We love a good worldtimer or 2nd timezone watch. It’s not that changing the time is so taxing that a mechanical complication is necessary, but there’s something very satisfying and comforting knowing your timepiece, featuring arguably antiquated technology, can be adjusted nearly as fast as a smartphone. Here, Montblanc has packaged this feeling up in a stunning new piece: the Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum.
This is our second pre-SIHH announcement, and it comes from a brand that’s been killing it this year. Pens are certainly still their game, but with Jerome Lambert at the helm – who spent his last 15 years leading the charge at Jaeger LeCoultre – watches have become a major focus for them. Maybe it’s purely anecdotal, but I’ve seen this focus first hand at the boutiques where the staff has been pretty forward with asking me about my take on their recent efforts, as well as what I’m hearing from other journalists. Although Montblanc doesn’t have the horological pedigree of some of its competitors, the passion and effort is impossible to ignore. But enough of that, let’s check out the Orbis Terrarum.
Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum in red gold
Coming in steel or red gold, the Orbis Terrarum features a rather legible, multi-level dial with a beautiful globe prominently displayed in the center. Sometimes worldtimers can be a bit of a mess as far as setting and reading, but Montblanc seems to have done it right. Obviously we’ll want to get our hands on one to make a final judgment, but the initial pictures are promising in that regard. For setting, the watch must first be set such that the city disc reads your desired city at the 6:00 position, followed by the center-mounted hands also set to the desired city. From there, changing timezones is as simple as using the pusher mounted on the case at the 8:00 position. Each push will move the city and day/night disc one hour at a time, along with the hour hand on the main dial. The rest of the world cities will show their correct time simultaneously, except for those pesky, odd timezones.
At 41mm in diameter, the Orbis Terrarum is at the top end of what I’d look for in a watch of this style, but the size might be a bit more conducive to quick legibility. The movement is Montblanc’s caliber MB 29.20, which we’re hearing is Sellita-based, but featuring an in-house worldtime complication. The end result is a case that’s 12mm thick, which isn’t ultra-thin, but definitely svelte enough for a fairly sleek fit. With all of the fantastic movements coming out of Montblanc’s Minerva facility, a totally in-house movement would have been killer, but prices we’re seeing here are making us think otherwise. In steel with a leather strap, the Orbis Terrarum will just break $6,000, with gold obviously more expensive at a bit less than $17,000. While I think the gold is going to be a hard price to swallow, the steel seems to be an excellent value for an in-house complication in handsome packaging.
Montblanc made big splashes during this past year’s major events, and if the Orbis Terrarum is an indicator for 2015, we’re pretty pumped. Chalk up another win for the surging, pen-turned-watch maker with their jetsetting worldtimer.
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