Of the many impressive timepieces debuted at SIHH 2010, perhaps the most amazing from a standpoint of sheer technical audacity was the Montblanc Timewriter 1 Metamorphosis--the conception of watchmaking duo Johnny Girardin and Franck Orny, and a product of Montblanc's Villeret-based Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie. This horological showpiece presents a mind-blowing mechanism whereby activation of a slidepiece allows the Montblanc watch to transform from one mode into another distinct timekeeping entity within a time span of less than twenty seconds. Depending upon what you prefer at any given moment, the Montblanc Metamorphosis can show a dedicated time display with regulator hours, retrograde minutes and a date indicator. It can also shift before the eyes with mesmerizing precision into a chronograph whose functions appear to rise from the very core of the movement, leaving no trace after the slickly accomplished "transformation" that the timepiece in hand was ever anything but a monopusher chronograph!
Girardin and Orny took their inspiration for this unlikely luxury watch concept from the "Transformers" robots which debuted in the 1980s as a cartoon series and toy line, and are now familiar to a new generation from the extremely successful recent films directed by Michael Bay. Like these fantasy figures, which morph from giant humanoid warriors into cars, planes and other earthly forms, the Montblanc Metamorphosis watch can completely change its identity. Taking this idea from whimsy to horological reality, however, entailed enormous challenges and stretched both watchmaking and engineering capabilities to new horizons. Using as a base movement the luxurious column-wheel Montblanc/Minerva 16.29 caliber with its 252 individual parts, the team created a remarkable additional mechanical structure which added another 315 components. 18th century automatons created by historical Swiss masters were a partial guide as they began their work, but Girardin and Orny had to develop many solutions which were entirely unprecedented.
Switching from time display mode to chronograph mode creates nearly a quarter minute of pure intrigue. A complex arrangement of lamellar wings hidden around the dial open and then precisely move into position, allowing a chronograph minute-counter subdial to emerge from within the inner heart of the the Montblanc watch and engulf the date hand completely. Triggering the slide a second time reverses the process, and the chronograph counter descends, to be precisely sealed over by the mysterious dial wings. Both time functions and chronograph functions enjoy independent use of the central hand; in the former it serves as an elapsed continuous seconds hand, while for the latter it works as the chronograph central seconds. To further demonstrate the sophisticated autonomy engineered into the movement, the creators of the Montblanc Timewriter 1 Metamorphosis designed the chronograph elapsed seconds counter to have a 31-minute scale (usually, a minutes counter will be calibrated for 30 minutes); the "method behind the madness" here is to clue the wearer in to the fact that the date display also resides at this spot on the dial, and yet, both date and minute counter advance by totally independent mechanisms in their respective modes. This impressive fact is attested to by differing advance motions: continual for the chronograph minutes and semi-instantaneous for the calendar.
Needless to say, seeing the complex actions of the Montblanc Metamorphosis watch is far more illuminating than reading about them, and you can CLICK HERE to view a tantalizing computer animation that probes deeply into the heart of the mechanism. Not surprisingly, production of the Metamorphosis will be extremely limited, as dedicated watch collectors are the intended target. Just 28 pieces are planned, with pricing at launch estimated at 195,000 Euros. The distinctive teardrop-shaped case is crafted from 18-karat white gold and measures 47mm--a size that ideally showcases what amounts to nothing less than a spectacular tour-de-force of watchmaking pyrotechnics.
Girardin and Orny took their inspiration for this unlikely luxury watch concept from the "Transformers" robots which debuted in the 1980s as a cartoon series and toy line, and are now familiar to a new generation from the extremely successful recent films directed by Michael Bay. Like these fantasy figures, which morph from giant humanoid warriors into cars, planes and other earthly forms, the Montblanc Metamorphosis watch can completely change its identity. Taking this idea from whimsy to horological reality, however, entailed enormous challenges and stretched both watchmaking and engineering capabilities to new horizons. Using as a base movement the luxurious column-wheel Montblanc/Minerva 16.29 caliber with its 252 individual parts, the team created a remarkable additional mechanical structure which added another 315 components. 18th century automatons created by historical Swiss masters were a partial guide as they began their work, but Girardin and Orny had to develop many solutions which were entirely unprecedented.
Switching from time display mode to chronograph mode creates nearly a quarter minute of pure intrigue. A complex arrangement of lamellar wings hidden around the dial open and then precisely move into position, allowing a chronograph minute-counter subdial to emerge from within the inner heart of the the Montblanc watch and engulf the date hand completely. Triggering the slide a second time reverses the process, and the chronograph counter descends, to be precisely sealed over by the mysterious dial wings. Both time functions and chronograph functions enjoy independent use of the central hand; in the former it serves as an elapsed continuous seconds hand, while for the latter it works as the chronograph central seconds. To further demonstrate the sophisticated autonomy engineered into the movement, the creators of the Montblanc Timewriter 1 Metamorphosis designed the chronograph elapsed seconds counter to have a 31-minute scale (usually, a minutes counter will be calibrated for 30 minutes); the "method behind the madness" here is to clue the wearer in to the fact that the date display also resides at this spot on the dial, and yet, both date and minute counter advance by totally independent mechanisms in their respective modes. This impressive fact is attested to by differing advance motions: continual for the chronograph minutes and semi-instantaneous for the calendar.
Needless to say, seeing the complex actions of the Montblanc Metamorphosis watch is far more illuminating than reading about them, and you can CLICK HERE to view a tantalizing computer animation that probes deeply into the heart of the mechanism. Not surprisingly, production of the Metamorphosis will be extremely limited, as dedicated watch collectors are the intended target. Just 28 pieces are planned, with pricing at launch estimated at 195,000 Euros. The distinctive teardrop-shaped case is crafted from 18-karat white gold and measures 47mm--a size that ideally showcases what amounts to nothing less than a spectacular tour-de-force of watchmaking pyrotechnics.
