Two unusual chronographs

[darwen]

Here's my two favourite watches at the moment : a Pinion R1969 and a Nicolas Rieussec Mont-Blanc.

The Mont-Blanc I don't hear a lot about but I really think it's a stunning watch. It's also very complicated, with a jacking hour hand, second (GMT) hour hand, mono-pusher chronograph, 76-hour power reserve (two main springs) and a day-date. I believe it's Mont-Blanc's own movement which I think looks beautiful through the caseback.

I think the dial design is really interesting with the small time dial and the two chronograph rings. It also wears quite small for a 43mm watch - it even looks smaller than the Pinion in the photo even though they're the same dial size.

The Pinion is really nice too, and very unusual, with a NOS Valjoux 7734 movement inside it. I'm used to ETA based Chronographs (e.g. Bremont, Tudor) and the subdials with these movements, to my eye at least, tend to be in the same place. The Pinion's sub-dials seem to me to be more central which gives more room for markers on the outside which I think is better aesthetically.

The Pinion's outer ring is polished and slightly brushed whereas its central ring is matt which gives it a great look when viewing from different angles. My photography's not really up to showing this though...