Hands-On With The Montblanc 1858 Automatic And Automatic Chronograph – In Stores Now (prices)

Earlier this year, we brought you news of all of the exquisite new Montblanc watches unveiled at SIHH 2018. Now, some of those timepieces are making their way to stores. Such is the case with  a couple of watches on the more affordable side: Montblanc 1858 Automatic and Montblanc 1858 Automatic Chronograph.  Each of these  also capture the mountaineering spirit the brand has evoked this year,  thanks to a host of features. Top among them: dial colors, vintage applied luminescent markers, railway minute track, resized and domed cathedral hand and aged cognac-colored calfskin straps. They are also offered with a specific NATO strap made by a French supplier with an exclusive weaving pattern created on traditional machines.

The case back of the Montblanc 1858 Automatic watch  features an engraving of the Montblanc Mountain, the brand’s Montblanc emblem and crossed pickaxes. These watches are powered by the MB 24.15 caliber, based on a Sellita SW200 automatic caliber. The Montblanc 1858 Automatic watches measure 40 mm in diameter and are offered in steel, steel and bronze, or all bronze. One model has a black dial, and another features a smoked champagne dial that is distinctively vintage in appeal. The steel-and-bronze versions retail for EUR 2,490.

Additionally, there is an all bronze Montblanc 1858 Automatic Chronograph, with a bronze case and titanium coated caseback. Measuring 42mm in diameter and powered by the MB caliber 25.11, it retails for EURO 4,690. As mentioned, these watches are also water resistant to100 meters and have undergone the 500 Hours testing.

“These newest Montblanc 1858 watches have a great narrative behind them with the journey or hiking experience story. The case backs have engravings of hiking tools and the watches offer both character, design and great function,” says Nicolas Baretzki, CEO of Montblanc.

I was one of a select group of journalists invited by Montblanc to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to get hands-on time with the newest watches geared for the adventurer in all of us. You can read more about the Montblanc 1858 Pocket watch here, and about the Montblanc 1858 Monopusher Chronograph  LE 100 here.