Montblanc Exo Tourbillon Versailles Endures as a Baroque Masterpiece

When it comes to fine watchmaking, it might seem gauche to call any watch in particular “lavish” but that would be a fair one-word description of the Montblanc Star Legacy Suspended Exo Tourbillon Château de Versailles Limited Edition. In addition to a veritable essay of a name, the watch communicates how special it is in nothing less than operatic tones just by looks alone. Just look at it and you might swear you hear Lully. We will return to that reference shortly but, even in such a spectacle of a watch, there is nothing difficult to sum in a few words. This is a time-only watch with a very specific interpretation of the tourbillon – patented by the Montblanc manufacture at Villeret – that features various traditional decorative arts.

With the unadorned facts out of the way, we can launch into the promised Lully arias. The Montblanc Star Legacy Suspended Exo Tourbillon Château de Versailles Limited Edition, which we will call the Exo Tourbillon Versailles for short, is a lavish ode to 18th-century French court life. As mentioned, it is a masterpiece that looks its part down to the micron.

Limited to just eight pieces, this Métiers d’Art marvel celebrates “Le Bal des Ifs” (The Yew Tree Ball)—the most legendary masked ball of 1745 that you never heard of hosted by King Louis XV at the Palace of Versailles. It was at this event, held in the glittering Hall of Mirrors (itself a feat of remarkable artistry), that the king, disguised as a yew tree (no joke), is said to have secretly courted the woman who would become the Marquise de Pompadour. This event has everything to do with the looks of the watch and its stupendous name.

The watch’s dial masterfully reinterprets the Hall of Mirrors on that night, drawing inspiration from a 1746 etching by Charles-Nicolas Cochin I. The dial base is crafted from white gold, coated in black enamel and sprinkled with gold paillons that evoke the shimmer of candlelight that would have been reflected in the hall’s 357 mirrors.

Architectural details are recreated in meticulous marquetry, with archways fashioned from Cacholong opal and Sarrancolin marble — the same type of marble sourced for the 17th-century palace itself. An inlay of solid oak replicates the iconic parquet floor. Layered above this is an etched sapphire crystal disc depicting the ballroom’s grand chandeliers and the mysterious, costumed dancers, including the aforementioned yew trees on the left side of the dial.

At 12 o’clock, a subdial for the hours and minutes recalls the Baroque clocks of Louis XIV’s era. A backdrop of white champlevé enamel is framed by a laser-machined 3N gold ring inspired by Versailles’ brass décor. At its centre sits a micro-sculpted brass Apollo head — the emblem of the Sun King — created from a 3D scan of a motif on a door in the palace’s Salon de Vénus.

The entire scene is anchored by the proprietary Suspended Exo Tourbillon. First launched in 2010, its unique architecture separates the large screw balance from the tourbillon cage, positioning it 3.2 mm above the dial where it appears to hover in space. The Exo Tourbillon’s cage makes one revolution per minute, serving as a running seconds display. The large 14.5mm balance wheel, fitted with 18 screws, oscillates at a traditional 18,000 vibrations per hour and is held aloft by a single, gracefully curved bridge of hand-engraved, gold-coated stainless steel.

The yellow gold case is a work of art in itself, as it should be, given the nature of the Exo Tourbillon Versailles. The bezel is hand-engraved with a laurel wreath, a symbol of Apollo, while the caseband features an intricate engraving of a painting by François Lemoyne. This scene, from the Salon de la Paix at Versailles, depicts Louis XV as a peacemaker, flanked by the Roman deities Minerva and Mercury.

Powering the timepiece is the manual-winding calibre MB M16.68, composed of 218 components and offering a 50-hour power reserve. The sapphire caseback reveals the masterful hand-finishing for which the Villeret artisans are renowned, including Côtes de Genève, circular graining and sharp interior anglage.

Completing the presentation, the watch is housed in a luxurious musical box crafted by Parisian table-maker Elie Bleu. Featuring a mechanism by Swiss specialist Reuge, the box plays a melody by Jean-Philippe Rameau that was presented at the 1745 royal wedding, all while the watch rotates as if dancing at the ball.

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