The limited-to-eight timepiece exudes anachronistic panache
It’s France, 1745. Okay, it isn’t really. But a quick glance at the new Montblanc Star Legacy Suspended Exo Tourbillon Château de Versailles would suggest otherwise. The ornate 44.8mm timepiece, exquisitely engraved in the Baroque fashion, is designed to evoke the grandeur of pre-revolution Versailles. Spoiler: it does so with style.
More than just the Palace of Versailles, however, the timepiece is a tableau of Le Bal des Ifs, a masquerade ball held in 1745 to celebrate the wedding of the Dauphin Louis and the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain. While such extravagance was (more than) routine at the royal courts, Le Bal des Ifs is remembered as the night Louis XV courted Madame d’Etiolles, the woman who would become the celebrated Marquise de Pompadour.
Of course, contemporary watch collectors only need to know that Montblanc has translated that historical evening of courtly splendour into a veritable objet d’art packed with horological pedigree. The dial, for example, recreates the setting of that masked evening in meticulous miniature, drawing details from a 1746 etching of the ball by Charles Nicolas Cochin I. Its base, crafted in white gold, is coated with black enamel and dusted with gold paillons to mimic the visual effect of light, emitted from candle flame, reflecting on glass.
The architectural details of Château de Versailles, meanwhile, are rendered in exquisite marquetry. The archways displayed in the tableau are meticulously sculpted from Cacholong opal and Sarrancolin marble while its parquet floor is inlaid in oak. Interestingly, the chandeliers and masked figures are etched into thin sapphire plates that lay on top of the dial, resulting in an ethereal and temporal visual effect that mimics the original etchings.
While the high artistry of the timepiece is more than eloquently expressed through its base dial, the watch is adorned with two symmetrically arranged elements that add further panache. At 12 o’clock, a subdial for the hours and minutes is set against a background of white champlevé enamel and bordered by a fine ring of gold that’s inspired by Versailles’ ornate brass décor. At its centre lies a micro-sculpted Apollo head, reproduced from a 3D scan of the relief in the Salon de Vénus.
Opposite, at six o’clock, Montblanc’s patented Suspended Exo Tourbillon forms the visual and mechanical anchor of the piece. The large 14.5mm balance wheel is positioned just above its cage, appearing to hover in place as it completes one rotation per minute beneath a single curved bridge.
Housed in an 18k yellow-gold case measuring 44.8mm, the watch features a bezel hand-engraved with a laurel wreath motif and is powered by the hand-wound calibre MB M16.68 that offers a 50-hour power reserve. Collectors partial to theatrical flair will be pleased to know that the limited-to-eight timepiece is delivered in a musical box crafted by Parisian cabinet-maker Elie Bleu and fitted with a Reuge mechanism that plays a Jean-Philippe Rameau melody composed for the 1745 royal wedding.
