by machine, and only an expert hand can bring out the beauty of the inner angle. In Villeret, each artisan has his or her own techniques, often using local mountain flower stems, such as the Gentian flower, in the search of the polished angle.
