Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum SIHH 2015

In homage to the spirit of the legendary Montblanc Meisterstück Fountain Pen launched in 1924, Montblanc introduced a new watch collection to honour its 90th anniversary in 2014. From 2015 onwards this collection will assume its future position among the Montblanc watch families as the Heritage Spirit Collection.

Some PuristS had reflected the use of the Meisterstuck brand name in the Heritage collection launched in 2014. The reference to the iconic Meisterstuck fountain pen was perhaps too strong. Yet Montblanc wants to honor its heritage and spirit of fine European craftsmanship in lifetime companions from writing instruments to fine leather goods and of course, watches. A collection called the Heritage Spirit Collection is very appropriate for this line.

Some other interesting highlights on this new watch from Montblanc:

In this new Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum, the earth is anchored at the core of this complication, that is named Orbis Terrarum, the Latin term for “globe”, “earth”, and “world”. This timepiece adopts a universal approach, telling the time in 24 timezones all over the world, thanks to a manufacture complication developed in-house by the Montblanc master watchmakers.

The inspiration for this complication came likewise from the history of horology and from Montblanc’s watchmaking past. The “Montres à eclipses”- watches that had multiple layers of dials that could change their functionality or aesthetics - were some of the most fascinating complications at the beginning of the 20^th century. Always reaching towards the pinnacle of its craft, Montblanc has developed a strong expertise for working on complications by using multiple layers – two examples manifesting this expertise being the Metamorphosis II launched in 2014 or the Rieussec Rising Hours from 2012.

The complication of the Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum is simple to read and easy to use, displaying the time in different parts of the world in a practical and intuitive way. The dial is constructed in a multi-layer way. At its centre, the main sapphire crystal dial displays the continents as viewed from the North Pole which are encircled by the names of the 24 cities representing the different timezones. The continents are cut out from the rest of the disc that displays the oceans in a light blue colour. Under the main dial is a disc showing day and night as well as the 24 hours timezones, which rotates with the movement mechanism. To adjust the time, the desired local city needs to be first positioned at 6 o’clock by the aid of the pusher at 8 o’clock. Then the hours and minutes (which are always linked with the day/night and 24 hours timezones disc) can be adjusted through the crown to adjust the correct local time of the desired city. Once this is done, in addition to the correct local time the correct time of all the 24 timezones will simultaneously be displayed around the sapphire crystal dial. When travelling to another timezone, the new destination city simply needs to be placed at 6 o’clock. This adjustment is again done through the pusher at 8 o’clock which will turn at the same time the continents and cities, the day/night disc with the 24 hours timezones as well as the hour hand in jumps of 1 hour. The precise time of the minutes is not affected. Once this simple regulation is done, the local time of the new destination as well as the 24 timezones will be fully synchronized again.

Due to the innovative multi-layer dial construction, the times of all 24 timezones can be indicated. A day/night disc shows at a glance where it is day or night on the planet. The rotation of this disc changes the colours of the continents as seen on the dial, alternately from light (day) to dark (night). This innovative functional principle is  rare to find in fine watchmaking.