When Montblanc unveiled the entirely new Meisterstuck Heritage collection at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), in January of this year, everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – from the press, collectors, and even the competitors, was very much impressed and talking about it. Especially the Meisterstuck Heritage Perpetual Calendar, the most affordable perpetual calendar on the market, was talk of the town during this 5-days luxury watch fair in Geneva. The other day we gotto spend some time with the ‘simplest’ scion of the family, the Montblanc Meisterstuck Heritage Automatic.?The Meisterstuck Heritage Automatic is probably regarded by most people as a dress watch. It’s round, with a clean and classic design, just two hands for hours and minutes, and no date window that disfigures the dial. So far that’s in line with?our description of what a dress watch is. However, how does it hold up against the most pure, classic, dress watch of them all? We put it next to a small white gold Patek Philippe Calatrava from the 1960’s for comparison. Ad - Scroll to continue with article One of the things that could disqualify it as a proper dress watch, but only in the eyes of true purists, is that the Meisterstuck Heritage Automatic is not available in?precious metals, like gold or platinum, but only in stainless steel. Most of people will also see the positive aspects of a stainless steel watch: more scratch resistant then precious metal, and much more affordable!Another argument to disqualify the Meisterstuck Heritage Automatic as thoroughbred dress watch, is probably its size. With a diameter of 41mm it is rather large for a classic dress watch. On the other hand, with a retail price of just below € 2.000 Euro, it will most likely be the choice of someone’s first fancy watch. Maybe as a graduation watch or for an eighteenth birthday. And in that case?it will only benefit from the more contemporary size!The design and very nice finishing of the case (straight brushed sides, polished on the flat surfaces) is really outstanding for a watch in this price segment. The ‘bombe’ dial (meaning it’s not entirely flat, but a bit domed) features a nice sunray finish, and red gold plated ‘dauphine’ hour markers. At 12 o’clock is a Roman twelve applied, similar to all watches in the Meisterstuck Heritage collection. Besides the brand’s name and the word “automatic”, the dial is clean and classic.Specifications – Montblanc Meisterstuck Heritage Automatic Case: stainless steel, 41mm?x?9,3mm, domed sapphire crystal in front, flat sapphire crystal in case-back, 30 meters water resistance (3ATM) Movement: automatic winding movement, calibre Montblanc 24.15 (Sellita SW200 base), 28,800 vph, 26 jewels, 38 hours of power reserve Strap: brown alligator leather strap with pin buckle, or stainless steel braceletThe official retail price is € 1.990 Euro for the version on alligator leather strap. On the steel bracelet it’s available for € 2.245 Euro. More info: www.montblanc.com