One of the pillars of Montblanc is its love of exploration and adventure and the maison has brought out numerous high-end watches that celebrate this passion. Going one step further, Laurent Lecamp – Global Managing Director – Watch Division, recently enjoyed his own adventure when he accompanied Mark-Maker and Alpinist Simon Messner, son of another Mark-Maker Reinhold Messner, on a marathon in the icy wilderness that is the Antarctica. “Day & Night” magazine sat down with Laurent as he spoke about the brand and recounted his adventures
Q: Can you tell us how was 2023 for Montblanc watches?
A: It has been full of surprises; the Iced Sea has been very successful, even stronger than last year. In its first year, it was a very strong success – Montblanc’s bestseller ever. Its second year is now over, and the Iced Sea is definitely a winner; that’s for sure and it is number one in terms of sales. We have introduced the 0 Oxygen concept as well, and the 0 Oxygen is our second-largest growth now. The Iced Sea and O Oxygen work in all countries and that is very interesting because it is connected to the DNA of Montblanc – mountaineering, the glacier dial, and 0 Oxygen because Reinhold Messner climbed without the aid of bottled oxygen, so it is all connected. There really is a story behind the watches and we observe that the new generations, the Y and the Z, for example, and even the alpha generation, look for real experiences, and this makes our timepieces interesting. We have different types of customers – teenagers, adults, older people – and each of them find something interesting in our watches.
Minerva is very, very strong, and this is the best year for Minerva in probably decades now. Everything we produce has been sold; of course, at Minerva, we produce only a few 100 pieces a year and I cannot even say that we have the potential to produce a much bigger number. Minerva products are on the average priced around €40,000 to €50,000, and each piece produced is sold. Something very positive is happening to the brand and with our key elements, such as the Iced Sea, 0 Oxygen, Minerva, and, of course, Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec. We showed our latest Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec edition in December at Dubai.
Q: Was it difficult to explain to the clients about the benefits of the 0 Oxygen?
A: The clients are always very surprised because they have never heard about this concept. When we tell the client, there is no oxygen inside the watch, they ask us ‘Why’? The answer is very simple. We tell them, “OK, stop breathing”. When they ask us why, we explain. “When you stop breathing for a few seconds, you will not age in those few seconds. Because the lack of oxygen inside your lungs stops the oxidation process. If you put oxygen inside the watch, you oxidise the components and the oils. If you remove oxygen, you stop the oxidisation process.” And we then expand on this basic principle.
Simon Messner and I ran the Antarctic Ice Marathon on December 13, 2023. Try to imagine the situation; the temperature outside was around -25° to -30° and, inside our tents, it was 10° to 15°. Every time we stepped out, there was an abrupt temperature difference of around 45°. So, in a normal watch, there immediately would have been a lot of water drops or moisture appearing inside the watch on the sapphire side, due to temperature changes. If there is no oxygen inside your watch, it means no humidity, and this will never happen.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit more about the Antarctic Ice Marathon as I have never heard of it?
A: We have this new watch, which has the Southern Lights engraved on the caseback, the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen South Pole Exploration Limited Edition. On December 8, 2023, Simon and I flew out together from Geneva to Punta Arenas in Chile for two days and then we flew from Punta Arenas to the Union Glacier, Antarctica. This place – which is 400 times bigger than Switzerland – has no people living here, only scientists who are there for research purposes. It is here that we ran a full marathon on ice and snow, with temperatures hovering around -25° to -30° and wearing this watch on our wrists.
Why exactly did we do this? It is because Simon Messner is the son of Reinhold Messner, who was the first person to cross Antarctica on foot, in 1989-1990, and we developed the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen South Pole Exploration Limited Edition 1990 dedicated to Reinhold Messner. Now his son Simon, one of the top 10 best mountaineers in the world, went to the South Pole as well to run a marathon at the same place, with another edition of the watch made to honour his father on his wrist.
Q: How many kilometres is a marathon? Can you take a break in between?
A: A marathon is 42 kilometres and 200 metres. No, we had to run the 42.2 km in -25° to -30° at one stretch.
Q: How many contestants participated?
A: 56 people only, but they came from all over the world. And only the best runners as you can imagine. Simon and I ran with this watch on our wrists. We had a lot of photos being shot, drones following us, interviews and so on. It was unique. It is the first time that we tested the watch in Antarctica, but it is all connected. Reinhold Messner was the first to cross this frigid, hostile area and now his son Simon has followed in his father’s footsteps, helping us test the 1858 Geosphere South Pole, which belongs to the 1858 collection dedicated to exploration and conquest. We tested the product. It means when Simon and I started running, we both put this watch on our wrists at the same time. When we crossed the finish line, a photographer took a picture of our watches to check if it worked perfectly and was technically sound. It was tested in the harshest, wildest environment on Earth; one of the most extreme. A place that has nobody, no connection, no Internet… there is nothing. Just a few tents with the runners, who participated in the marathon, inside.
Q: Simon Messner has become a very close friend to the brand; why the focus on Simon?
A: Simon Messner is now an official Mark-Maker. This is because we have Reinhold Messner, who is now 79 years old; he will be 80 next year. And now we have Simon, who was born in 1989. He will turn 35 next year. He is young and he is a Messner. He has the blood of Reinhold Messner, and he is still finding and opening new paths. He was in Pakistan during the summer when he (and his friend), became the only mountaineers in the world to climb the 7,180 meters-high Yermanendu Kangri in the Alpine style – i.e., without bottled oxygen, without high altitude porters, without fixed high camps and without fixed ropes. This is great because there is nobody now opening new paths.
As the Managing Director for Montblanc, I was happy to run with Simon. It is good that the brand is running with its Mark-Maker; it completes the circle. We were doing something exciting together and we had the mountains around us. We had the snow, ice, the purity, beauty, and the strength of the nature all around us, and we managed to achieve our goal in 4 hours,29 minutes, and 22 seconds. It is all connected to our heritage, DNA, and achievements. This is what we tested in Antarctica.
Q: Can you tell us a bit more about the Geosphere 0 Oxygen South Pole Exploration watch and why you chose to offer it on a metal bracelet?
A: Simon ran the race wearing this watch. The bracelet was Simon’s choice. We asked him whether he preferred a textile strap or a bracelet. He chose the titanium bracelet because it is really light and very solid. He also decided to test it and we were glad about it. I think a titanium bracelet was a good choice, because if it rains or snows a lot or if there is a heavy wind, we cannot predict what would be the reaction of the textile, with the humidity, snow, or wind. But with the titanium, we are sure that it will not react. That is why we went with the titanium bracelet.
Q: The dial of this watch is a very interesting colour – a very light, ice blue. Why was this colour chosen and how hard was it to get that shade?
A: In Montblanc, we love glaciers; so, every time, we use something connected with glaciers and we try to find the colour of the glacier in nature. In Antarctica, there is a huge glacier with this colour. That is why we decided to take a picture of this glacier and we translated it onto the dial of this watch. We worked with our external partner, who has been with us for many years now, to get it right. Now when you compare the pictures with the dial, it matches; we were able to get the exact colour. It is quite a complicated task as we are the only brand doing glacier dials in the world, but we are fine with that as it is something connected to the roots of Montblanc. Glaciers are an intrinsic part of Montblanc as our logo depicts the Mont Blanc surrounded by six other glaciers. So, everything is connected.
Q: This watch is a boutique limited edition; how many pieces will be produced?
A: It is a limited edition of 1,990, and it is because Reinhold Messner, Simon’s father, finished crossing the Antarctica after 96 days on January 1, 1990, and Montblanc is always keen on the storytelling.
Q: Montblanc has been concentrating a lot on adventure watches; will this trend continue moving forward or will there be different surprises at Watches & Wonders?
A: You will definitely have a very big surprise at Watches & Wonders, more specifically, two of them. You will love them because they are completely different from what you would expect from us, and yet, they come with many certifications, such as ISO-certified, 0 Oxygen-certified and with a strong concept, new materials never developed before, and so on.
Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen South Pole Exploration
Inspired by the South Pole on the Antarctic continent, located at the Earth’s southernmost point, the 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen South Pole Exploration – a limited edition of 1,990 – features an iced blue bi-directional anodised aluminium bezel with a luminescent cardinal point and a matching-coloured dial that features Montblanc’s special glacier motif, giving the impression of starring directly into the ice. This special dial technique has been designed to bring an impression of genuine depth and luminosity to the dial. The dial makers start by volume stamping the dial to create the iced pattern and then employ a special technique called gratté boisé, which takes four times longer than a standard dial to complete and requires over 30 separate steps.
The icy theme continues with a 42mm ultralight titanium case and interchangeable tapered bracelet that comes with a fine adjustment system and a new full-satinated finish. The timepiece also comes with an additional interchangeable grey textile strap with a rope pattern. The watch joins Montblanc’s series of “Zero Oxygen” timepieces that feature several benefits.
The timepiece is powered by the Caliber MB 29.25, featuring an automatic movement with Montblanc’s Manufacture Worldtime complication with around 42 hours of power reserve. Like with all 1858 Geosphere models, both the Northern and Southern hemispheres are represented by two three-dimensional globes that turn anti-clockwise and include a day and night indication so that the wearer can see what time it is across the Earth at a simple glance. Montblanc has added Messner’s route across the South Pole on the Antarctic continent as a nod to its legendary Mark-Maker’s expedition. There is also a date at three o’clock and a dual-time indication at nine o’clock.
The watch features an engraving on the caseback of the Aurora Australis over Antarctica’s Paradise Bay, famous for its emperor penguins and whale spotting points, as well as for being one of the coldest and windiest places on Earth. The Aurora Australis can also be seen on the dial at night with blue luminescence lighting up the continents and the dual-time hand, while green luminescence highlights the hour and minute hands, the numerals and indexes, and the cardinal points.
