Watches and Wonder 2021: Messner, Gobi Desert and Adventure

Geosphere is one of the Montblanc’s iconic models that can be distinguished by its design. Since it is inspired by military watches of 1940s, all watches of series have retro designed and each Geosphere timepiece have two-domed hemisphere rotating on the dial. The dial, which we have seen in blue and green colors before, now in colors of the poetic desert landscape: The micro-sandblasted 42 mm bronze case with a brown ceramic coated bezel; the main points for the scale are engraved and hammered with Super-LumiNova; to increase the desert effect, smoked brown lacquer was applied on the dial as a final layer on the beige layer. Thus, a desert effect was achieved with transitions. The hands, Arabic numbers and hemispheres are stunning in rose gold. The Montblanc logo is written in vintage style.

At the caseback, the rocks on the Gobi Desert and the Flaming Cliffs, also known as Bayanzag are displayed in 3D. As Laurent Lecamp said in our interview for this part of watch, Montblanc used laser engraving technique, a technique that used for the first time by a watch brand. The back of the titanium case is engraved with the effect of the laser’s degree of oxidation; thus, color could be stay same for many years. The patterns on the windmill are on the Mongolian style. This look is accompanied by the names of the magnificent and at the same time dangerous mountains, which Messner climbed, at bezel. As its name signifies, 1858 Geosphere Limited Edition 1858 was produced to 1,858 pieces.

The timepiece has the MB29.25 mechanism, produced by Minerva (1858 takes its name from the year of Minerva’s foundation, as you know). The movement has 28,800 vibrations per hour and has a power reserve of 42-hour. Except two hemispheres, the dial also features a 24-hour scale with rose gold coated and a brown day-night indicator.

Whenever you are scared to embark on an adventure, just turn the watch to remember Messner‘s adventure in the Gobi Desert.