Montblanc has been a known name when it comes to high-end pens for quite a while longer than it has been for luxury watches, but the brand doesn’t shy away from using their storied design DNA to give newer watch models a bit of “heritage.” With their latest introduction, the Montblanc Star Roman collection, they aim to have a broad appeal with three offerings.

The Montblanc Star Roman Small Second “Carpe Diem” Special Edition presents the simplest option, with a small seconds dial and date window. The Montblanc Star Roman Quantième Complet “Carpe Diem” Special Edition watch has a date hand, moon phase indicator, and day/month windows. Finally, the Montblanc Star Roman Chronograph UTC “Carpe Diem” Special Edition has a date window, chronograph, and, obviously, a 24-hour indicator.

As you might expect, the Montblanc Star Roman collection definitely has ties to the brand’s pens. Subtly, this appears on the case, which has the same set of three rings that you would find on their Meisterstück fountain pen. A little more obvious would be the resin insert in the onion crown, where that very identifiable Montblanc star makes its appearance. Across the collection, there are details that make it obvious the watches are related: along with the case and crown, the same silvery guilloche dial with red gold accents on the Roman numeral indices and the handset which are on all three watches. Unfortunately, no case back shots yet, but they all have exhibition case backs.

The Montblanc Star Roman Quantième Complet “Carpe Diem” Special Edition (ref. 113691), really wants to focus on helping you “seize the day,” as it were, by tracking every aspect of the time that passes by you. Given that Quantième Complet translates to “full calendar,” it’s no surprise to see the date (on the outer track, indicated by the red scalloped hand), day and month (up at the 12 o’clock position), and a moon phase indicator. All of this is tucked into a 42mm case (12mm thick) that houses a MB 29.12 automatic movement. It’s got a 42-hour power reserve and operates at 28,800vph. Oh, and like all the watches in this collection, water resistance is 30 meters.

The Montblanc Star Roman Chronograph UTC “Carpe Diem” Special Edition (ref. 113880), as you can infer from the name, brings a chronograph to the party, with the hour and minute registers coming in at 6 and 12 o’clock, respectively. You get the running seconds in the expected placement of 9 o’clock, with the date display at 3 o’clock balancing things out. The UTC portion of the name refers to my personal favorite in the world of complications, being the GMT. This takes the form of a red-tipped hand pointing at the outer edge of the dial, allowing you to track a second time zone easily enough. All of this is made possible by the MB 25.03 movement, tucked into the same 42mm case. This piece has a 46-hour power reserve that operates at 28,800vph.

Last, but certainly not least, we have my favorite of the three announced watches, the Montblanc Star Roman Small Second “Carpe Diem” Special Edition (ref. 113879). This is because, when it comes to dressier watches, I prefer simplicity, and the small running seconds keeps it from being a design that brings a yawn to my face. This is because, along with the small bit of kinetic activity, we actually have a shrunken version of the seconds hand – complete with the star logo balance that shows up on the other models. We also have a date display here, which gives the watch more utility than simply being a dress watch. Unfortunately, the brand decided to just chop into the Roman numerals at 3, rather than just omitting that index. The biggest departure from the other two models is the case that, while it is visually identical to the other two watches, has been shrunk to 39mm, which is perhaps a bit more fitting of a size for a dress watch. The case houses the MB 24.16 automatic movement, which gets a 38-hour power reserve while operating at 28,800vph.

The Montblanc Star Roman Small Second “Carpe Diem” is priced  at 2,890 EUR, the Star Roman Chronograph UTC “Carpe Diem” Special Edition will be 4,490 EUR, and the Star Roman Quantième Complet “Carpe Diem” will be priced at 4,550 EUR. montblanc.com