Montblanc's signature watch

If you like to collect watches then the Star Nicolas Rieussec Monopusher Chronograph, that was unveiled by Montblanc at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie held in Geneva this year, is something to look forward to.

The watch is the first chronograph featuring a movement developed and manufactured entirely in Montblanc's own workshops.

As the name suggests, the Montblanc Star Nicolas Rieussec Monopusher is dedicated to Nicolas Rieussec, who invented the chronograph in 1821.

It is a limited edition watch and only 125 pieces in 18 carat red gold will be made worldwide, while only 25 will be made in the platinum version and only 75 each will be made in white gold and yellow gold versions.

While the yellow, white and red gold version has been priced at Dh124,700 the platinum version is priced at Dh130,500.

Montblanc Regional Brand Director, Joe Nahhas told Emirates Business: "The two chronograph movements, the MB R100 handwound calibre and the MB R200 automatic, are yet another highlight in a success story going back more than ten years for Montblanc watches."

The Star is a hand-wound movement with chronograph, twin barrels and stop balance wheel. It uses 286 components and 33 jewels.

It has a power reserve of 72 hours with two barrels and has a frequency of 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour. The plates are rhodium-plated and circular-grained and its bridges are also rhodium-plated with Geneva stripes.

The watch face has hours and minutes on an off-centre dial. It has a central date hand where the dates are in the inner circumference of the off-centre dial. The chronograph is displayed on the 60-second and 30-minute counters using rotating discs and fixed hands. The Star's power reserve display is on the case back. It has a monopusher operation at 8 o clock for the chronograph. The case itself is made of precious metals with a diameter of 43mm and height of 14.8mm. The lug width is 22mm.

It uses a convex sapphire glass with anti-reflective treatment on both sides and its caseback also reveals the mechanism through sapphire glass.

The winding crown that is also made of precious metals is inlaid with Montblanc insignia in mother-of-pearl and the watch is water resistance up to 30 metres depth.

Its strap is made of alligator leather with a double folding clasp in precious metals.

Talking about the inspiration behind the watch Nahhas said: "The principle of the rotating dials on the world's first chronograph was the inspiration for the design of the new Montblanc chronograph and gives the watch its unmistakable appearance. The chronograph itself was invented by Nicolas Rieussec, in 1821. He designed a wooden case containing a clock movement that drove two rotating dials on the lid.

"Above them was a fixed index that left a drop of ink on the rotating dials whenever a button was pushed. The device made it possible to record the exact times put up by individual horses at racing events. The invention was considered so ingenious that it gave the chronograph its name: "chronos" for time and "graphein" for writing.

"It seems only logical that the first watch movement to be developed by Montblanc, which has established itself as the world's leading manufacturer of top-quality writing instruments, should be one that 'writes time'."

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.