Montblanc 1858 24 Hour Single Hand Bronze Black NH Dial 42mm Swiss Automatic

From Hodinkee:

Look, ma, one hand! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. This is something you really don’t see every day: A watch with a single hand. Like, just one. The aptly-named 1858 Automatic 24H takes the basic form of Montblanc’s adventure-inspired sport watch collection, with the 42mm x 11.2mm case giving it a familiar wrist presence. The combination of the brushed steel case with the bronze alloy bezel and crown gives it a bit of that rugged “in-the-field” quality, too. There are three strap choices – a steel bracelet, a cognac-colored leather strap, and a black nylon NATO (which is what you see here). If we stopped here, you’d be forgiven for thinking this a minor update to the 1858 collection.

What makes this watch special, though, is the unusual time-telling display. A large red hand is the lone indicator on the watch, and it’s shaped to look almost like the needle of a compass (there are compass indications around the inner bezel too, amplifying this effect). It points to a simple track at the outer edge of the dial, with even Arabic numerals 2-24 and short hash marks counting out the hours, and tiny markings on a chapter ring counting out the quarter hours. If you want to tell time any more precisely than that, you’re out of luck, but it seems like the idea with this watch is more conceptual than that. With 12 at the top of the dial and 24 at the bottom, the red hand more or less shows the arc of the day and night, giving you a rough sense of where you are in a 24-hour cycle. For some extra charm, the black dial features a map of the northern hemisphere and the 24 meridian lines.

I love a watch with a bit of personality. There’s so much sameness in the market these days, with most brands looking at a checklist of standard product offerings that their retailers want and running down the line-up. That’s all good and well, but it can get kind of boring. It’s with that in mind that I approach the 1858 Automatic 24H, and it’s with that in mind that I really like what Montblanc is doing here.

First off, this watch is a fun play on the ideas and concepts that define the 1858 collection at large. In a funny way, this might be the most 1858 watch of them all, unseating the mighty Geosphere. This probably isn’t going to be anyone’s first watch, but if you’ve already got a box of goodies at home, this could be a nice addition that brings something new and more conceptual to your collection. And, in case you’re thinking this looks a bit familiar, Montblanc did experiment with this sort of display when the 1858 collection first launched, but it was in the form of a limited edition, stone-dialed pocket watch. This is the first time this is being used in a more consumer-friendly model, but I imagine it won’t be the last.

Super nice Montblanc 1858 24 Hour Dial with Single Hand – Gorgeous with warranty Dated 01/2022!!

BRAND: Montblanc

MODEL: 1858 24 Hr Single Hand