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Born in 1944 in South Tyrol, a mountainous region of Northern Italy, Reinhold Messner is largely considered one of the world’s greatest high-altitude mountaineers. His achievements have continued inspiring fellow alpinists throughout the years, with many striving to follow in his footsteps to this day.
Messner was the first person to climb all 14 of the world’s over 8,000m peaks and his route for ascending the famous “Seven Summits” is inscribed in mountaineering history as “Messner’s List”. He was the first to climb Mount Everest – along with fellow climber Peter Habeler – without supplemental oxygen as well as the first to solo climb Everest without any assistance, a feat he also achieved without supplemental oxygen. Messner’s accolades also include traversing the entire continent of Antarctica with skis as his only form of transport, crossing Greenland on foot and walking the entire breadth of the Gobi Desert alone.
In 2024, Montblanc’s mountaineering Mark Maker celebrates his 80th birthday. To commemorate this important milestone with him and pay homage to his legacy, the brand has created an 1858 Geo-sphere Chronograph 0 Oxygen Limited Edition of 290, a number that serves as a nod to the 29,031-feet height of the world’s tallest mountain that he has climbed on several occasions.
The timepiece comes in a 44mm lightweight polished titanium case topped with a bidirectional fluted satin-finished black ceramic bezel with cardinal points. The use of titanium is highly appreciated by mountaineers who need to keep their equipment weight to a minimum.
Inspired by the red glaciers found in Antarctica, a new red sfumato glacier dial captures the texture of this glacial ice with its interlocking network of crystals that have been frozen in time for millennia. Handcrafted using a special technique called gratté boisé, the creation of each dial takes four times longer than a standard dial.
The caseback of this watch features a unique coloured engraving of K2. The image used was taken from one of Messner’s own photos that he captured from the summit on his first ascent there in 1979.
October 17, 2024