Like many other watch connoisseurs and collectors, I have a hard time imagining life with just one watch. I’m even not ashamed to admit that I usually switch watches at least once a day, and not always because I have to access a new watch “in the line of duty”. No wonder I get a bit uneasy when I have to go abroad, and common sense dictates to travel with only a single watch. One watch that needs to be able to handle the complete scope of my activities, which are usually a mixture of business and pleasure, and look good doing so (there is a certain standard to keep up, right!). Of course this watch also needs to keep track of the time back home, so that nobody gets woken up at unreasonable hours. Put in a wish list like this and the rich fields of watchmaking all of a sudden become quite bare with those few watches that meet these demands. Yet there all still some standing, offering to keep you company in a time away from home, like for the Montblanc Star Chronograph UTC.

Of course you hear a lot about Montblanc these days, and rightfully so. Their highly complicated watches like the Exotourbillon Rattrapante draw a lot of attention, and the same can be said for their clever Nicolas Rieussec collection. But don’t overlook the rest, like the Star collection. This is where one can find the Star Chronograph UTC, a watch that breathes sophistication, actually so much so that it somewhat hides its cosmopolitan nature.

It will indeed need a closer examination to spot the 24 hour markings around the dial, between which a central hand travels to tell you the time back home. Integrated neatly into the overall design of the dial, the information is there when you need it, but doesn’t stand out too much when you don’t. That is good news, because it also doesn’t draw away your attention to the beautiful guilloché that Montblanc applied to the dial, of course shaped in the same way as their logo.

The steel case has a modern day size, 42mm in diameter, yet with a classic appeal. Granted, that classic appeal is mainly coming from the stepped lugs, the onion shaped crown and the elegant Arabic numerals combined with leaf-shaped hands, that on this watch are even featured in rose gold, but it is the marriage between all these elements that Montblanc handles so well. It is a watch that can enter any boardroom in style, yet will blend equally well when you go for a little R&R at the top floor bar.

The movement in the Star Chronograph UTC is based on the ETA/Valjoux 7750. For connoisseurs, this undoubtedly will add to its appeal, since these movements have the reputation of being very tough. For some reason, it is not only the human physique that seems to suffer from intercontinental travel for it can be hard on your watch as well. Not so much that it will suffer from jet lag, but more so that airports, planes and taxis give you a whole  new variety of objects to bump your watch against.

Yet in that buzzing, often cramped and for some reason, almost always annoying atmosphere that is called international air travel, the Star Chonograph UTC can also be a beacon of serenity. With its guilloché dial, it is one that really sets the benchmark for its category that takes you to more beautiful places when you check the time while waiting in the security line and to the rhythmic ticking of its movement as it lulls you to sleep at 30.000 feet. You see, air travel is not all that bad!

Martin Green
Eclectic taste in Haute Horlogerie, passion for diamond set watches, loves the classics

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