“Great things are done when men and mountains meet,” wrote the great William Blake.
And here’s one of them.
German luxury watchmakers Montblanc recently unveiled Montblanc 1858, a line of ruggedly handsome timepieces that celebrates not only the German brand’s 160 years of watchmaking, but also “the spirit of mountain exploration.”
With a Hugh Jackman-led campaign, to boot.
Sounds a little cryptic at first, but there’s real mountaineering history here: the 1858 line is directly inspired by the brand’s Minerva watches from the 1920s and ’30s, which were meant for military use and, yes, mountain exploration.
With that in mind, each of the new timepieces here — the Geosphere, Monopusher Chronograph Limited Edition, Automatic Chronograph, Automatic and Pocket Watch Limited Edition — are subject to 500 hours of extreme conditions.
A few standouts:
Geosphere: Dedicated to those climbers who have completed the Seven Summits Challenge, the dial features seven red dots on two domed globes that complete a full 24-hour rotation as they turn in opposite directions.
Monopusher: A direct descendant of an iconic 1920s Minerva, this limited-edition piece features a V-shaped chronograph bridge, the iconic Minerva arrow decorated by hand and a green-tinted dial with matching green alligator-skin strap.
Pocket Watch: Composed of more than 50 elements, the case on this limited-edition 60mm timepiece can be easily transformed into a wristwatch. The mountaineering angle is strong here: the pocket watch features a built-in compass that can be accessed by opening it up flat on a map, and the dial is made from dumortierite, named after French explorer Eugene Dumortier (who discovered it in the Alps in 1881).
The Montblanc 1858 collection is available now and starts at $2,670.
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