Montblanc Maison’s ++ approach

Montblanc watches brand

The luxury Maison of Montblanc has for some time now been focussing on its Haute Horlogerie offerings.

Davide Cerrato, Managing Director of Montblanc International Watch Division, explains the reasoning behind this and other behind-the-scenes workings of the brand’s strategies

Montblanc, a name synonymous with the Meisterstück fountain pen, began its more-than-a-century-old journey as a brand in 1906. Today, the brand has diversified into numerous lines, one of the most important being Haute Horlogerie. Day & Night Magazine caught up with Davide Cerrato, when he was at Dubai to present an exclusive Pre-SIHH preview of new timepiece collections.

Q:Can you tell us about your accomplishments since you started in Montblanc last year?

A: The first thing that I – working with Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Montblanc – focused on was the product. From the beginning, it has been a good relationship as we both share a passion for watches and it is also complementary as he has been working most of his life on complicated, elegant watches and I am a watch aficionado.

It was very clear that there is a huge potential for professional sports watches in the price segment of €2,000-5,000, roughly half of the market, where Montblanc is not competing at all. That was our first priority and our Pre-SIHH Preview is the result of our efforts. Across the board, we have a strong variety of novelties for next year.

Q:Is it wise for Montblanc to have such a wide price range – starting from $2000 to a couple of hundred thousand?

A: It is always very difficult to say what is right or not for a brand, because it is very subjective. But Montblanc’s performance in the watch segment for the past year has been quite good compared to others in the same market. Our unique structure of offerings adapts very well with the market situation. Jérôme, since he joined us, has been pushing for what he calls the ‘++ approach’ for products. The first plus is the aesthetics, the others, design and technical content. To push a new product, you need a distinctive design, strong technical content and price position. Clearly, we are successful; the Montblanc 4810 ExoTourbillon Slim, for example, has become a brand icon.

We often use the hourglass figure to illustrate our prices. We are very strong in the €2,000-5,000 range and again in the €20,000-200,000 range. The first is where we have a good variety, while the latter caters to the collectors, with rare watches that give us horological legitimacy. In between lies the €5,000 to €20,000 range, an immensely competitive area where most of the big brands such as Rolex, OMEGA, Patek, Audemars, and others have a lot to offer, but not Montblanc.

On the higher end, we have watches such as the Chrono Monopusher 1629, 1858, and our Tourbillon – all ranging from €34,000 to €40,000 and our Villeret collection, which is even higher at around €250,000. We are talking about some tens of pieces made annually; these timepieces are our tools to communicate our Haute Horlogerie status and legitimacy.

We are now working to integrate all this knowledge, craftsmanship, and watchmaking sophistication into our product lines, and positioning those complications at more segmented price points – not at the top but lowering them to the big market.

Q:Why has Montblanc, in the last few years, shifted its focus from accessories such as pens, leather goods, etc., to watches?

A: We believe that watches are a key category to the development of our maison. Our products have high technical content, are luxury products with premium positioning, are timeless and have an average price point that is higher than most of our other categories. So, to build the prestige of our maison, success in watchmaking is a must. That is why Jérôme has been investing so much in our watches since he joined and we now have a plan to consolidate and develop our horology division.

Q:How was the feedback for the pocket watch that Montblanc unveiled a few years ago?

A: It was good. The demand for the pocket watch, which admittedly is not a big market, has been good. People are looking for watches that are distinctive from the norm; a pocket watch also harks back to the origin of watchmaking and is a bit more playful. At present, formal masculine fashion that has a lot of pockets is coming back in style and this lends to a pocket watch more easily.

Q:Is diversification the reason why Montblanc is projecting a more vibrant look with colourful designs for pens and using carbon fibre and other novel materials in watches?

A: Yes, Montblanc as a maison has always had a prominent focus on functionality across all product categories as also on innovation. Innovation is deeply rooted in our brand and our product expression. Montblanc is the name of a mountain and I cannot think of anything stronger associated with the outdoors that expresses performance, achievement, and of going beyond limits.

There is definitely room to increase the performance, dynamics and objectives of the brand. We are planning to extend our client base to the ‘young progressives’ – people looking for better performance and expression, including the one of using materials. For example, we presented the Montblanc TimeWalker Pythagore Ultra-Light Concept, with ITR2 using Kevlar, which weighs a mere 14.88 grams, equal to four A4 size photography papers. ‘Vibrant’ is exactly what we are injecting into the brand.

Then we have this fantastic asset, the Minerva, which legitimates in a very strong manner the coming back of Montblanc into the field of professional sports watches. There is huge room for product development, technical advances, and dynamic elements to nurture the product.

Q:How were you able to create a watch with very high reliability such as the Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Chronograph Annual Calendar and offer it at such a good price?

A: Jérôme was very clear about injecting the idea of value and a certain price point into the whole process of product development. Then all decisions at every step of product development are taken with this in mind. So we are able to propose a product with a strong design and great technical content at a price that will help not only the maison develop, but our business partners too.

Some brands recently have taken the decision to sell a product at cost, cutting all margins. This makes for PR, but does not bring any growth to them or their partners and is only a short-term measure. Our vision is a long-term one, where value is at the heart of what we offer. Jérôme is a visionary and understands the particular times we are in now, where the consumer is harking back to the real value of things. That is why you can see that the big brands are launching entry-prices lines and everyone is starting to get back to a more realistic concept of value.

Q:If you had to pick one watch in the Montblanc line to wear, which one would you choose?

A: The one that we will develop in the future. I am borrowing from Enzo Ferrari, who when asked which car he prefers, replied: “The next one.”