To catch a glimpse of Montblanc’s Only Watch 2023 timepiece, it takes more than just bidding – you also need an ice pick. This marks Montblanc’s fourth participation in Only Watch, and this time, the maison offers much more than a unique watch.
The Montblanc Only Watch 2023 is an exclusive 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen, featuring a brand-new intermediate case material that encapsulates CO2 inside it. And if that’s not enough, this unique piece comes encased in a block of ice (shatterproof glass) without any oxygen, meaning the future owner of the watch will have to break the block with an ice pick to retrieve the piece or leave it captured in time – the choice is entirely theirs!
The new case material is created through pioneering technological development that captures CO2 from biogas production and mineral waste from recycling plants, thanks to a dissolution and calcium carbonation process. The resulting powder, containing CO2, is then combined with ultra-light and resistant carbon fiber, creating an innovative composite material, exclusively molded into an intermediate watch case: CARBO2. Just like intrepid climbers and adventurers dedicating their lives to exploring the world’s mountainous nature, this new material also paves new paths of exploration.
Emphasizing the world of adventure and exploration, the 43.5mm case features a luminous glacial blue contour of Mount Everest on the side, visible only to its wearer. The older the glaciers, the less oxygen they contain, and the denser they become, resulting in a deeper blue color, portrayed here on the case’s side, shining bright white during the day and luminous blue at night. A beautiful image of Mount Everest also adorns the titanium back using Montblanc’s 3D laser technique, capturing the color, depth, and realism of this natural wonder. Alongside Mount Everest, the other thirteen highest peaks in the world are mentioned and marked in color in tribute to the climbers who dared to scale them.
This unique Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Only Watch 2023 joins the maison’s “Zero Oxygen” watch series and will introduce a new collection based on this piece, set to be revealed in April 2024. Like all Montblanc 0 Oxygen pieces, this unique watch offers various benefits for explorers who need their equipment to function in harsh and adverse environments. The zero oxygen inside the case not only eliminates fogging, which can occur with drastic temperature changes at high altitudes, but also prevents oxidation. Without oxygen, all components have increased durability and provide unwavering precision over time. Each 0 Oxygen watch comes with a certificate as proof of this special, invisible technology, ensuring it was successfully assembled without oxygen throughout the process.
The watch is powered by the automatic MB 29.25 movement with Montblanc’s Manufacture Worldtime complication, featuring rotating globes of the northern and southern hemispheres, a 24-hour scale, day and night indicators, dual time zone, and date. The watch also sports a bidirectional fluted black ceramic bezel with cardinal points and “OW” for “Only Watch,” signifying the west. The watch is equipped with a dial featuring an electric blue glacial pattern and world time meridians in a spectrum of colors, following the 2023 Only Watch rainbow color theme. Completing its look is an interchangeable black textile strap, with its upper material made from 100% recycled PET.
In addition to the watch, the fortunate bidder will receive an ice pick from Mark Maker Montblanc, world-record-holding mountaineer Nimsdai Purja, who is the fastest man to climb all fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters, a record he achieved in six months and six days. For this unique piece, Nimsdai has donated his ice pick and written a note to the future owner of the watch about how he envisions the world 100 years from now. This handwritten note, along with the watch, has been encased in an oxygen-free ice-like capsule. To access the watch, the future owner will have to use Nimsdai’s ice pick to break the case or, of course, leave this challenging decision to the next generation if they so desire.
