Montblanc, one of the industry’s foremost names in writing instruments, was the guest of our Hands On corner with its first smart watch “Summit”.
Montblanc, which has been indifferent to the expanding smart watch market in the last few years, introduced its first smart watch Summit in a special event held in London. The model, which has proven that the brand has not overtaken modern requirements as well as the development of traditional luxury watchmaking over the last years, is combining details from Montblanc’s glorious history with the high-tech features.
Montblanc Summit comes in a case that we are familiar with from the models in the brand’s luxury watch product line. Designed in dimensions of 46mm x 12.5mm, the case features a highly masculine look with its thick lug form and wide bezel. Stainless steel, stainless steel with black PVD coatings and titanium material alternatives are available for the case which is equipped with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass with antireflective coating. The winding crown where all the functions of the model can be controlled is also traceable to the classic timepieces of the brand. The model, which has a remarkable stance on the wrist, does not compromise the comfort thanks to its successful case design.
The front face of the model has an AMOLED screen with a resolution of 400 x 400px. The 1.39 "size provides excellent readability. Thanks to the “always on” feature, which can be supported by the classic Montblanc dial interface, just one touch is enough for the Montblanc Summit to look like a normal wrist watch.
The Montblanc Summit model is powered by Android Wear 2.0 software and a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor. The watch lets you benefit the major features of the smart watches like saving your health and fitness data among simple tasks like checking your e-mails or forecast. However, features like GPS and NFC are not present in the Montblanc Summit Smartwatch. Though the lack of those features looks like a downside, we believe that Montblanc will close the gap with its appearance that can be configured close to the classical timepiece style and build quality.
On the model is an Italian-made strap bearing the signature of the studio that designed Montblanc’s leather goods. The black calf skin strap, which is compatible with the overall design of the model, is also rather successful in terms of wearing comfort.
The model, which is planned to be in boutiques in May 2017, seems to be a perfect alternative for users who want to make life easier with high-tech features especially in the rapidly developing smart watch market, while being close to the traditional watch image. The MSRPs are US $ 890 for stainless steel & PVD models and US $ 1000 for the titanium version (US list).
