It is just last year when the released Timewalker collection by Montblanc was debuted, I couldn’t help but feel that while I appreciated the new replica watches, the special piece for my tastes had yet to be released. Just one year later, Montblanc has debuted a new version of the updated Timewalker that is much more aligned with my own demands as a discriminating watch consumer. It’s called the Montblanc Timewalker Manufacture Chronograph, and it features a slick new in-house automatic chronograph movement, attractively classic sport watch looks, and a hip cuff-style (“bund”) strap option.
Montblanc’s head of product Davide Cerrato greets me with his typically wide smile and enthusiastic Italian accent in2018 where the fake Montblanc Timewalker Manufacture Chronograph was debuted. If there is anything in the world Davide loves, it is the world of vintage racing and his love is having a great impact on the design direction of the Hamburg-Based German brand.
The fake watches however are rather Swiss, and by that I mean made in Switzerland with Italian design. Outside of exotic high-end models not suited for mainstream public consumption like the Timewalker Rally Timer, the Timewalker Manufacture Chronograph seems to be Davide’s proudest achievement yet at the brand. Different from last year’s Timewalker Chronograph with its eccentric sub-dial layout, the Timewalker Manufacture Chronograph has a neatly symmetrical dial that lends itself well to an elegant sport watch look.
The Montblanc has been benefiting from the Villeret-based manufacture as a place to produce its exotic high-complication watches as well as elegantly hand-finished Minerva caliber chronographs. The Minerva brand was not however a company that specialized in super high-end watches – just the opposite. Minerva was always about good value for the money – and for at least some years… making chronographs for auto racing.
For this replica Montblanc decided to use a fixed bezel – once again a monobloc piece of black ceramic – with an emblematic tachymeter scale on the bezel surface. With the matching black crown, the overall two-tone steel and black look of the Montblanc Timewalker Manufacture Chronograph is eye-catching and effortlessly bold. Other nice details on the case and dial such as the style of the hour markers.