Editor’s note: Like you, we are also excited for the Watches & Wonders 2022 novelties. Before we get to dive deep into them, here’s our preview & Gut Reaction Review (Grr…) of the new New Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date. For our detailed hands-on reviews, please head to our dedicated reviews section here. This is NOT a sponsored post.
The New Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea In A Nutshell
Truth be told, with the steel sports dive watch category overcrowded, there has to be a way for watches that are simply not called the Rolex Submariner to stand out. Montblanc with the new Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date does just that. It is a distinct looking timepiece, with a rather nice and unique dial. The fact that it is yet another diver is immaterial; the new Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date swims against the tide, forging its own course.
Very often watches can be emotional objects, and if you can create a dial that immerses you into a different world, then half the battle is won. The dial of the new Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea is indeed a work of art in its own right, featuring a texture using an almost-forgotten technique called gratté-boisé. The technique allows the brand to etch a 3D glacier pattern on the dial, that is inspired by the Mer de Glace — Sea of Ice — which happens to be the main glacier of the Mont-Blanc Massif.
Add to this the fact that it is a trustworthy and easily serviceable Sellita SW200-1 movement base, decent pricing of 4’800 AUD — so pretty much the same as the Tudor BB58 Navy Blue — unidirectional bi-colour ceramic bezel, water-resistance to 300 metres and ISO 6425 norm conforming, appliqué lume infilled indices with frames that match the date aperture frame, and a welcome tapered — taper of 20 – 16mm — v-shaped interchangeable stainless steel bracelet with fine adjustment, and what you have is an excellent start to the brand’s foray into dive watches.
I also appreciate that the brand has gone above and beyond with each timepiece undergoing the Montblanc Laboratory 500 Hour Test that ensures that the new Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea is shock, magnetic, temperature, and water-resistant.
The new Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea is released is three different dial executions, black, blue and the hot in-trend green. Coincidentally, the green one is our favorite, with the dial also getting an almost fume effect (another in-trend feature).
My only concern, is not the use of an outsourced movement but its power reserve. In a day and age when the likes of Longines, TAG Heuer and Tudor are providing dive watches with 70+ hour power reserves, the short 38-hour power is a bit of letdown in an otherwise handsome and sturdy diver.
Basic Specs
All the three new Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea features a 300m water-resistant 41mm diameter and 12.9mm thick steel case with curved lugs featuring polished and satinated finishing. The case features a knurled ceramic unidirectional turning bezel with shot blasting in bi-coloured blue and Super-Luminova® with blue emission on the dot.
Flip the watch and you are impressed by the 3D relief engraving of an iceberg and a scuba diver exploring the glacial waters.
Retailing for 4’800 AUD, the non-limited edition new Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea was announced yesterday on 30 March 2022 as part of the Watches & Wonders 2022 March 30 to April 5 (both online and at the Salon).
Quotable
“When it came to imagining a new sports diving watch, Montblanc didn’t go to the world’s tropical waters for inspiration, but rather climbed up to the glacial lakes of the Mont-Blanc Massif. Ascending via the Chamonix Valley to the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice), the Maison’s designers were captivated by the texture of the glacial ice with its interlocking network of crystals that have been frozen in time for millennia”.
Press release
To find out more about the new Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea and their other watches, please head to their website here. All images unless otherwise stated are courtesy are © 2022 Montblanc. Make sure to check out our reviews of other Watches & Wonders 2022 novelties here.
