The petite Montblanc Bohème Day & Night replica watch isn’t exactly bohemian, nor are any of Montblanc’s timepieces really, but as much as this watch has all the signs of studied fine watchmaking, the viewer has to acknowledge the Day & Night is a little romantic. For all Montblanc’s credibility, hard luxury can still have a softness, expressed in this case by a pristine silvery-white guilloché surface, floral Arabic numerals, and a miniature window on to the sky above.
Through its dial’s crescent frame, the vista’s transformation across a 24-hour trajectory is illustrated in daytime in light blue with a dynamic golden sun, before moving into a dark blue at nightfall, decorated with a radiant old-world moon and its accompanied stars. Blued steel leaf-shaped and baton-shaped hands work in with the wistful sky tones.
Usually Montblanc’s DNA is marked by a certain seriousness that women — who make up about 35 per cent of its customers and not merely as purchasers for significant men in their lives — are just as keen on expressing their horological choices.
This watch has the elements of the dressy heritage-style timepieces we’ve come to expect from the house that was founded in 1906 and established on fine writing instruments and leather goods, and only entered watches 20 years ago. It’s a modern classic that is not too far off its main men’s offerings; it’s just that it has been pumped up by a diamond set bezel and a glossy patent alligator strap, plus a complication that is also comprised of an elliptical or date window.
Montblanc will always prefer to whisper not shout. So I was pleasantly surprised by the 9.53mm height of the case for a women’s model, which gives the dial structure and a certain masculine rigour, despite the Montblanc 34mm case size fake watches UK and gently curved lugs. I guess I’d expected a lower pitched or more retiring watch. And I am happy to say, as far as complications go, it’s pretty simple, but not simpler than what the guys get — simple is a stand-in here for refined. A relief given the sometimes fashion-over-mechanism marketing drives of complications for women in the market. No butterflies, flowers or hearts here to prettify the equation. I am personally not enamoured with an enamel explosion when it comes to women’s complications.
Apart from its bezel’s diamonds, the patent sheen of the black alligator strap Montblanc copy watches, and a whimsical half-shaped moon with a slight smile and a more distinguishable nose (which recalls a Jules Verne novel illustration), it’s a timeless study in quiet elegance.