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Montblanc at Watches & Wonders 2024: A Zero-Oxygen, Hardcore Dive Watch and More
News
Montblanc at Watches & Wonders 2024: A Zero-Oxygen, Hardcore Dive Watch and More
For its major releases of the year, Montblanc made a dive watch devoid of oxygen, a mountaineering watch using upcycled carbon dioxide and more.
Montblanc did something pretty novel in 2022 when they created a watch without oxygen. It was meant for mountaineers who would find that watch crystals would fog up from the inside in extreme cold. Now, the brand has applied the same concept to an new version of their dive watch, the Iced Sea, with an extreme depth rating.
The Iced Sea Zero Oxygen Deep 4810 is the flagship release among Montblanc’s novelties for Watches & Wonders 2024 which include more dive watches, the Geosphere Zero Oxygen in a new carbon material and a skeletonized monopusher chronograph coming from the brand’s Villeret manufacture in its Unveiled series.
Montblanc Iced Sea Zero Oxygen Deep 4810
In 2022, Montblanc introduced its first dive watch collection, the Iced Sea. Its primary talking point was a dial that replicated patterns found on glacial ice, but this year Montblanc joins the ranks of extreme dive watches. The new watches offer the same aesthetic dial treatments, but also water resistance rating of nearly 5,000 meters as well as a case devoid of oxygen.
Montblanc Iced Sea Zero Oxygen Deep 4810
The measurements are beefed up, as hardcore dive watches often are, in this case from 41mm to 43mm. It’s also a girthy 19.4mm thick, but titanium construction will help it wear lighter on the wrist than if it were steel. Montblanc specifically calls the watch’s water resistance out at 4,810 meters. Does this represent the exact limit to which Montblanc tested the watch to failure? Not exactly. Rather, it’s in reference to the height of the Mont Blanc mountain, but what you basically need to know is that it’s rated to go far deeper than you ever will.
Montblanc Iced Sea Zero Oxygen Deep 4810
It exists within a class of dive watches rated for extreme depths, but it stands out for one feature: its oxygen-free case. Just as at the top of mountains or in Antarctica for which Monblanc’s Zero Oxygen watches were initially developed, you can easily imagine that the same concerns of condensation on the inside of the crystal would apply to activities like ice diving—and this was the watches’ concept. The lack of oxygen further helps avoid oxidation on the movement and aging of the oils.
Montblanc Iced Sea Zero Oxygen Deep 4810
Tech Specs
Movement: MB 29.29 automatic
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Case: 43mm x 19.4mm; titanium; laser-engraved color caseback image
Dial: Gratte-boisse ice pattern, blue
Strap: Black rubber
Availability: Not limited
Price: TBC
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Case: 43mm x 19.4mm; titanium; laser-engraved color caseback image
Dial: Gratte-boisse ice pattern, blue
Strap: Black rubber
Availability: Not limited
Price: TBC
Montblanc Iced Sea Date Bronze and Burgundy
They might not be rated to kilometers underwater nor feature Montblanc’s oxygen-free tech, but the standard Ice Sea collection dive watches should be more than sufficient for anything you can throw at them. They’re a bit more easy-wearing, too, with the 41mm diameters of the existing collection with the same automatic movements and icy dial patterns. They now, however, come in a couple of new iterations, namely one with a bronze case and black dial while the other is in steel with a burgundy-colored dial.
Montblanc Iced Sea Date Bronze
Montblanc Iced Sea Date Burgundy
Tech Specs
Movement: Sellita SW200 automatic
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Case: 41mm x 12.9mm; bronze; steel
Dial: Gratte-boisse ice pattern; black; burgundy
Strap: Steel bracelet
Availability: Not limited
Price: TBC
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Case: 41mm x 12.9mm; bronze; steel
Dial: Gratte-boisse ice pattern; black; burgundy
Strap: Steel bracelet
Availability: Not limited
Price: TBC
Montblanc 1858 Geosphere Zero Oxygen CARBO2
The 1858 Geosphere worldtimer was the first Montblanc watch to feature the Zero Oxygen concept. Now it comes in a new version which, though doing away with oxygen, adds carbon dioxide. No, that doesn’t mean carbon dioxide gas within the case, but rather that it’s used in the case material itself. The gas is captured using “calcium dissolution and carbonation” from otherwise air-polluting factory processes and recycled.
Montblanc 1858 Geosphere Zero Oxygen CARBO2
It’s processed to take the form of a powder which is then combined with carbon fiber and shaped into the watch case. In addition to highlighting sustainability, as well as offering the usual properties of carbon fiber (such as being strong and lightweight), the brand says it also results in a unique aesthetic. The material forms the middle case, while other elements such as the caseback and bezel feature titanium and ceramic.
Montblanc 1858 Geosphere Zero Oxygen CARBO2
The case retains the 43.5mm silhouette of existing 1858 Geosphere Zero Oxygen watch and runs on the same automatic movement called the MB 29.25. The outline of the Mont Blanc mountain range is inlaid with luminescent material on the side of the case.
Montblanc 1858 Geosphere Zero Oxygen CARBO2
Tech Specs
Movement: MB 29.25 automatic
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, world time (displaying two hemispheres)
Case: “CARBO2 fibre,” titanium caseback, titanium bezel with ceramic insert
Dial: Gratte-boisse ice pattern, black
Strap: Black textile
Availability: 1,969 examples
Price: TBC
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, world time (displaying two hemispheres)
Case: “CARBO2 fibre,” titanium caseback, titanium bezel with ceramic insert
Dial: Gratte-boisse ice pattern, black
Strap: Black textile
Availability: 1,969 examples
Price: TBC
Montblanc 1858 The Unveiled Minerva Monopusher Chronograph
For the past couple of years, Montblanc has punctuated its annual releases with high-end, skeletonized monopusher chronographs produced in its historic Minerva factory in Villeret. These are called Unveiled due to their openworked dials, but this year’s editions are even more “unveiled” than past editions.
Montblanc 1858 The Unveiled Minerva Monopusher Chronograph
Like previous models, the movement is reversed to show the chronograph’s intricate workings which, with traditional watches, you’d usually need to flip the watch over to view through the watch’s caseback. Here, it’s on display through a sapphire crystal dial. It’s been given a new aesthetic treatment with blue-plated German silver plates and bridges contrasting with the gold-plated going train. This new version of the hand-wound movement is called the MB 17.26, an update to the MB 16.26.
Montblanc 1858 The Unveiled Minerva Monopusher Chronograph
The major difference for this years model is just how much the brand has aimed to increase the visibility of the movement. The 43mm-wide case features five sapphire crystal windows on its sides. These not only offer a peek at the movement from different angles, but they also allow more light in for your viewing pleasure. Achieving a similar effect, the dial features more clear sapphire crystal elements, and the movement is mounted on “pillars.”
Montblanc 1858 The Unveiled Minerva Monopusher Chronograph
Tech Specs
Movement: Montblanc MB 17.26 hand-wound
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Case: 43mm x 14.78mm; steel
Dial: Sapphire crystal
Strap: Blue sfumato calf leather with alligator print
Availability: Limited to 100 examples
Price: TBC
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Case: 43mm x 14.78mm; steel
Dial: Sapphire crystal
Strap: Blue sfumato calf leather with alligator print
Availability: Limited to 100 examples
Price: TBC
