A Professional Alpinist Put Montblanc’s Latest Timepiece to the Test in Antartica
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Technically, watches are no longer essential to tell time and mechanical sports watches certainly aren’t needed as survival tools. Nowadays these miniature marvels tend to be more sentimental than anything else. But in the case of Montblanc’s new Geosphere 0 Oxygen South Pole, the timepiece turned out to sincerely fulfill all of those duties as a necessity. Earlier this month, Montblanc’s global managing director, Laurent Lecamp, and world-class alpinist, Simon Messner, put the timepiece to the ultimate test as they competed together in the Antarctic Ice Marathon. The challenge required the duo to compete against 80 other runners in a 26.2 mile race in blistering temperatures of -22 degrees Fahrenheit with persistent headwind gusts up to 25 miles per hour. It was not for the feint of heart. The race took roughly four hours and Lecamp and Messner finished the race, side-by-side, in an impressive 7th place. (American Michael Higgins took home first place.)
“It’s not fake…everything we did was real,” said Messner, who also added that while he is a professional Alpinist, the running marathon still proved incredible challenging. “Giving up was not an option.” The race is so rigorous Lecamp said one contestant from a warmer climate actually trained in a refrigerator to prepare for the race. The elements are so brutal, he claims even smartwatches could not withstand the weather. “The Geosphere 0 Oxygen South Pole was the only mechanical watch worn during the race,” Lecamp told Robb Report. “All participants had a smart watch on the wrist…but the smart watch depends on its battery…which can stop more quickly in the cold. It would never happen with our mechanical piece, which works perfectly (no need to charge it!) in the coldest and harshest environments on earth. Another competitor had a mechanical watch (not for running) and he had droplets inside due to extreme temperature changes between the inside of his tent and the outside which did not happen with our Geosphere with 0 Oxygen.”
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The concept of the watch is that by eliminating the oxygen within the case, it eliminates fogging in extreme temperatures and altitudes. The components are also said to last longer and keep their precision as a result. The first Geosphere 0 Oxygen debuted in 2022 and that timepiece was tested by renowned climber, Nims Purja, who famously was the fastest to climb the world’s most challenging 14 peaks in record time (just over 6 months) in 2019. This new edition, tested by Simon Messner, has a deeper connection with the alpinist. The watch is a tribute to his 79-year-old father, Reinhold Messner, a renowned explorer who made his mark in Antartica 35 years ago when he and Arved Fuchs made history when they became the first people to ever cross the continent on foot without the aid of animal or motorized vehicle—a 1,740-mile journey that included the two men towing a 220-pound sled along the way. That same year, in 1990, Messner’s son Simon was born.
Needless to say, it was a particularly poignant moment for the alpinist. But he says the watch also captures the incredible blue hues of the icy terrain in the South Pole—a color he says can’t quite be defined but is captured as closely as possible in the dial. It is volume stamped to create the ice pattern. Each layers is printed, lacquered, and polished before being left to dry overnight before applying the next layer. The process requires over 30 separate steps. Meanwhile, the back of the watch features a striking engraving of the Aurora Australis over Antartica’s Paradise Bay. Known as the Southern Lights, the caseback captures the same beautiful colors created in nature by electrically charged particles that collide with gas particles in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Inside, the timepiece contains the Caliber MB 29.25, an automatic World Time movement with 42 hours of power reserve, which displays the Northern and Southern hemispheres in two three-dimensional globes, equipped with a day/night indicator, that turn anti-clockwise and are visible on the dial. It also includes a date window at three o’clock and a dual-time indication at nine o’clock.
In addition to be functional for a globetrotter or adventurer, it’s also ultra lightweight. “As the Geosphere 0 Oxygen South Pole Exploration LE1990 is in full titanium (Ti Grade 5), the watch is extremely light to wear during the run,” says Lecamp. “We did not feel it and, as we can perfectly adjust it on the wrist thanks to the fine adjustment system we could adjust it in no time many times during the race (this adjustment was needed due to different temperature changes and blood pressure making the wrist slighter bigger or smaller during the race…such an adjustment not available on smart watches).
Whether or not you are sold on the fact that its performance outweighs a smart watch, the 42 mm timepiece is a good looking watch and, at $7,500 it is a relatively affordable way to experience a World Timer.
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