New 2020 Watch: Montblanc Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum | MONTBLANC

MONTBLANC

A Masterpiece of Layered Dials

Montblanc has released its new 2020 watch, the Montblanc Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum. Inspired by the Earth, it features a self-developed, intricate world time complication, allowing for at-a-glance readability of 24 time zones thanks to its layered discs.

Text by Sayaka Ozaki | Edit by Takashi Tsuchida

An Original Complication Inspired by the Earth

The new Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum is an original watch that reinterprets one of the most contemporary and practical complications, world time, in an innovative way. First introduced in 2015, the complication was named Orbis Terrarum, Latin for "Earth," "ground," or "world," drawing inspiration from our planet. Now, in 2020, it returns as part of the Star Legacy collection, boasting an even more refined aesthetic.

A key feature of this timepiece is its universal approach, enabling the wearer to read the time in 24 global time zones at a glance, powered by a complication developed in-house by Montblanc's master watchmakers. This mechanism is inspired by the history of horology and Montblanc's heritage in watchmaking, drawing cues from timepieces that emerged in the early 20th century known as "Montres à éclipses."

At the time, these watches featured dials with multiple layered discs, representing a novel approach both functionally and aesthetically. Inspired by this, the Orbis Terrarum complication achieves a practical and intuitive display of time across various global locations, making it easy to read and use.

The dial boasts a multi-layered structure, with each layer driven by the movement. A disc depicting a map of the continents as viewed from the North Pole features skeletonized oceans, allowing the underlying day & night disc to show through. This visual effect instantly reveals whether it is day or night anywhere on Earth. Furthermore, the outer rim of the continent map disc is inscribed with city names representing 24 time zones. By reading the 24-hour numerals on the outer rim of the day & night disc, one can smoothly ascertain the current time in each city.

Setting the time is also a simple operation. By pressing the pusher at 8 o'clock until the city name of the reference time zone (your current location) aligns with the arrow at 12 o'clock, and then pulling out the crown one step and rotating it, the hour hand jumps in one-hour increments in either direction. Pulling the crown out another step and rotating it moves the minute hand.

The hour and minute hands are synchronized with the day & night disc featuring a 24-hour display. The time indicated by the hour and minute hands always corresponds to the time in the reference city located directly below the arrow at 12 o'clock. While this timepiece is exceptionally practical for international travel, it also serves as a sophisticated tool for moments of contemplation about the world.