Close Up: Montblanc Metamorphosis

Montblanc presented the Metamorphosis during SIHH 2012, but it has only recently landed in Moscow, where Haute Time Russia got an exclusive look at this model.

It’s not just because production at the Minerva manufacture (owned by Montblanc since 2006) is limited to just a few hundred models per year, but also because of the complexity of the models – they represent a regulator with a chronograph function and a unique, exclusive dial transformation system.

Its main feature is the transforming dial, the creation of two young watchmaking masters: Johnny Girardin and Franck Orny. In the normal mode the Metamorphosis features two small dials. The hours are told via the upper subsidiary dial, the lower part, which pulls the dial down, is a date indicator. The central hand is allotted for minutes.

But when you press a small lever on the left side of the case, the dial magically slides apart, opening up and transforming into a chronograph. It’s hard to describe, so you’d better watch the video below:

The Metamorphosis is based on a Calibre 2824 chronograph movement. However, due to improvements by the Institute Minerva’s engineers, it has become more complicated – instead of the standard 252-piece mechanism, it features 567 pieces. Some 50 of those pieces are solely responsible for the transformation of the dial.

It’s worth noting that every component was made by hand by the Minerva Institute – they even stretched the spirals for the balance wheels by hand. Clearly it takes a lot of time to create this special timepiece, but Montblanc clients are ready to wait patiently for it for several years!

Photo and video credit: Chronoscope.ru