Montblanc releases the new Montblanc Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum available in stainless steel and rose gold. Orbis Terrarum comes from Latin, meaning “globe”, “earth”, and “world” giving the inspiration for the worldtime complication. The worldtime function is simple to set, read and use indicating all 24 time zones at a glance and shows whether the cities are in the daytime or nighttime.
Montblanc Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum
The Case and Dial
Sized at 43 mm, the Montblanc Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum is generously proportioned for maximum visibility of the complicated dial. The watch also measures 13.84 mm thick, and has a water resistance of 50m.
Using a pump pusher to set the GMT, the watch is also equipped with an onion crown for a classic look. Traditional case finishing is adopted, with polished concave bezel, lugs, and contrasting satin finished mid case.
While travelling, the timepiece is easy to set thanks to a single pusher. The dial is composed of an upper sapphire crystal rotating disc with applied 3-dimensional rhodium-coated Northern Hemisphere map and meridians surrounded by a ring depicting the 24 cities of the 24 timezones.
Below this sapphire disc appears the day/night disc rotating in 24 hours alternating from light blue for the day to dark blue for the night. A red arrow is located at 12 o’clock to point toward the city and the related owner’s local time zone.
The blue dial is divided into AM and PM indicated by the light blue and darker blue portions. At the center of the dial, a guilloché decoration is used beneath the world map.
The Montblanc Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum is also available in a rose gold case and brown dial variant.
The Movement
Powering the watch is the MB 29.20 calibre, a self-winding movement beating at 28,800 vph with 42 hours power reserve. The movement is based on the Sellita SW350-1 with a modified worldtime module. Modest machine finish is used on the movement plates and bridges, a step above entry level ebauche movements but a great distance away from Minerva level hand finishing.
Concluding Thoughts
The new Montblanc Star Legacy Orbis Terrarum is a more classic design with Starwalker, Meisterstuck design cues like the onion crown and step lugs. It is an alternative to the Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum that uses sharper lines on its case with less chamfered edges.
The watch is priced at S$10,020 for steel, and S$30,050 for the 500 piece limited edition 18k rose gold variant. While the steel model is arguably competitively priced, the rose gold premium is quite a sum for a modified SW movement. For that price range, it might be wiser to stretch the dollar and get a Minerva movement monopusher chronograph instead. For instance, the 100 piece limited edition Montblanc Heritage Pulsometer from 2019 in stainless steel.
3 Comments
Oh no! The Orbis Terrarum used to be the coolest worldtimer in the market! Now they have removed the DST markings (a MUST for any worldtimer) and moved the day-night overlay disk underneath the world map disk – the magic and usefulness is gone. I’m on the fence of buying an Orbis Terranum for years. If they had added a date an a second hand instead, I would have bought it in a second.
Well, $10000 for steel and a SW movement, ridiculously expensive for what it is..