SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
49 — WATCH YOUR TIME USA — FOCUS
“Reconnect”
Montblanc’s 1858 watches are built for adventure, inviting us to go out and experience the world’s many wonders. The star product in the range, the Geosphere, reconnects us with nature.
When the pressure of work builds up; when being constantly connected puts impossible demands on our time, nature can be the best place to go and clear our head. Or so Montblanc’s latest “Reconnect” campaign wants us to believe. “It’s easy to get caught up in the intense pace of life and forget that the best way to recalibrate and find focus is to experience the beauty of nature,” says Nicolas Baretzki, Montblanc CEO. “Any kind of outdoor exploration is an extraordinary source of inspiration, contributing to greater creativity, happiness, and inner strength.” To illustrate his point, the campaign shows a fashion photographer and a singer-songwriter transported from their busy working environments into nature’s soothing surroundings, where they are able to “reconnect” with themselves and the world. At Montblanc, this (re)connection between man and nature takes the form of a watch whose attributes capture the force, harmony and majesty of the great outdoors. A watch that invites us to explore our surroundings as much as our inner selves. For the brand, this watch is the Montblanc
1858 Geosphere, already a tribute to the mountaineering world. As every geography student knows, Mont Blanc is the highest summit in the Alps. When celebrating the 160th anniversary of its Minerva Haute Horlogerie Manufacture in 2018, Montblanc thus decided to dedicate the Geosphere to the Seven Summits climb, the ultimate mountaineering challenge. These seven peaks are symbolised by as many red dots on the two domed hemisphere globes on the dial. Making one full rotation in 24 hours, the northern hemisphere globe turning anti-clockwise and the southern hemisphere clockwise, they track world times. Complementing this indication is a second time zone display, together with a date window. Endless potential While the Geosphere is clearly the highlight of the 1858 collection, the entire range is a catalyst for the brand, with its “sport watch meets tool watch” style and proudly vintage accents. “Precise, legible and robust for use in extreme conditions, the legendary professional Minerva watches from
MONTBL ANC’S “RECONNECT” CAMPAIGN. IN TODAY’S FAST-PACED
MONTBLANC’S 1858 GEOSPHERE LIMITED EDITION. THIS GEOSPHERE
AND INTERCONNECTED WORLD, FINDING THE INNER CL ARIT Y AND
IS DEDICATED TO THE WORLD’S SE VEN SUM M IT CHALLENGE , THE
INSPIR ATION TO FOCUS ON THE THINGS THAT RE ALLY MAT TER CAN BE
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CHALLENGING, BUT STEPPING OUTSIDE TO EXPERIENCE NATURE CAN
PLICATION WITH T WO DOMED HEMISPHERE GLOBES, A SECOND TIME
HELP US RECONNECT WITH WHO WE ARE AND THE WORLD AROUND US.
ZONE DISPL AY, AND A DATE .
the 1920s and 1930s were conceived for military use and exploration,” notes the brand. “Inspired by these historic timepieces, the Montblanc 1858 pays tribute to the Minerva Manufacture’s extraordinary heritage.” Having made its debut in 2017 as a series of limited editions, the collection has since grown in stature. Signature features include cases in bronze, appreciated for the unique patina it develops with wear, and a clear vintage inspiration accentuated by khaki green dials and domed cathedral-shaped hands. Solidly built, the 1858 is the watch every adventurer should have in his backpack. Montblanc has good reason to reference Minerva in its collections. Established in 1858, it rose to prominence as a manufacturer of professional measuring instruments and timers for just about every trade and sport. A fact that hasn’t escaped collectors, as Nicolas Baretzki confirmed at January’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, in Geneva: “The completely revived Minerva offer is exciting for watch collectors who now stop by to check out the booth. There is so much more at Minerva to inspire us, whether from a technical perspective or in terms of its history. The potential is enormous.” Something to mediate in the quiet of nature, a Geosphere on your wrist. Christophe Roulet
