Lot 234

Montblanc

Star Nicolas Rieussec Monopusher Chronograph

A large and heavy wristwatch in near mint condition, with decentralized time display, date, rotating auxiliary seconds and chronograph disc, 72h power reserve indicator on the back and twin barrels - with original box and operating instructions

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The off-centred hours and minutes ring and the two totalisers lend this unusual chronograph its distinctive character; incidentally, the manual-wind movement was designed by the same engineer who drafted the first A. Lange & Söhne calibres in the early 1990s. The twin barrels ensure a high power reserve of 72 hours. The chronograph functions are operated through a single pusher in the crown. Montblanc’s technical and development manager Yannick Renaudet explains: "You read this watch by its hands that are fixed –it is the dials that turn and so completely change the way of reading the time, and there is a complexity connected with the discs and the linkage of the discs."
By displaying the counters on discs instead of hands the watch reminds us of the original meaning of the word chronograph, which is "time writer" – so it is fitting that this timepiece should take its name from Nicolas Rieussec, who invented the first inking chronograph.