Montblanc unveils the TimeWalker World-Time Sinosphere, a limited-edition watch in which China, the Middle Kingdom, occupies the centre in the truest sense of the word.
The Montblanc TimeWalker World-Time Sinosphere is based on the Hemisphere world-time watch, which is available in two models – one for the Northern and one for the Southern Hemisphere.
For the TimeWalker World-Time Sinosphere, the Northern Hemisphere model was chosen as basis. Exclusively on the World-Time Sinosphere, the UTC +8 time zone is not signified by Beijing or Hong Kong, but by the word “CHINA” clearly printed in red.
At the centre of the dial, a red gold appliqué depicts a map of China surrounded by the grey contours of its neighbouring land masses. The world-time ring with its 24-hour scale which, using red for nighttime hours and grey for daytime hours, shows the hour and the time of day or night in whichever zone is oppositely positioned along the dial’s periphery. A red gold plated sword-shaped hour-hand and minute-hand, each with luminous coating, sweep above this scene. This trio shows the time in the wearer’s current zone by sweeping past Arabic numerals and indexes coated with red gold. The words “CHINA EDITION” appear at “7 o’clock”. The dial is surrounded by a 42-mm bicolour case with a middle piece made of stainless steel and a bezel of 18 karat 5N red gold.
A sapphire crystal in the back reveals the winding rotor and the movement. Self-winding mechanical Calibre MB 4810/410 shows the hours, minutes and seconds in the selected local zone, as well as the times in the globe's 24 time zones. The date appearing in a window at “6 o’clock”, is coupled with the dial-train, and refers to the local time shown by the hands.
The TimeWalker World-Time Sinosphere is worn either on a brown alligator-leather strap with large reptilian scales and a stainless steel pin buckle or on a bicolour metal bracelet made of stainless steel with 18 karat red gold caps and secured by a triple-folding clasp.
This model, limited to 88 pieces, will be available in January 2014.
China Standard Time: One Time Zone for 1.3 Billion People
With regard to the rules governing time zones, China is one of the most interesting nations and relies on a globally unique system. Russia, which extends 9,000 km from east to west, spans ten time zones. The USA, which stretches 4,500 km from east to west, is divided into four time zones. But despite the facts that China extends 4,200 km from its easternmost to its westernmost province and spans five different time zones, the whole country uses China Standard Time CST (UTC +8). Unified timekeeping is one factor that has contributed to the upswing that China has undergone during the past thirty years. To enclose a huge territory and 1.3 billion residents in just one time zone also means that everything functions, and everyone works and communicates, in a unified time system. With China Standard Time, this export-oriented economic power also offers its foreign trade partners a decisive advantage when they contact Chinese partners. It’s a small but important part in the mosaic of China’s economic success.
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