The Montblanc Star 7102 Automatic is equipped with a 4810 401 movement, a version of the robust ETA 2892. A COSC-certified movement it gains around 35 seconds in 14 days on a winder.  Averaging about +2.5 seconds per day well qualifies the Star 4810 as a Chronometer piece. You can’t see much of the movement since the huge rotor practically hides the entire movement, but the movement finishing of this sample piece is acceptable, considering the price point.  No hand polish finishing of the movement is evident, and it looks like the movement is just your average run of the mill machine finished ETA. The screw-heads appear to be chemically blued instead of heat-treated as the screw slots aren’t blued. The Star 7102 Automatic may not be targeted at movement aficionados, and at the price point, it’s clear that the compromises inherent in any product offering were made at the expense of the mechanics rather than the presentation. The Star 7102 Automatic is a three-handed watch with analog date display of contemporary design. The employment of an arc to display the preceding and following dates serves more of an aesthetic than a utilitarian function and is very much a matter of personal preference. The date switches quickly with an audible click just before midnight and employs Arabics on odd-numbered days only.  The second hand hacks enabling accurate time-setting, and the crown has two settings – the first for setting the date (counterclockwise) and the second for the hands.  Since the 7102 Automatic isn’t a perpetual or annual calendar, the date must be set manually in months that follow a month with less than 31 days. The fairly large crown with mother-of-pearl signet is easy to grasp for comfortable adjustment.  It takes about six to eight turns of the crown to start the movement from a dead stop. 

Water resistant to 30 meters, the 41.5mm case is of polished stainless steel with a slightly domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal.  It appears to be of three-piece construction, with a screwed-in sapphire caseback attached by six screws. The shape of the case is conventionally round with a flat bottom.  The slightly elongated lugs that reach to the periphery of the wrist evoke a sizable presence. While the case is fairly conventional, the same cannot be said of the silvered-coloured guilloche dialwith a wave-pattern emanating from the Montblanc siglet just above the arced date aperture at 6 o’clock.  The guilloche seems to have a more dimensional appearance compared to similar dials I’ve seen, and the wave-pattern has a hypnotic effect. The beveled rehaut is replete with printed minute markers at every ten minutes and tiny dots of lume at the interstitial five minute markers which cuts an aesthetic juxtaposition compared to the engraved dial. The current watch is on a Montblanc steel bracelet.

Work Required
None