SIHH 2015: Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum (Updated with Live Photos and Prices)


Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum 150Montblanc has launched a number of new travel-oriented watches at SIHH 2015 in Geneva. One of them, the Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum is a new take on the world timer, showing the hour in 24 time zones at once.

The Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum uses an intuitive and visual method to represent world time. The center-mounted hour and minutes hands provide the local time. A rotating 24-hour ring encircles the dial; the small red arrow at 6 o’clock points to the local hour on the ring.

The most prominent aspect of the watch, though, is at the center of the display. A sapphire crystal layer within the dial shows the Northern Hemisphere as seen from the North Pole. The continents are cut out, while the surrounding oceans are in blue. As day turns into night, the lower layer of the dial shifts, so that the continents that had been white turn black, and vice versa. (The 24-hour ring also is divided between black and white halves to signal day and night.) The wearer gets a panoptic view of the planet’s turning through each 24 hours. Hence the watch’s name – orbis terrarum is Latin for “earth.”

Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum Soldier 560

The watch is also easy to set. Using the pusher at 8 o’clock, you can move the city ring so that your time zone is at 6 o’clock. Then, by pulling out the crown, you can set the hour and minutes hands accurately for that time zone. The remaining 23 time zones around the dial follow suit. Once the hands have been correctly set, it’s simple to adjust the time zone when you travel. By pressing the pusher at 8 o’clock, the local time (via the red arrow) can be shifted in one-hour increments; the cities, as well as the earth display at the center, will move with it.

Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum left angle 560

The watch has Montblanc’s manufacture caliber MB29.20. It is an automatic movement with a 42-hour power reserve. It has a frequency of 28,800 vph and 26 jewels. The Orbis Terrarum has a stainless-steel case. Its diameter is 41 mm and its thickness is 12 mm. Horizontal finishing can be seen around the case middle. It is water resistant to 30 meters. The domed sapphire crystal is nonreflective; the caseback is made of stainless steel but has a small sapphire crystal window, through which you can see the rotor. The watch comes on a black alligator strap with a triple folding clasp.

Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum Dial CU 560

The Heritage Spirit Collection, started in 2014, was originally known as the Meisterstück Heritage Collection. (The original name was taken from Montblanc’s famous Meisterstück line of pens.) Highlights of the collection so far have included a perpetual calendar, a pulsograph, and a moon-phase.

As shown here, the Orbis Terrarum costs €4,990 (approximately $6,075). It is also available on a bracelet, at €5,250 ($6,400), and in rose gold on a strap, at €13,900 ($16,900).

Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum angle 560

Below are two wrist shots of both the steel and gold versions of the Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum, taken at SIHH 2015.

Montblanc Orbis Terrarum  steel - wrist_560
Montblanc Orbis Terrarum  gold - wrist
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  1. James Sinatro

    It reminds me of the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle World Timer.

    Reply
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