Montblanc may not be participating at Watches and Wonders this year, but that has not stopped the brand from keeping to the annual schedule of launching new timepieces in the month of April. Montblanc’s latest releases are spread over its collections, with the Geosphere and Iced Sea, the lines that the brand has been focusing on in a strong way for the past few years, once again taking centrestage. Let’s dive in...
Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Elbrouz Limited Edition 829 (Ref. 136353)
The 1858 Geosphere line comes with a mountaineering legacy, with legendary names like Reinhold Messner (Italian climber who made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplementary oxygen. He was also the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders peaks) and his son, explorer Simon Messner associated with the line. The collection balances aesthetics with ruggedness and a technical edge.
For 2026, the brand has unveiled the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Elbrouz Limited Edition 829, which pays tribute to Europe's highest mountain and a dormant volcano, Mount Elbrouz, with a watch containing volcanic ash. It’s the watch’s case middle that features a proprietary composite of volcanic ash, aluminised basalt fibres, CaCO3 (calcium carbonate), and a bio-sourced resin containing 30% vegetable matter. To further highlight the connect, the case middle opposite the crown features a rendering of Mount Elbrouz's twin peaks, which is engraved and hand-filled with white luminescent paint, which glows orange in the dark.
The 43.5mm titanium watch also has a colourway that is inspired by the landscape of Mount Elbrouz, with the dial in white and brown sfumato finish over a glacier-patterned base. There are white accents on the hands, hour markers, and bezel markings, filled with the same orange luminescence, though the continents on two spheres as well as the 24-hour hand at the 9 o'clock position glows blue, a visual separating of local and home time.
The world-time complication continues to take centrestage on the dial, with dual rotating half-globes, the top representing the Northern hemisphere as seen from above the North Pole, the lower the Southern hemisphere. The Northern hemisphere rotates counterclockwise, the Southern clockwise, mimicking the rotation of the Earth. Each globe is framed by a 24-hour AM/PM indicator, and on the continents one can see eight black dots, which indicate the location of each continent's highest mountain, as well as Mont Blanc on the border of Italy and France. The Greenwich Meridian is also indicated with a simple black line. There is second timezone is indicated at the sub-dial at 9 o’clock and can be independently adjusted by a recessed pusher on the case middle at 10 o'clock. The date is indicated at the 3 o'clock.
The caseback features a detailed depiction of Mount Elbrouz using the laser-generated oxidation process. The watch also features technology, which ensures that the movement is cased without oxygen, which ensures longevity of the movement parts (read more about it here). Powering the watch is Montblanc's automatic Calibre MB 29.25 with 42-hours of power reserve
The watch comes with two interchangeable rubber straps in an ivory shade and a light brown shade. The limited edition of 829 pieces points to the year 1829 when the higher of the two Elbrouz peaks was first summited.
Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date 0 Oxygen
The brand has unveiled three iterations of the Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date 0 Oxygen, two of which are limited edition.
First is the 41mm Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date 0 Oxygen Ref. 137541 that comes in a distressed steel finish that the brand debuted in 2023. To obtain this dark, blackened effect on the stainless steel case and bracelet, they are treated with a black coating, which is then distressed by washing and brushing with quartzite, a very hard mineral sourced from the Mont Blanc mountain. The watch has a grey glacial patterned dial that represents the colour and texture of ice and complements the finish, achieved via a very specific technique called gratte boise (read more about it here). On it rest bright white Super-LumiNova® fills the applied hour markers and hands, while the Iced Sea logo rests at 6 o’clock and the date window at 3.
Also being a dive watch, which is water-resistant to 300 metres, the bezel of the Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date 0 Oxygen clicks 120 times per rotation, and allows for a strong grip. It contains a scratch-proof ceramic insert, including a textured, laser-lowered section between the 0- and 15-minute marker that helps to track decompression stops. The caseback is engraved with a scuba diver and an iceberg.
On similar lines is the 41mm Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date 0 Oxygen Limited Edition 700 (Ref. 137211), which celebrates the geology of the Mer de Glace, the largest glacier on the Mont-Blanc massif, with a dial embedded with fragments of ancient wood, often millennia old, that have been preserved trapped in glacial ice.
The dial is the highlight of the watch, for which the brand worked with mountaineers in France's Chamonix valley to source subfossil wood from the Mer de Glace's moraine, a large layer of natural debris pushed against Mont Blanc's northern slope by the glacier. The sourced wood was cut into shavings and arranged, with a transparent resin applied over them to form a sheet from which the dial is made. Finally, this resin surface is treated with a frozen finish that mimics the look of striated crystalline patterns of ice. A brown ceramic bezel complements this dial. The 700 pieces limited number refers to the 7km length of the Mer de Glace.
The third Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date 0 Oxygen Limited Edition 300 (Ref. 135762) is a smaller 38mm watch in steel with a striking coral dial that is inspired by summer sunsets on the Mont-Blanc massif that take on these hues. The colourway has been executed on both the dial and bezel. The watch comes with a matching rubber strap in a coral red tone, which is easily swapped for the bracelet with Montblanc's quick-change strap system.
All the three watches are water resistant to 300 meters and come with the 0 Oxygen technology. They are driven by the automatic Calibre MB 24.17 with approximately 38 hours of power reserve.
Montblanc 1858 Small Second 0 Oxygen
This new timepiece, Ref. 136355 , introduces a new case size of 38mm and a black-blue strap that matches the dial and the overall vintage aesthetic of the piece. The watch features a lacquered dial with luminescent Arabic hand and indexes, and a colour-matched date wheel at 3 o’clock. There is a small seconds sub dial at 6, and the Super-LumiNova®-filled cathedral hands reminds one of the expedition watches of the 1920s and 30s. A chemin de fer minute-track sits at the edge of the dial, and there is a fixed bezel with a black ceramic insert featuring luminescent cardinal compass points. The watch also boasts the 0 Oxygen technology, and its caseback is etched with a laser-engraving of the Mont Blanc mountain. The timepiece is powered by the automatic Calibre MB 24.16.
Briniging in another touch of the vintage is the strap in Saffiano leather - textured calf leather strap in blue-black with a single-stitch in a grey shade. The edge of the strap also has a pointed shape, echoing that of a fountain pen’s nib. The watch also comes with a stainless steel bracelet with a taper, which can easily replace the leather strap thanks to the brand’s fine adjustment system.
Montblanc Star Legacy Smalls Seconds, Moonphase, and Chronograph
Three new models, all with different complications, join the Montblanc Star Legacy line. First is the 36mm Small Second model (Ref. 132887) with 30 diamonds around the sub-dial, and two 42mm models, the Moonphase and Chronograph. All three models feature the wavy exploding-star guilloché pattern and a gradient antharcite finish on the dials. All the models are in stainless steel, and have onion crowns and transparent casebacks. The small seconds is driven by the MB 24.16, an automatic-winding movement offering 38 hours of power reserve.
The Moonphase model (Ref. 134297 ) features a pointer-date (with a cresent-tipped hand) and moonphase complications at the 6 o'clock position. The Montblanc emblem sits in this subdial, from which the exploding star guilloché pattern radiates up. The seconds-hand counterweight features the Montblanc emblem, and a minute track encloses the dial. The watch is driven by the MB 24.31 movement offering 42 hours of power reserve.
The Montblanc Star Legacy Chronograph 42mm (Ref. 136357) features the small seconds at 9, and the 30 minute counter at 3. There are Roman hour markers, pump-style pushers, and a date window is at 6 o'clock. The watch has traditional leaf-shaped hands. A traditional closed track is divided down to 1/10th of a second for exact stopwatch readings. Powering the watch is powered by the MB 25.13, with 48 hours of power reserve.
Montblanc Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Limited Edition 821
The Nicholas Rieussec line traces its legacy to the device with a fixed nib that would place a drop of ink on two rotating counters (one for the minutes, the other for the seconds) to time horses as they crossed the finish line at the races in Paris in the early 1820s. It is this device that gave birth to the name chronograph. The design of the Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronographs are inspired by this early creation with a static hand that indicates elapsed time on counters that rotate. The latest iteration takes inspiration from the progenitor model.
This Ref. 136359 is a 43mm fully polished stainless steel watch with curving lugs, an onion crown, and a satinated bezel. An off-centre ring displays the hour markers and features a dual timezone and day-night indicator, while the chronograph minutes and seconds domes sit below, on the left and right of the off-centre ring, activated by the pusher at 8. A horizontal bridge extends across both to indicate the elapsed time. At 6 rests a date window. All of these elements sit on a dial that recreates a 19th-century illustration inspired by Victor Adam's 1829 work, Four Jockeys storm with their horses, depicting four jockeys atop their mounts at the Champ de Mars course. The mechanism is driven by the Calibre MB R200 with 72 hours of power reserve.
Minerva The Unveiled Chronograph Limited Edition 30
Montblanc’s Minerva manufacture is synonymous with the highest level of horology seen in superlative mechanisms and limited edition pieces. A crowning glory is The Unveiled Chronograph, where watchmakers at the Minerva manufacture were able to reverse-mount a chronograph movement that spun clockwise, expose the bridges, levers and gears, and create an open-worked sapphire dial exposing all the components with superlative finishing. The timepiece was first introduced in 2023, and for this year, the brand has launched a version (Ref. 136352 ) where the rear-mounted plates, as well as the signature V-shaped bridge up top, are coated in a rich brown colour. This helps create a greater visual contrast against the gold.
The 43mm gold watch has an open-worked sapphire dial reduced to an outer ring, on which sit the luminescent yellow gold hour markers. At 9 o'clock is the small seconds hand in yellow gold with a small arrow tip, while the central cathedral hour hand, syringe minute hands, and chronograph seconds-hand are mounted on the main arbor, which extends up through the top-mounted V-shaped bridge in brown. At the 3 o'clock position is the 30-minute open ring, its hand in the shape of Minerva's arrow. The Minerva fluted bezel maintains the design language of the line, while the five sapphire windows across the case middle provide a deep view into the workings of the mechanism, the Calibre M17.26 composed of 291 individual parts. This is a monopusher chronograph, which means that the pusher integrated into the crown at 3 is used to start, stop and reset the stopwatch. The caseback is in solid 18K yellow gold and displays a special laser engraving of the Minerva manufacture in Villeret, Switzerland.
Minerva The Unveiled Crownless
Minerva’s other crowning glory, the crownless mechanism, where instead of the traditional crown both winding and time-setting happens via the signature fluted bezel, has now been introduced in the Minerva The Unveiled Crownless (Ref. 137544), a time-only watch. The mechanism is powered by the newly developed Calibre M15.08, an in-house, manually wound movement with a small seconds offering 80-hours of power reserve.
Housed in a 41.5 mm stainless steel and 18K rose gold case, the watch takes vintage cues from mid-century Minerva timepieces. The dial features guilloché, opaline textures, and rose-gold accents, and a discreet caseback lever that allows seamless switching between winding and time-setting functions, preserving the watch’s clean profile.
Minerva The Unveiled Secret Limited Editions 18 and 58
The brand has also unveiled a new case size and colour palette in The Unveiled Secret, presented in a more compact 39mm case and in a wine-red aesthetic. The reduced proportions mean a reworking of its open-worked monopusher chronograph, resulting in an entirely new patented calibre, the Calibre M13.26. Offered in two limited editions—one in 18K rose gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds (Ref. 136384, 18 pieces), and another in a two-tone combination of steel and rose gold (Ref. 136354, 58 pieces)—the watch has a skeletonised dial, luminescent hands and Minerva’s signature arrow-tipped chronograph indicator.
The watch continues to be a visual spectacle, showcasing hand-finished bridges, a free-sprung balance, and the iconic V-shaped chronograph architecture. The calibre has a 60-hour power reserve and the caseback pays tribute to the manufacture’s heritage in Villeret.
Images: Courtesy brand
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