Another knockout chronograph from Montblanc.

Five years ago, you couldn’t have written that line. Montblanc has really turbocharged its progress as a watchmaker lately, and this is our favourite new model from a very strong showing this year. As you may know, it took over the historic Minerva manufacture in 2006. This is where we get the “1858” product line from – it’s the year Minerva was founded. Minerva’s real pedigree was in chronographs and pocket timers, and over the past few years, we have seen Montblanc really lean into that history, under the 1858 and Heritage banners.

That focus has given us a string of highly impressive hand-wound chronographs with sensational movements – limited-edition pieces that are spoken of in the same breath as those from Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and A. Lange & Söhne. Building on that success, Montblanc has trickled down some of that chronograph expertise – and, perhaps most importantly, the design language that has been so effectively deployed by managing director Mr Davide Cerrato – into chronograph models that are true contenders at the ultra-competitive sub-£5,000 level.

Mr Cerrato has overseen a reorganisation of Montblanc’s product line-up that is starting to embed certain ideas of what a Montblanc chronograph looks like: a boldness with colour is to be expected, as are the “cathedral”-style hour and minute hands. Extraneous touches have been pruned away: there is no date window, for example, as it distracts from the symmetry of the dial layout. In general, Montblanc’s vintage-inspired chronographs tend towards sartorial elegance over sturdiness (2018’s two-register 1858 chrono in stainless steel is about as rugged as they get). Where others in this price point draw on the technical aesthetic of aviation or motorsport, they follow a more genteel path. It harks back to a time when men of action still wore tweed suits and returned to tell of their exploits at the Royal Geographical Society.

Mixing up the influences, historically speaking, is this beads-of-rice bracelet, a new addition for Montblanc this year (you’ll also find it on a new Geospheres model with blue dial). The beads-of-rice style was pioneered by bracelet maker Gay Frères in the 1940s, but in this half-rice, half solid links incarnation it speaks to a 1960s/1970s sensibility. I personally like the mix of styles, but you can get this watch on a leather strap (and in a bronze case, too, if you prefer). 

Each version keeps the dial unchanged – also note the telemeter scale, which adds a measure of bygone practicality – and houses the single chronograph pusher in the crown for a stealthy silhouette. The movement is a modular chronograph construction on a Sellita base, rather than a gloriously hand-finished Minerva calibre. But the relevant question is: how many other monopushers are there at this price that look this good?

Montblanc 1858 Monopusher Chronograph, ref. 125582

Materials: Stainless steel

Diameter: 42mm

Height: 11.2mm

Water-resistance: 100m

Power reserve: 42 hours

Price: £4,400