MONTBLANC TEAMS UP WITH ALPINIST NIMSDAI PURJA FOR TRULY UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE
This is the fourth time Montblanc has participated in Only Watch and this time around, the Maison is offering so much more than a unique timepiece. The Montblanc Only Watch 2023 timepiece is a one-of-a-kind 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen that is introducing an entirely new middle case material that has captured CO2 inside. And if that isn’t ‘cool’ enough, the unique piece is encased in a block of ice (safe breakable glass) without oxygen inside, which means the watch’s future owner will need to smash it open with an ice pick to get to it, or leave it captured in time – it is entirely up to them!
The new case material is created using a pioneering technological development that captures CO2 from biogas production and mineral wastes from recycling factories, thanks to a process of calcium dissolution and carbonation. The obtained powder containing CO2 is then combined with ultra-light and –resistant carbon fibre. Thus creating an innovative composite material shaped exclusively into a watch middle case: the CARBO2.
Reinforcing the world of adventure and exploration, the 43.5mm case comes with a luminous glacier blue outline of Mount Everest on the side that only the wearer can see. The older glaciers are, the less oxygen they contain and the denser they become, resulting in a deeper blue colour that has been depicted here on the case band, shining white by day and luminous blue by night. A beautiful picture of Mount Everest also adorns the titanium case back using Montblanc’s 3D laser technique that depicts the colour, depth and realism of this natural wonder. Next to Mount Everest, the 13 other highest peaks of the World are mentioned and marked in colour in tribute to alpinists who dared to climb them.
This Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Only Watch 2023 one-of-a-kind timepiece joins the Maison’s series of “Zero Oxygen” timepieces and will introduce a new collection based on this piece that will be revealed in April 2024. Like all of Montblanc’s 0 Oxygen pieces, this unique piece features several benefits for explorers who need their equipment to work in harsh environments. Each zero oxygen timepiece comes with a certificate as proof of this special, yet invisible, technology and guarantees that it has been successfully encased without oxygen.
In addition to the timepiece, the lucky bidder will receive an ice pick from Montblanc’s Mark Maker, world record- breaking alpinist Nimsdai Purja, who is the fastest man to climb all 14 of the world’s highest peaks above 8000 metres, a record he broke in six months and six days. He also ascended Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen for a collaboration with Montblanc in 2022. For this unique piece, Nimsdai has donated his ice pick and written a note to the watch’s future owner about how he sees the world in 100 years. This hand-written note, along with the watch, has been encased in a zero-oxygen ice-like capsule. To access the watch, the future owner will need to take Nimsdai’s ice pick to break the case, or they can, of course, leave this difficult decision to the next generation if they so choose.
What would you do?
