Montblanc pays homage to mountains and seas in new editions
Montblanc’s latest offerings unveiled at Watches & Wonders 2025 pay tribute to the wonders of nature and to the men who conquer them. While the 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson Limited Edition celebrates legendary alpinist Reinhold Messner’s ascent of the highest peak in Antarctica, its Iced Sea collection now features 0 Oxygen, and the 1858 Geosphere Annual Calendar Limited Edition comes with a new movement. The maison also announced that owners of previous Iced Sea editions are welcome to send in their timepieces for a 0 Oxygen upgrade
1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson Limited Edition
The new Geosphere 0 Oxygen edition is limited to 986 pieces as a nod to 1986 – the year when Messner made his ascent of Mount Vinson. The timepiece comes in a 43.5mm titanium case inspired by the Mount Vinson landscape with a brand-new composite middle case crafted from quartz fibres, aluminised basalt fibres, CaCO3, and light blue resin that evokes the colours and patterns of age-old glacial ice found in Antarctica. The middle case is adorned with a luminous outline of Mount Vinson on the left side of the case that shines white by day and luminous blue by night.
This icy theme continues onto the dial with a blue-green and light grey sfumato glacier pattern, created using a special technique called gratté-boisé as the base, giving the dial the impression of genuine depth and luminosity. This process is both labour- and time-intensive. The dial is further highlighted by a light grey anodised aluminium bezel with blue luminescent cardinal points.
It joins Montblanc’s series of “Zero Oxygen” timepieces that feature several benefits. Explorers like Reinhold Messner, who climbed the seven summits without supplemental oxygen, need their equipment to work in challenging environments. Without oxygen, all the components last longer and will provide continued precision over time. Each timepiece comes with a certificate certifying the successful encasing without oxygen.
The timepiece is powered by the Caliber MB 29.25, featuring an automatic movement with Montblanc’s Manufacture Worldtime complication with ˜42 hours of power reserve. Both the hemispheres are represented by two three-dimensional globes that turn anti-clockwise and include a day and night indication so that the wearer can see what time it is across the Earth at a simple glance. Dots mark the seven peaks of Messner’s List on the Northern Hemisphere globe and the Mont Blanc summit. There is also a date at three o’clock and a dual time indication at nine o’clock.
Montblanc has also added 3D rendering of Mount Vinson on the caseback using an advanced technology. Montblanc is one of the most advanced Swiss Maisons to use this technology on such a large surface. The watch is offered on a new easily interchangeable rubber strap that continues the mountaineer motif.
Iced Sea Automatic Date 0 Oxygen
Montblanc introduces another new look into the collection with a rugged distressed steel case – the deliberately aged and weathered appearance is achieved by treating the stainless steel case with a black coating. Thanks to this treatment, each timepiece develops its own patina and unique appearance. The distressed steel case is paired with a bezel featuring black ceramic inserts. The bezel has been treated with a two-step laser process at the first 15 minutes in order to lower it and give it a different texture. As a result, the white minutes at this part appear more highlighted in comparison to the rest of the bezel, where the minute inserts come in a light grey colour and lie flat with the bezel.
This 41mm edition in distressed steel comes with a grey sfumato glacier pattern dial that replicates the colour and texture of ice. It is created using a special technique called gratté-boisé – the process takes four times longer than a standard dial and requires over 30 separate steps – at the base, giving the dial the impression of genuine depth and luminosity. The grey dial also features a sfumato effect.
New for this year, the Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date will now feature Montblanc’s 0 Oxygen technology that provides several benefits for explorers who need their timekeeping equipment to work in some of the harshest environments. Zero Oxygen inside the case not only eliminates fogging, which can occur with drastic temperature changes, but also prevents oxidisation. Each timepiece comes with a certificate as proof of this special, yet invisible, technology and guarantees the successful sealing without oxygen.
Montblanc’s 0 Oxygen technology will now be integrated into all new Montblanc Iced Sea models starting April 2025. Owners of previous Montblanc Iced Sea editions will be able to arrange a 0 Oxygen upgrade either by sending their watch directly to a Richemont centre, or by returning the watch to a Montblanc boutique, both of which will take care of the necessary follow-up.
The watch, powered by Montblanc’s MB 24.17 automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve, indicates the hours, minutes, seconds, and date, and is fitted with an interchangeable black rubber strap with a taper and fine adjustment system.
Iced Sea Collection 38mm
Enriching the collection, Montblanc unveils four new models in a smaller 38mm case, making them suitable for both men and women. Montblanc is unveiling two new glacier pattern dial colours in white and light blue. All the Iced Sea dials feature a glacier pattern that replicates the colour and texture of ice, created using gratté-boisé as the base, giving the dial the impression of genuine depth and luminosity. Both the pure white and the light blue dials are new tones in the collection and come adorned with a sfumato effect.
New technical features include 0 Oxygen technology that provides several benefits for explorers who need their timekeeping equipment to work in some of the world’s harshest environments. Montblanc’s 0 Oxygen technology will now be integrated into all new Montblanc Iced Sea models starting in April 2025, with upgrades available for owners of previous editions.
These four new Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date models are certified as divers’ watches with the ISO standard 6425. They come with unidirectional rotatable bezels matching the colour of the dial and indicate diving time. The white versions are fitted with a bezel with a white ceramic insert, while the two-toned blue versions are crafted using anodised aluminium inserts. All dials come with white luminescent hands, indexes and a dot at 12 o’clock on the bezel and feature Montblanc’s Iced Sea logo. A 3D engraving on the caseback features a scuba diver and an iceberg. They come with the choice of a stainless steel tapered bracelet or a matching-coloured rubber strap, easily interchangeable and with a fine adjustment system.
These timepieces are powered by Montblanc’s MB 24.17 automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve and indicate the hours, minutes, seconds, and date. Each timepiece has undergone the Montblanc Laboratory Test to ensure shock-, magnetic-, temperature-, and water-resistance (˜30 bar).
1858 Geosphere Annual Calendar Limited Edition
Montblanc introduces two new Montblanc 1858 Annual Calendar Geosphere Limited Editions powered by a brand-new manually wound manufacture Minerva movement, featuring an annual calendar (hours, minutes, seconds, date, and month indications), a large date, and a worldtimer function. The movement has a power reserve of ˜65 hours and is composed of 336 parts, all of which are hand-decorated using traditional haute horlogerie techniques such as Côtes de Genève and a rarely seen snail finishing – all of which can be admired through a sapphire crystal case back.
For the annual calendar functions, the large date is positioned at 12 o’clock, just above the historic Montblanc logo, and features two large apertures positioned side-by-side. The date is easily adjustable thanks to a corrector located at 2 o’clock. For the months, Montblanc has chosen to display them around the dial’s periphery via a red arrow showing the month in question, making them easily readable at a glance. The red arrow is a nod to the Roman goddess Minerva, the deity of craftsmanship, who was known for carrying a spear with an arrow at its tip. It also has a rich history rooted in early aviation Minerva chronographs from the 1920s and 1930s. The month of July has been replaced by the word ‘Minerva’ as it was on July 30, 1887 that the Minerva trademark, and its recognisable arrow, were registered.
The visual focal point of these timepieces is their hand-painted, three-dimensional, rotating globe featuring the Northern Hemisphere and a Day & Night indication. The globe also indicates Greenwich Mean Time line with an orange line and a 24-hour scale. Crafted from sapphire crystal, each globe is hand-painted on the underside by a Swiss artisan, who spends four hours meticulously painting each one. The globes in these two new models represent the Northern Hemisphere, while the Southern Hemisphere is available on request.
The timepieces come in a 42mm case in a choice of Lime Gold 750/1000 (18 karats) (30 pieces) or stainless steel (100 pieces). Both editions are fitted with fixed fluted bezels inspired by Minerva’s historic timepieces and the first fluted bezels that date back to 1927. Today, the fluted bezel is a signature design feature of all Minerva timepieces. The Lime Gold model has a matching Lime Gold bezel, whereas the stainless steel version comes with a white gold 750/1000 (18 karats) bezel.
These two new editions celebrate Minerva heritage with their silver/white-coloured sunray and grained dials with blue-coated hands and indexes (for the stainless steel version) and yellow gold-coated hands and indexes (for the Lime Gold model).
