The Heritage Chronométrie Chronograph Quantième Annuel from Montblanc features a rare combination of complications: a chronograph and an annual calendar. It has a notable price, too. Our test watch, which has a stainless-steel case, sells for $13,300: you?d expect to pay a lot more, given the movement?s complexity. The rose-gold version is $26,400.
Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Chronograph Quantième Annuel
The movement is a Sellita SW 300, comparable to an ETA 2892, enhanced with module 2259 from Dubois Dépraz. The module performs both the chronograph and annual calendar functions.

An annual calendar ?knows? the lengths of all the months except February, so the wearer needs to reset the calendar just once each year, at the end of that month. At the ends of all months with 30 days, the calendar mechanism will pass over the 31st and show a ?1? on the first day of the new month. The monthly change begins at about 9:30 pm on the last evening of the month, when a quiet clicking sound can be heard. The hand on the moon-phase display is already in motion: it will arrive at its new position about an hour later, when another clicking sound can be heard. The date changes from the 30th to the 31st around 11 pm, and then advances to the 1st of the following month around midnight. The month hand changes its place at nearly the same moment, while the day hand creeps ahead and arrives at its new position at about 11:50 pm. The date switching is completed shortly after 1:00 am, whe...