2016 Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date Review

The replica Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date by Hand is just a new and elegant iteration in the Chronometrie collection. It seems that Montblanc has the wish to go over all the possible calendar options, starting with a simple date edition with window at 6, then this new Date by Hand version, followed by the complete calendar, the annual calendar and finally the perpetual calendar. With this Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date by Hand, the brand chose to maximize the visibility by having a large sub-register at 3, large enough to have a clear view on the pointed date. To counterweight the presence of this sub-dial and to balance the overall look of this watch, it also features a small second at 9 https://www.aomwatches.is/.

The design of the Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date by Hand is in line with the rest of this collection (the core collection for Montblanc): classical lines of the case, silver dial with sun-ray pattern, concentric graining for the sub-dials, applied indexes, facetted and plated with gold, nice Arabic numerals at 12 and 6, also applied and gold-plated, sword hands in gold and sub-hands blued. The case of the Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date by Hand is in stainless steel, fully polished and measures a balanced 40mm (a nice size in-between the rather small real dress watches and the too large sports watches, mainly over 42mm). This diameter makes it a very good daily watch, wearable during the week for business, during weekends or dressier parties.

The thickness just below 10mm (at 9.85mm), together with the curved horns, allows a nice comfort on the wrist. This watch is powered by the calibre MB 24.23 (based on a Sellita SW200, then modified by Montblanc), a self-winding movement that boasts 38 hours of power reserve and that is visible through the sapphire crystal. It is nicely finished with an engraved rotor and circular graining on the bridges. As usual, this movement is certified by the Montblanc Laboratory Test 500 (a 500 hours control that will provide a reliable and accurate movement).