Homage to nicolas rieussec biography

The traditionally styled hour-circle is crafted from ultramodern hybrid ceramic permeated with Superluminova pigments. These luminous pigments form the Arabic hour numerals in the characteristic font of the Montblanc Rieussec collection. But when the ambient light starts to dim, the luminous pigments that fill the numerals — as well as the Superluminova-filled hour-hand and minute-hand — begin to glow, thus assuring perfect legibility and simultaneously giving this watch its characteristic appearance.

A skeletonized hour-hand indicates the time in a second time zone. The double barrel stores enough power for 72 hours of continuous running. The components are decorated with Geneva waves and have beveled, polished edges. Bright red jewels, blued screws and shiny golden brass wheels complete the handsome ensemble, which can be admired by peering through the transparent pane of sapphire crystal in the back of the case.

The movement is ensconced inside a circular case made of 18 karat rose gold. Rieussec was there. InParis hosted another world's fair, which gave the Second Empire an opportunity to celebrate industry and modernity. These expositions were an opportunity for Rieussec to collect new honours.

Homage to nicolas rieussec biography: A nineteenth-century French watchmaker

He was also among the exhibitors inwhen he introduced a new-style chronograph, after having obtained a patent the year before. The jury awarded him the bronze medal, a repeat of the one received in Rieussec was again present at the exposition. Once again, his products, attracted notice. Rieussec to conveniently and reliably obtain a result so valuable to experimenters so impressed the London jury that the creator of this mechanism was unanimously found worthy of the first prize, and - to the great regret of all the judges - was deprived of it only by the clause in the rules stipulating that the highest award could not be given to an invention more than twenty years old.

Rieussec's work was not limited to sophisticated measuring instruments such as the chronograph, intended to make official measurements of time intervals, whether for horse races or scientific phenomena. His activity as Watchmaker to the Royal Furniture Depository gave him an opportunity to create movements for the clocks ordered to decorate certain rooms of the royal residences.

Between andRieussec signed a movement for a clock depicting Saint Vincent de Paul. This object was brought to Saint-Cloud castle in early These few examples are an accurate reflection of Nicolas Rieussec's great productivity between and the end of the Restoration. Louis-Philippewho was king from toappreciated Rieussec's work enough to keep him in his service.

The genealogies that were available to consult for this article repeatedly note that Joseph Ferdinand, the son of Nicolas Mathieu, born 15 Decemberwas a Watchmaker to the King. To date, there has not been found any document confirming this. It remains to be seen whether Joseph Ferdinand followed in his father's footsteps and became a watchmaker.

One passage in the property inventory made after Nicolas Mathieu's death implies that the father left his business to his son. Here, again, there is no evidence attesting to the son's watchmaking activity. Everything there is to know about this is that when his father died, Joseph Ferdinand was a merchant and lived at no. The declaration of succession drawn up after his death noted that he was a gentleman of independent means at the time.

His heirs were his son Joseph Ferdinand and the daughters of his own daughter, Marie Clotilde, who had died young in The inventory of Nicolas Mathieu's property, drawn up after his death, noted that the deceased was a Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour. Unfortunately, there has been no trace of his file in the National Archives where the Legion of Honour's records are kept.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. French watchmaker. ParisFrance. Marie Pierrette Flore Bourdin. Surname origin [ edit ]. Ancestry [ edit ]. Early years [ edit ]. An Exclusive Swiss Watchmaking Experience.

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Homage to nicolas rieussec biography: Montblanc's Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. The Montblanc Homage to Nicolas Rieussec combines unique complications, a special manufacture movement, and an eye-catching look at an attainable if not exactly affordable price. In the pantheon of watches, a special place is reserved for high-end complicated watches with specialized movements and components.

The market is full of fine luxury watches built from commodity components: Rolex uses just a few movements and cases, as do Omega, IWC, Seiko, and most of the other top-selling brands.

Homage to nicolas rieussec biography: The Montblanc Homage to

This is just how watches are made, and different models and special editions are usually simply unique combinations of existing components. But some vendors also make specialized watches with unique movements and complications. This is obviously an expensive and challenging proposition, both technically and operationally, for a watch company.

They need to be able to conceptualize, design, engineer, test, source, assemble, market, distribute, and support the watch, all of which are extreme challenges. Many watchmakers produce tourbillons or repeaters as the ultimate expression of their technical and artistic skill. All feature specialized movements, unique technical elements, and Mercedes-Benz pricetags.

The Montblanc Rieussec models are comparable in quality and execution but sell for used-car money. Montblanc is not known for watches even though they entered the market back in They made two strong moves to establish technical credibility: Acquire Minerva to develop high-end watches and work with ValFleurier to create a true manufacture complication for a special watch model.

The Nicolas Rieussec models are the result of the second half of this effort. The Rieussec watch calibre is a technical powerhouse with double-barrel power, a monopusher chronograph with column wheel and vertical clutch, and an adjustable hour hand for a second time zone linked to a bi-directional date wheel. It also has wonderful aesthetics, with the Gyromax balance at left open to view, the skeletonized rotor designed to show off the column wheel through a Montblanc star aperture, and excellent finishing with Geneva waves, blued screws, and beveled edges.

Calibre MB R is a technical and aesthetic marvel, with the column wheel visible through the Montblanc star in the rotor and Gyromax balance at This combination of features is incredibly useful in daily wear. Although it lacks a running seconds hand, the vertical clutch means that the chronograph can safely be left running at all times. And the column wheel makes start, stop, and reset exceptionally smooth and quick.