UPDATE 02/20/08; SEE COMMENTS IN GREEN
Introduction
I odered this watch from Silix a couple of days ago. I guess it's not different from the ones the other dealers sell. I made a few pictures to show you the good and the bad of this rep.
Firstly the overall impression of the Sport Chrono is quite nice. Subtle AR coating on the crystal, nice dial with a distinguished style. Nice tight bezel with crisp print. The chrono works flawlessly but the pusher at 2 o'clock is pretty tight, so have to push it like hell to start the chrono function.
The reset pusher is similarly stiff. So once you succeed to push it, it kind of slams the hands back to their starting position. Im curious how long the center seconds hand will take this kind of abuse. Quality of movement assembly seems ok to me. The winding mechanism detaches nicely when the crown is screwed down. Setting the time feels a little bit stiff, but a lot better than the wobbly feel of my Tag Aquaracer. Winding is ok as well.
Now for the Pictures
As you can see the dial layout is scaringly accurate. The Seconds hand is as long as the gen, nearly touching the rehaut. Minutes and hour hands are perfect in length as well. The Hour hand on the gen may be a tad fatter, but not by much. The surface has a strange sheen though. Looks a little bit like cheap plastic (EXACTLY LIKE THE ORIGINAL). I could not find any large pictures of the gen for comparison, but I will take a trip to the mall on the weekend to compare it with the real thing. The print on the dial is really good. Everything is where ist should be. The markers are positioned perfectly as well. All subdials are correct too. The bezel print is a real kicker. It is flawless compared to the gen. Two things are clearly off though. Firstly the the date font is incorrect. But you would need to compare it side by side to notice. Secondly the the circular indent in the center of the dial is extremely shallow. The circle is much more pronounced on the gen (CORRECTION,THE INDENTATION IS EXACTLY THE SAME ON THE GEN).
I would give the dial 4 out of 5 points.
The lume is clearly above average on this rep. Initially it glows like hell. But compared to Superluminova it fades pretty fast and does not last all night. Markers and hands have the same color and intensity, another plus. The lume is applied somewhat unevenly compared to the gen. I guess it is tricky with this watch, since the lume is extremely pointed towards the center of the dial. There is noteable quality difference when compared to the gen. THE LUME ON THE GEN IS BRIGHT WHITE, WHERAS THE LUME ON THE REP IS GREENISH.
Lume and lume application gets 3 out of 5 points.
The date magnification seems to be off as well. The mag lens is on the inside of the crystal, unlike with Rolexes. The placement is fine, but the magnification seems to be higher on the gen. Not terribly but noticeably.
The date gets 3 out of 5 points.
The engravings are very good on this rep. Both on the case and on the caseback. But the edges are not polished so they are pretty sharp. You can't see it but you can feel it. But compared to the razor sharpness of i.e. the IWC Ingeneur engravings, the Montblanc is considerably better.
Engravings get 4 out of 5 Points in my book
The overall finish of the case looks very good. No sharp edges, chrono pushers look perfect. The growngurads are great too. The crown feels feels smooth, it has obviously been polished. The lugs are a perfect fit with the bracelet. No visible gaps, great. The Montblanc logo on the crown is a little bit off center and there is a small irregular gap beween logo and the rim of the crown. But this is hardly noticeable.
The Case gets full 5 out of 5 points.
The only real turnoff is the bracelet. There are numerous flaws, the biggest of them being a general razor edginess. It has the silky smotheness of tank tracks, both on the inside and the outside. All sharp edges are accessable, so the problem can be resolved with filing and sanding, but it's a lot of filing and sanding since the sharp edges are countless. What looks like small screws are in fact pins. My watch smith claims the gen has screws, but I'll have to check that at the mall as well. The Montblanc trademark at the first link of the bracelet is not ingraved but inserted into into the link, probably glued. On my bracelet it does not sit level but crocked adding yet another sharp edge to the lot. The double folding clasp works nicely, but the the filing marks on the sides are too visible for my taste. Again bad finish. WITH SOME PATIENCE AND SANDPAPER THE EDGINESS CAN BE REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY. THEN THE BRACELET IS QUITE NICE. BUT IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK.
The bracelet gets a 2 out of 5 due to a severe lack of finish.
Apart from the bracelet the Montblanc Sport Chrono is a pretty great rep. It is prove that there are great reps outside the Panerai, Rolex, IWC and Breitling Omega circle. If this watch was an Omega, it would be labelled "ultimate". But most importantly it looks great on the wrist.
Introduction
I odered this watch from Silix a couple of days ago. I guess it's not different from the ones the other dealers sell. I made a few pictures to show you the good and the bad of this rep.
Firstly the overall impression of the Sport Chrono is quite nice. Subtle AR coating on the crystal, nice dial with a distinguished style. Nice tight bezel with crisp print. The chrono works flawlessly but the pusher at 2 o'clock is pretty tight, so have to push it like hell to start the chrono function.
The reset pusher is similarly stiff. So once you succeed to push it, it kind of slams the hands back to their starting position. Im curious how long the center seconds hand will take this kind of abuse. Quality of movement assembly seems ok to me. The winding mechanism detaches nicely when the crown is screwed down. Setting the time feels a little bit stiff, but a lot better than the wobbly feel of my Tag Aquaracer. Winding is ok as well.
Now for the Pictures
As you can see the dial layout is scaringly accurate. The Seconds hand is as long as the gen, nearly touching the rehaut. Minutes and hour hands are perfect in length as well. The Hour hand on the gen may be a tad fatter, but not by much. The surface has a strange sheen though. Looks a little bit like cheap plastic (EXACTLY LIKE THE ORIGINAL). I could not find any large pictures of the gen for comparison, but I will take a trip to the mall on the weekend to compare it with the real thing. The print on the dial is really good. Everything is where ist should be. The markers are positioned perfectly as well. All subdials are correct too. The bezel print is a real kicker. It is flawless compared to the gen. Two things are clearly off though. Firstly the the date font is incorrect. But you would need to compare it side by side to notice. Secondly the the circular indent in the center of the dial is extremely shallow. The circle is much more pronounced on the gen (CORRECTION,THE INDENTATION IS EXACTLY THE SAME ON THE GEN).
I would give the dial 4 out of 5 points.
The lume is clearly above average on this rep. Initially it glows like hell. But compared to Superluminova it fades pretty fast and does not last all night. Markers and hands have the same color and intensity, another plus. The lume is applied somewhat unevenly compared to the gen. I guess it is tricky with this watch, since the lume is extremely pointed towards the center of the dial. There is noteable quality difference when compared to the gen. THE LUME ON THE GEN IS BRIGHT WHITE, WHERAS THE LUME ON THE REP IS GREENISH.
Lume and lume application gets 3 out of 5 points.
The date magnification seems to be off as well. The mag lens is on the inside of the crystal, unlike with Rolexes. The placement is fine, but the magnification seems to be higher on the gen. Not terribly but noticeably.
The date gets 3 out of 5 points.
The engravings are very good on this rep. Both on the case and on the caseback. But the edges are not polished so they are pretty sharp. You can't see it but you can feel it. But compared to the razor sharpness of i.e. the IWC Ingeneur engravings, the Montblanc is considerably better.
Engravings get 4 out of 5 Points in my book
The overall finish of the case looks very good. No sharp edges, chrono pushers look perfect. The growngurads are great too. The crown feels feels smooth, it has obviously been polished. The lugs are a perfect fit with the bracelet. No visible gaps, great. The Montblanc logo on the crown is a little bit off center and there is a small irregular gap beween logo and the rim of the crown. But this is hardly noticeable.
The Case gets full 5 out of 5 points.
The only real turnoff is the bracelet. There are numerous flaws, the biggest of them being a general razor edginess. It has the silky smotheness of tank tracks, both on the inside and the outside. All sharp edges are accessable, so the problem can be resolved with filing and sanding, but it's a lot of filing and sanding since the sharp edges are countless. What looks like small screws are in fact pins. My watch smith claims the gen has screws, but I'll have to check that at the mall as well. The Montblanc trademark at the first link of the bracelet is not ingraved but inserted into into the link, probably glued. On my bracelet it does not sit level but crocked adding yet another sharp edge to the lot. The double folding clasp works nicely, but the the filing marks on the sides are too visible for my taste. Again bad finish. WITH SOME PATIENCE AND SANDPAPER THE EDGINESS CAN BE REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY. THEN THE BRACELET IS QUITE NICE. BUT IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK.
The bracelet gets a 2 out of 5 due to a severe lack of finish.
Apart from the bracelet the Montblanc Sport Chrono is a pretty great rep. It is prove that there are great reps outside the Panerai, Rolex, IWC and Breitling Omega circle. If this watch was an Omega, it would be labelled "ultimate". But most importantly it looks great on the wrist.
