Famous for its masterpiece pens, German luxury brand Montblanc recently unveiled their very first Smartwatch, the Summit. Baroque Access takes a look
Montblanc’s first foray into the realm of smartwatches, the Summit is an Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch with a curved sapphire glass display. This is a world-first in this new, innovative watch category. Inspired by the appearance of the brand’s award-winning 1858 collection of analog watches, the smartwatch has a vintage feel. Its 46mm case is available in a choice of four different styles and materials – there’s a black PVD coated stainless steel one, a stainless steel case in two colors with a black PVD coated stainless steel bezel, a third with a stainless steel case that has a satinated finish and lastly, one with a Grade 5 titanium case that also boasts a satinated finish. In true Montblanc style, only the finest stainless steel and top quality titanium is used to create the watches, which can all be paired with either leather, alligator leather or rubber bands.
The technology used by Montblanc in the Summit is a result of a collaboration with the brand Google. The Summit features Google’s all-new Android Wear 2.0 OS and uses Qualcomm’s fast Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor that delivers excellent performance as well as a long battery life. Other components include a touch-screen 1.39-inch AMOLED display with 400 x 400 resolution, a Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip, 512MB of RAM and 4 gigabytes of storage. There’s also a heart-rate sensor, built-in microphone – and plenty of style. Plus, a microphone is available for use with Google Assistant and for voice messaging.
There is a selection of watch faces for The Summit, most of which are digital versions of classic Montblanc designs, although there is one that boasts a stop-watch functionality. Uber, Runtastic and Foursquare are all pre-installed on the watch, which is water-resistant.
Montblanc believes that “in a fast moving world, being able to access all kinds of information digitally has become essential”, according to the brand’s CEO, Jerome Lambert. The new Summit watch bridges the world of fine traditional Swiss horology and digital and “offers its owner the freedom to have it all”.
The brand new Montlanc Summit smartwatch will be available in May. Prices vary depending on the strap: for a plain leather strap, the watch will retail in the region of $890; alligator straps are around $980 for the titanium model, but goes up depending on the alligator strap to either $1,020 or $1,070. The smartwatch will initially be available at Mr Porter for the first two weeks of May, after which it will be available elsewhere.