There is no insurmountable challenge yet.
Whether it’s a physical mountain or a personal peak you seek to reach, there is no limit to the power of the human spirit. Mountaineer and explorer Reinhold Messner, is a perfect personification of fearlessness and willpower, undaunted by the lack of successful precedence.
Messner’s pioneering, adventurous spirit led him to conquer the world’s highest peak – Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, with Peter Habeler in 1978. He would then complete his landmark solo ascent of Mount Everest 2 years later, and become the first person to climb all 14 peaks over 8,000 metres. Among his other amazing firsts crossing Antarctica and Greenland entirely on foot with German explorer Arved Fuchs, and trekking 1,500 kilometres across the Gobi Desert.
Known to push boundaries and set new standards in mountaineering and exploration, this living legend of the extreme outdoors embodies the values aligned with the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere watch.
He is a living legend of outdoor exploration and mountaineering. With his fearless spirit and irrepressible sense of determination he is seeking to make his mark in the world, being a source of inspiration for adventurers across the globe.
Nicolas Baretzki, Montblanc CEO
Extreme conditions call for a robust watch that manages to retain its precision and legibility. Military watches have thus been upheld by timekeeping lovers not without reason. First created for military use, the professional Minerva watches from the 1920s and 1930s are renowned for their performance in challenging environments.
The Montblanc 1858 line, inspired by Minerva pocket watches and chronographs, are designed and created as the tool watches for mountain exploration, shaping humankind’s relationship with Nature. In 2018, the 1858 Geosphere timepiece introduced a novel display of two turning discs representing the Northern and Southern hemispheres, to indicate world time.
This year, Montblanc is dedicating a limited-edition 1858 Geosphere timepiece to Reinhold Messner, complete with an engraving of his signature. The Montblanc 1858 Geosphere Messner Limited Edition includes red dots with the world’s Seven Summits, and a caseback featuring the Mont Blanc mountain, the complete Messner list, a compass, and two crossed ice pick-axes.
Housed in a 42 mm special bronze alloy case with slim, curved horns in both polished and satin finishings, it features a dial of gradient blue with rose gold-coated and beige elements. The fluted bi-directional bronze bezel showcases shiny blue ceramic while the four engraved cardinal direction points are coated with Super-LumiNovaÒ – luminescent in low light situations or at night, in line with the tool watch spirit of the 1858 line.
True to its functional spirit, the watch silhouette is complete with a lightweight, luxury blue handmade NATO strap that is not only soft to the touch but also highly resistant and quick-drying. Produced in France by highly-skilled experts on old manual shuttle machines called ‘Jacquard’ looms, they are developed, warped, and woven in the Julien Faure workshops – an authentic and powerful “Métier d’Art” preserved and championed by Montblanc.
Limited to 262 pieces, the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere Messner Limited Edition honours all the peaks over 26,200 feet that Messner climbed throughout his career.
A reliable and high performing watch is an essential companion to any adventurer setting out on a major expedition. It is exciting to be associated with a watch inspired by Minerva and its rich heritage of manufacturing companions to so many adventurers before me who relied so faithfully on these professional watches. Also, a meaningful and personal reminder of the thousands of feet climbed over the course of my career as a professional mountaineer.
Reinhold Messner
Scale new heights with the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere Messner Limited Edition 262, available now, exclusively in Montblanc boutiques.
Images courtesy of Montblanc, artwork by Curatedition. All rights reserved.
Related links:
Montblanc: Reconnecting Nature and Heritage
Montblanc: Spirit of Exploration
