Montblanc’s vintage-influenced Heritage and 1858 collections have been leading the charge to bring the watch designs of Minerva, a historical manufacture that is now part of Montblanc, to a contemporary audience. This year, the brand has once again expanded its offerings in this space, expanding the 1858 collection with two new models with blue dials, the 1858 Automatic Chronograph and the 1858 Automatic.

Like previous watches in the 1858 collection, the latest models take their inspiration from 1920s and ?30s military chronographs, and these specific blue colorways are a reference to the spirit of icy exploration and to Switzerland’s Mont Blanc ? the second highest mountain in Europe, for which the brand is named.  
1858 Automatic Chronograph

The 1858 Automatic Chronograph is in a 42-mm brushed and polished steel case, complete with elongated lugs, wide pump pushers, and a prominent crown ? altogether providing the watch with some significant wrist presence. Surrounding the sapphire crystal is a unique bidirectional bezel resembling a compass and including the four cardinal points each, engraved and printed in luminescent paint.

Underneath the crystal, we find the vintage-inspired blue dial. Around its outer edge is the minute ring, as on the historical chronograph, punctuated at each 5-minute mark with rising Arabic numerals to up to 60 minutes. Within this border are prominent printed Arabic numerals for the hours, and two oversized subdial...