Sweet Caramel
Montblanc takes its popular Heritage Manufacture Perpetual Calendar and 1858 Geospheres timepieces in a sumptuous new, caramelised direction
MONTBLANC RELEASED a new version of its Heritage Perpetual Calendar during Watches & Wonders 2021. Originally launched at the now defunct SIHH two years ago, the Le Locle manufacture put together vintage design cues with a compelling calendar complication, and offered it a a relatively wallet-friendly price point which sent waves across the industry.
The combination of the warm 18k rose gold case, and the chocolate-caramel dial makes for an immensely attractive proposition. Yet, despite its retro countenance, its 40mm proportions betrays its contemporary aesthetics with short tapered lugs that taper the 12.25mm thick timepiece across the wrist. They say beauty is more than skin deep and in this instance, the truism is correct.
Capturing the spirit of historical Minerva timepieces and powered by Montblanc’s patented automatic calibre MB 29.22, the 259-component perpetual calendar module was the work of three years of development, eschewing levers typical of a perpetual calendar calibre’s architecture, and relying on wheels and three independent cams to keep track of the days of a month instead.
Using gears and cams instead of levers gives the Heritage Manufacture Perpetual Calendar a unique advantage over other QP (Quantieme Perpetual) timepieces: you can adjust time and dates backwards and forwards without risk of damaging the movement or the hassle of resetting and adjusting a perpetual calendar should its power reserve run out. Furthermore, a safety mechanism prevents calendar adjustment between 6:00 PM and 12:00 PM, in order to avoid accidental damage from user error.
There’s still plenty of beauty in the face displays three different textures: snailed and recessed sub-dials upon a dial with central sunray decoration, and an hour ring with grained treatment. Topping it off, a sfumato smoked effect with a lighter shade of caramel brown radiating into a darker chocolatey goodness towards the minutes track.
1858 Geospheres
The latest Geosphere limited edition continues its cousin’s appetising brown countenance - more toffee than caramel, the sandy-beige fumé dial with light and dark brown accents is inspired by Messner’s 2004 solo 1,200 miles trek across the Gobi desert.
Matched aesthetically with a golden brown case of bronze, the distinctive twin split hemispheres or geospheres indicating time across the globe returns, paired with a useful 12-hour second timezone display at nine o’clock, a date window at three o’clock, and a bidirectional rotating ceramic bezel that can be used as a compass.
A wealth of details accented with multiple textures convey a sense of depth to the dial further enhanced with the brown-to-beige “smoked” lacquered dial. At 42mm across and with a thickness under 13mm, the Geosphere exhibits wrist presence while still remaining immensely wearable. A Sellita workhorse calibre with proprietary in-house world-time module is hidden by a caseback featuring a gorgeous illustration of the Gobi Desert’s famous Flaming Cliffs.