French New Wave

The new expression of the Montblanc Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph is steeped in history, and also an emblem of innovation

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

THE YEAR WAS 1821, and the world of timekeeping was about to be transformed forever.

Nicolas Rieussec was grappling with a challenge that had long confounded horologists: how to accurately measure short intervals of time. Inspiration struck while he was watching a horse race in his native Paris. With a steady hand and unwavering determination, he set to work, crafting a remarkable device that would change the course of timekeeping history.

Rieussec’s creation featured a rotating disc with small ink-filled chambers and a thin stylus poised above it. As the disc rotated, the stylus would mark the passing of time on the paper below, leaving ink traces that accurately measured the duration of events. The world’s first chronos graphein aka Time Writer or chronograph had been born.