2023 marks the debut of our first collaboration with Montblanc ! However the idea came about a year earlier when we visited the Minerva manufacture and were introduced to the world of Montblanc watchmaking
We knew immediately that we wanted to collaborate for a special edition for the club that will be the first of its kind in our region- hence the 1858 Geosphere O oxygen AWC edition is born
At first we had high ambitions to be able to replicate the case back engraving on the dial side but we knew this would be far fetched because the dial has little room for manoeuvre so we opted for a different design direction to make it more achievable.
1-Design
It was clear from the start that we wanted the case to be in bronze : first, it would be the club first bronze watch since inception and second the contrast of colors we had in mind specially for the case back would work best on bronze
The dial had to be reworked entirely to reflect all consistent eastern Arabic numerals on all subdials, hemispheres dates and indexes.It was a fully customized dial. The color was chosen to be fume grey to reflect more the warmth color of our region with hints of Golden/Yellowsh colors around the numerals, hemispheres and out ring, and a small touch of orange on the dual time hand.
This would be the first edition will full Eastern Arabic numeral on such model by Montblanc – the consistency on the dial was very important for us to achieve as many brands tend to miss out on that in their Middle East editions.
2- Case back
Now let’s talk about the most interesting element in the watch- the case back is the art scene of the watch using the proprietary technique of engraving on titanium created by MB.
Ou initial design was different because we wanted to include a scenic view of all iconic buildings in our region however lP rights for each building made this hard to achieve, so we switched to our current design and I am glad we did as it turned out to be even better.
The current design is the topographic map of the Arabian peninsula viewed from above showing the different terrains we live in as members of the club -the map includes all the countries we live in currently – the case back colors have a certain warmth to them with the oceans breaking in between and most important the arabic falcon flying over with his shadow on Saudi Arabia.
Surrounding the titanium on the side of the case, the cities of the club members residences are written in Arabic and each member’s name is engraved on the top left side -the bottom side has the name of the club and the number of the watch out of 40.
3 – Delivery
All watches have been allocated to the club member however for the first time we have kept 15 watches to MB VIP lists for them to participate in the project -we wanted to share the success and joy with the hardcore Montblanc fans that would enjoy and appreciate this unique design.
All watches are prepared and delivered to all collectors in a private event in Dubai to celebrate in October 2023 – the delivery of the project was relatively fast for about 8 months from first booking to delivery
The prototype of the watch has been showcasing in the Dubai mall boutique for anyone to check it out and try it.
