Introducing: The Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson Limited Edition
The Montblanc 0 Oxygen series celebrates explorers and mountaineers. These robust watches often feature worldtimer functionality and a second 12-hour time display. Today’s 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson Limited Edition does too, but it also brings impressive dial-making techniques and advanced materials.
With a name like Montblanc, it makes sense that the brand pays tribute to the brave explorers who summit the world’s tallest and most challenging peaks. We’ve reviewed several of these pieces in prior articles and always come away impressed with the details. Plus, the dial layout and functionality come across as unique — a nice attribute among a sea of similar-looking watches. The latest 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson, shown at Watches and Wonders 2025, is even more special because of the materials, colors, and finishing techniques in play.
Honoring Reinhold Messner and the Seven Summits
Reinhold Messner is considered the world’s greatest mountaineer. He has summited all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters without supplemental oxygen. Messner has also inspired the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere collection and several limited editions. The latest Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson also pays tribute to Messner, but it focuses on a key accomplishment. In 1986, he summited to the peak of Mount Vinson in Antarctica and became the first person to climb the Seven Summits without supplemental oxygen.
Because of Mount Vinson and its polar location, the mountain features ancient glaciers. Over time, oxygen within the ice dissipates, contributing to its blue color. This plays a large role in the latest limited-edition watch.
The Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson Limited Edition
The latest Geosphere 0 Oxygen model brings a 43.5mm diameter and a 13mm thickness. The reason for the 1.5mm increase in diameter over the typical 42mm models deserves more explanation (I’ll get to that shortly), but it comes down to the materials. Regarding the depth rating, Montblanc assures 100 meters. Also, Montblanc cases these watches in a vacuum and provides a certificate noting the 0 Oxygen process. The brand states that this should help the components resist corrosion and wear. Finally, the watch comes with a new rope-textured blue-green rubber strap and push-button folding clasp with a fine-adjustment system.
A glacier-like case
The watch has a titanium case core but uses a specially developed material for the mid-case. Montblanc opted to replicate the glacial surface with a blue composite made of quartz fibers, aluminized basalt fibers, CaCO3 (calcium carbonate), and light blue resin. It looks like natural marbled stone, unlike anything I’ve seen on a watch. The left side has a white outline of Mount Vinson that glows blue in the dark. A bidirectional titanium bezel contains an anodized aluminum insert with luminous compass points.
A dial with gratté-boisé
Métiers d’Art — or crafted — dials are becoming increasingly popular, but we rarely see them in sporty watches. Montblanc has introduced gratté-boisé to the dial of this Mount Vinson edition. Wood is used to scrape the underlying brass dial to create texture mimicking ice. The brand mentions it is a difficult process with more than 30 steps and takes four times longer to create than a standard dial. Blue-green lacquer is then applied to create a smoky effect.
Regarding functionality, the 0 Oxygen Geosphere Mount Vinson manages to pack a lot of information onto the dial. However, it still maintains a high level of legibility. Two globes are shown in regulator style. The upper globe is, unsurprisingly, the Northern Hemisphere and includes a line for Greenwich Mean Time. The lower map is the Southern Hemisphere. Both rotate counterclockwise and display the time around the world using a surrounding 24-hour scale with a day/night indicator. All seven summits and Mont Blanc are highlighted with dots. A date is on the right side of the dial, and a sub-dial on the left displays another 12-hour time zone. Polished metal cathedral hands show the hour and minutes and carry a filling of Super-LumiNova.
A case back worth viewing
The 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen models normally feature stunning case backs, and this Mount Vinson version is no exception. Montblanc has mastered an in-house technique to complete multiple processes. Lasers create the decorative engraving and surface finishing. Impressively, the case back’s colors are also achieved through precise titanium oxidation with a laser. In other words, there’s no paint, enamel, or other coloring to degrade over time. The titanium case back also contains the names of the Seven Summits — Denali, Everest, Mount Elbrus, Puncak Jaya, Vinson, Kilimanjaro, and Aconcagua.
Inside, Montblanc uses its familiar MB 29.25 automatic movement, which is a 26-jewel Sellita SW300-1a with an in-house worldtimer module. It has a frequency of 28,800vph and approximately 42 hours of power reserve.
The Mount Vinson is a special watch with limited production
Like most of the Reinhold Messner tribute pieces, the Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson is a limited edition. A total of 986 pieces, a reference to 1986, will be made with a price of €9,200. Is this inexpensive? No, but the watch has more innovative materials and manual finishing than most previous 0 Oxygen models. Plus, just look at the colors! Blue cases aren’t overly rare, but this composite provides one of the most distinct finishes on the market. Overall, I applaud the uniqueness of this release from Montblanc, and while it may not appeal to everyone, it’s a fine tribute to Reinhold Messner’s accomplishments.
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