The kind of watch a Victorian adventurer might have strapped on before setting out to conquer the unknown, or at least before impressing the Royal Geographical Society with tales of far-flung expeditions.

Montblanc launched its 1858 Geosphere in 2018 as part of a wider range of watches aimed at bringing the urbane, sophisticated brand – still best known for its long history in producing the finest pens – a touch of outdoorsy competence. But rather than aim for a cutting-edge take on tool watches, it chose a vintage aesthetic that, to our mind, delivers the kind of wristwatches that the great 19th- and 20th-century explorers – Mr Robert Falcon Scott, Mr David Livingstone, Sir Ernest Shackleton – would have worn had the technology been available. This year, it has given the Geosphere a sharp blue suit. Dial, ceramic bezel and (not pictured, but included) additional fabric Nato strap are all coloured, as Montblanc describes it, to recall the deep blue of a mountain glacier.

The Geosphere is neither the most expensive nor the most horologically complex piece in the range – that honour falls to the 1858 Monopusher Chronograph – but it is the talisman of the 1858 collection. Three-hand automatics are ubiquitous and important when it comes to laying down the basic template and the high-end chronographs are show-stoppers, but we’ll be honest, what really gets seasoned watch addicts going is something that’s just weird enough to be interesting, but not so weird as to put you off your dinner. The Geosphere lives in this narrow band, the habitable band of thought-provoking watchmaking, if you will. It’s a worldtimer, but not as you’ve seen them before. Instead of a peripheral ring indicating the time in cities around the globe, it represents the world spinning on its axis, seen from both the North and South Poles. Each has a day/night band surrounding it and the dome representing the southern hemisphere has been engineered to rotate anticlockwise. Actually reading the time in a certain place is necessarily quite approximate, but Montblanc has included a second time-zone indicator (effectively just an hour hand that you can set separately via a hidden button in the case side) at nine o’clock.

Montblanc says the Geosphere is produced to honour those elite mountaineers who tackle the Seven Summits (the highest mountains on each of the seven continents) and, to that end, the caseback features an engraving of Mont Blanc and a crossed-pickaxe emblem. Despite the sturdy titanium case, compass-point bezel and titanium and steel-combo bracelet (steel beads of rice surrounded by satin-finished titanium links), it’s far too nice to take up a mountain. But you may well sit in your chalet admiring the snow-capped peaks and ponder the connection between Montblanc the brand and the highest mountain in the Alps.

No one seems to know for definite why the penmaker (founded as the Simplo Filler Pen Co in 1908) adopted the name Montblanc. Company rumour has it that during a game of cards, a relative of one of the partners excitedly compared the company’s products to the majestic height of the alpine peak. Whatever the truth, it may interest you to know that this week marks the 234th anniversary of the first ascent of Mont Blanc. On 8 August 1786, Mr Jacques Balmat, a 26-year old crystal and chamois hunter, and Mr Michel-Gabriel Paccard, a doctor, reached the summit for the first time, after several failed attempts and, apparently, quite a bit of brandy. For doing so, they claimed a cash prize, but may also have set a world record. There is no record of anyone having climbed a higher peak before 1786. Would these unlikely world-beaters have worn a wristwatch if they could have? Who knows? But we like to think they would have appreciated the ethos of globe-trotting adventure – not to mention the glacial shades of blue – presented by the Geosphere.

Montblanc 1858 Geosphere Automatic ref. 125567

Materials: stainless steel and titanium

Diameter: 42mm

Height: 12.8mm

Water-resistance: 100m

Power reserve: 42 hours

Price: £5,200