For their tenth anniversary, Monta has released a pair of limited editions paying tribute to the Swiss watchmaking town of Neuchâtel, where every Monta from the earliest days of the brand has been developed. The two new watches, variants of the Triumph and Skyquest, offer a bunch of unique Easter eggs for longtime Monta fans while also remaining attractive and accessible timepieces on their own. Like all Montas, they are understated and built on a love of vintage tool watches, but for their tenth anniversary the team has allowed themselves to get a bit reflective in some of the design details, which I think many enthusiasts who’ve been with them from the beginning will appreciate.
The Neuchâtel X collection, as it’s known, is marked most obviously by new opaline dials to set them apart from the rest of the Monta lineup. The Skyquest Neuchâtel X features an old school printed layout with beige lume for a vintage effect, as well as custom dial typography for the Monta logo not seen prior to this collection. The Skyquest’s handset is also unique to this watch, and draws on a sword hand style popular with collectors of vintage sports watches.
The Skyquest remains at 40.7mm in diameter and 11.8mm thick. The red and blue 24 hour bezel allows the tracking of a third time zone with the help of Monta’s Caliber M-23, a rebadged Sellita SW330 “caller” style GMT. The case is water resistant to 300 meters and of course is paired with Monta’s excellent bracelet with a quick adjust clasp.
The Triumph Neuchâtel X has the same crisp silvery opaline dial as the Skyquest and a similar dial layout marked by beige lume at the hour markers, including the oversized 9 and 3 Arabics. The Triumph, being Monta’s first watch, will always be a special one in the collection and this variant feels, appropriately, like an uncommon relic of some kind from the past. There just weren’t a ton of white dialed everyday sports watches like this – they were almost always black.
Like the Skyquest, this Neuchâtel X edition Triumph features a variety of little design quirks that Monta fans will run with. The indices have a painted black lacquer application framing the lume plots, and the hands have a “wet-black” painted finish to match.
The Triumph measures 40mm in diameter and 10.5mm thick. The case has 200 meters of water resistance, and the watch runs on a Monta Caliber M-22 (a rebadged Sellita SW300).
Both the new Triumph and Skyquest are limited editions of 100 pieces. They make their in-person debut at Windup in New York City today, with a limited allotment for sale at the show over the course of the weekend. The watches will be available to previous Monta customers today as well, and then go on sale to the general public on October 17.
The Skyquest Neuchâtel X edition retails for $2,485, and the Triumph Neuchâtel X edition retails for $1,895. Monta
