Start Your Next Adventure With One of These Innovative New Watches from Montblanc

The latest additions to Montblanc’s 1858 watch collection includes timepieces perfectly suited to high-altitude exploration — plus stunning grey dials that recall an ancient glacier.

Published April 3, 2023

Updated May 31, 2024

For over a century, Montblanc has designed and developed fine writing instruments and luxury products. Now, they’re poised for a new challenge. In 2006, parent company Richemont acquired the historical Swiss watchmaker Minerva and placed its team at Montblanc’s disposal. In just a few short years, Montblanc was able to utilize Minerva’s expertise and incredible timepiece archive to quickly create its own collection of innovative watches — multiple collections, in fact.

The 1858 Collection, inspired by the date of Minerva’s inauguration, celebrates the early Minerva tool watches of the 1920s and 1930s that were originally used by explorers, mountaineers, soldiers, and others. Launched in 2018, just in time for Minerva’s 160th anniversary, the lineup features the innovative 1858 Geosphere world timer, the classically inspired 1858 Automatic Chronograph and other timepieces that have since become beloved mainstays of the Montblanc horological oeuvre.

This year, the 1858 family is joined by several new models that pay tribute to nature and exploration. The 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date Grey 41mm lends a 2022 model a beautiful new grey dial that recalls the Mer de Glace glacier. The ‘1858 Geosphere Chronograph 0 Oxygen The 8000 LE 290’ and ‘1858 Automatic Date 0 Oxygen The 8000’ amaze with their technological ingenuity. Each watch features a case that has been entirely purged of oxygen to prevent fogging at high altitudes, and to prevent important components from oxidizing. It’s small (but crucial) details like these that set Montblanc apart as one of today’s most exciting contemporary watchmakers – and they’re just getting started.

1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date Grey 41mm

The 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date, launched in 2022, represents Montblanc’s first foray into the world of dive watches. A versatile, utilitarian offering, it boasts all the features one would typically expect to find on such a timepiece — a rotating dive bezel; a highly legible, luminous dial; a bulletproof automatic movement — and adds conformity to the ISO6425 spec for dive watches, plus an incredible, textured aesthetic achieved using the ancient gratté-boisé technique.

New for 2023 is the 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date Grey, which adds a beautiful grey dial inspired by one of Mont-Blanc mountain’s largest glaciers, the Mer de Glace. Housed in a 41mm stainless steel case and paired to an interchangeable, stainless steel bracelet with a double-deployant buckle, the 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date Grey features a caseback engraved with the image of an iceberg and a SCUBA diver suspended in the waters beneath. And of course, like any great dive watch, this model also comes with an extra rubber strap. Designed for sporty adventures yet undeniably special, it’s a watch equally at home on the highest peaks and beneath the deepest seas.

1858 Geosphere Chronograph 0 Oxygen The 8000 LE 290 – 44mm

Part of the new 8000 Capsule Collection, the 1858 Geosphere Chronograph 0 Oxygen The 8000 LE 290 builds upon the legacy of the innovative Geosphere world timer by adding a useful chronograph complication. Measuring 44mm in diameter, its titanium case is purged of oxygen, ensuring that the watch won’t fog at extreme altitudes. Its dial, executed in a striking, glacial-inspired grey Sfumato pattern, displays an extraordinary amount of information: Dual, rotating globe discs at 12 and 6 o’clock represent the northern and southern hemispheres and allow the wearer to track multiple time zones; the north is demarcated with 14 dots to represent the worlds 14 8,000-meter peaks, while both are surrounded by day and night indicators. Meanwhile, a dual-register chronograph and date window at 3 o’clock are framed by a fluted, bi-directional black ceramic compass bezel. Flip the watch over and one is greeted by a handsome engraving of the 14 8,000-meter peaks, which were all climbed by Montblanc Mark Maker Nimsdai Purja just over six months in 2019, shattering world records.

1858 Automatic Date 0 Oxygen The 8000 – 41mm

An elevated take on the field watch, the new 1858 Automatic Date 0 Oxygen The 8000 embodies the spirit of exploration that inspires Montblanc’s new 0 Oxygen collection. Housed in a 41mm stainless steel case (purged of oxygen) and paired to an interchangeable, matching steel bracelet with a fine-adjustment system, it features a fixed, black ceramic compass bezel and a handsome onion crown signed with the Montblanc logo. Its dial features aesthetic touches from vintage watchmaking — such as lumed, highly legible Arabic numeral indices, an outer railroad minute track with four of its 5-minute demarcations executed in bright orange at the cardinal points, and a cathedral handset filled with blue-glowing Super-LumiNova — but its unique grey Sfumato colorway lends a distinctly contemporary feel, while a convenient date window at 3 o’clock offers utility. Powered by an automatic movement with 38 hours of power reserve, it’s more than ready to do double-duty as a serious tool watch — and as a refined wrist companion for everyday wear.