When Montblanc debuted the original Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum in 2014 – with the brand’s watches division then under the intrepid eye of Davide Cerrato – it was an impressive effort for any number of reasons. In no particular order: the original Orbis Terrarum was a steel watch, incorporating a highly idiosyncratic complication at a price point that traditionally didn’t have much to offer in the way of self-winding worldtimers.
This month, after several years of adding precious metal and region-specific iterations to the Orbis Terrarum collection, Montblanc has come full circle: with another Orbis Terrarum variation that is once again clothed in stainless steel, but now accented with a worldtime display in rose gold.
What I like to refer to as a ‘two-tone lite’ execution, this particular riff on the dressy Star Legacy aesthetic breathes new life into Montblanc’s worldtimer offering.
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Beyond the addition of rose gold, applied here as a 3D representation of all the continents in the Northern Hemisphere, most of the new Orbis Terrarum’s design codes will feel familiar to collectors of Montblanc.
The watch’s external surfaces are inspired by pocket watches in the archive of the Montblanc manufacture (better known to students of horological history as Minerva) and thus, the case is pebble-shaped with downturned step lugs and, at the three o’clock position, a large onion-shaped crown.
Above all else, the watch’s size and dial made up of multiple discs single this out as a thoroughly contemporary design. Sized at 43mm, the Orbis Terrarum is a watch that makes its presence keenly felt, yet never to the point of disruption – a balance Montblanc’s designers strike, in large part because of the classic Star Legacy codes.
Taking a closer look at the dial, the central part is made up of a disc that is patterned with light and dark guilloche, with these shades indicating AM/PM time respectively. The Continental masses, in pleasingly contrasted rose gold, are suspended over the dial’s centre in their own transparent sapphire casing. Surrounding these are a further two rotating discs, each displaying 12 cities, for a total of 24 timezones that wearers can switch between by actuating the pusher at eight o’clock.
Though local pricing information is not available at the time of writing, Montblanc’s global spokespeople have confirmed that the new Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum retails for US$7,000 (AU$11,115). Along with Frederique Constant, this makes the brand one of a handful to offer – and, I can’t believe I’m saying this aloud – an “entry-level” worldtimer – a far cry from Patek Philippe’s least unaffordable entrant in the medium, the modern Ref. 5110G.
