Montblanc targets gentlemen with attitude

Montblanc recently unveiled its latest collection of watches at Miami, where friends and aficionados of the marque were invited to an exclusive preview. Davide Cerrato, Managing Director of the Montblanc Watch Division, sat down with us to expound on the new collection and the brand’s future trajectory….

Why did you choose Miami for the Club gathering this year?

Miami was a good choice for two main reasons; the first was the positioning we decided to apply for the new Heritage product line – Gentlemen with attitude. We wanted to spotlight some vintage details and evocations that are present in the line, mainly from the 40s and the 50s. We were thinking about where we could get this kind of mood, and Miami popped up as one of the perfect places. Also, the weather this time makes it a real paradise.

How did you come up with the tagline “Fine watchmaking with character”?

This tagline is very important for us, as it is a perfect explanation of our strategy. We are investing a lot in bringing a strong character and personality into our collection. That is why we say, “with character”. This means three key points: The first is Minerva, which has been our heritage with 160 years of our history, and has such incredible unique takes. The second is design; you have seen how in the past three years, we have reinforced and enhanced our designs to have a distinctive product collection, and a product line with great personality. The third point is the technical content where we are structuring very clearly a Manufacture in-house movement and calibre offered with unique takes, for instance, the Geosphere or the Perpetual Calendar that we are offering in our new Heritage line, or the very high-end with the Minerva movements.

Why is the concentration this year on the Heritage collection?

We have already created all the sports lines in our collection – with the TimeWalker two years ago, and the 1858 in 2018. We also completed Star Legacy, which is a synthesis of 21 years of different Star lines, but improved and strengthened. We wanted to create another key classical product line that is complementary to Star Legacy. We really dug into our archives and we found these beautiful chronographs from the 40s and the 50s with very nice unique details, which gave us the opportunity to have this classic but very vintage line. In a sense, it is very complementary; if the Star Legacy is kind of Asian or Oriental, this line is distinctly Western in its vibe.

Is the Heritage line in the future going to be more retro and nostalgic to continue the trend of the salmon pink and caramel dials?

Yes, absolutely and that is why, for instance, we have decided to use in the Heritage product line, the old Montblanc logo from the 30s as we did for the 1858 in the sports collection. It is very evocative of the vintage vibe in these pieces, and is a very strong expression of our watchmaking skills at Montblanc.

How did you get the idea for the unique colours and shades of the salmon pink and caramel dials?

At Montblanc, we are always striving to achieve a unique takes on all things – be they technical solutions, use of new materials, or the pleasures derived from the straps, or the use of colours. We have already used unusual colours, such as the 1858 Chrono Monopusher in bronze with pink salmon dial, or the Chrono Monopusher in Vintage British Green. All of these unusual takes on colour build up and contribute to the unique identity and personality of Montblanc. Here, when we were looking at the vintage vibe in the 40s and 50s, we spotted the pink salmon as the perfect colour of the sparkling years. This was also a colour that was a little bit forgotten, so we decided to bring it back with this very unique take, that is the floating ring behind the numerals and the indexes, with a granite treatment on top of very domed dial; the vintage evocations that these bring are really strong, with a very strong personality too. We also looked at tropical effects on the dial, and aging of the dial. We spotted this beautiful shade some of the dials get, especially the ones from those years. We worked on the Red Gold Automatic model to create something special, and we came up with this very special dial that is degraded and has the external edges that are darker than the middle; we call that a “crème caramel”. It really looks like a watch that is from the 50s.

Is your strategy in revisiting the 1858, TimeWalker, and Star Legacy this year, an attempt to focus on these pillars of the brand?

The strategy now is to stick to our four key product lines – two sport and two classic, two contemporary and two vintage – and now we have settled on the new Heritage to animate them with nice small twists that sharpen and improve each year the strength of each model; to really work with what we call “Hero Products” – very strong products that the customer can easily associate with the brand. I am very sure that the Chrono Monopusher in the new Heritage product line will become a Hero Product.

How hard was it to offer the new Heritage Perpetual Calendar, in which the date can be set backward and which has anti-mismanipulation, at such an unbelievably good price?

The new Heritage Perpetual Calendar is a very strong statement by Montblanc, in terms of the technical development. It is part of our Manufacture offer, in terms of movement. Each time we come with a new movement, we try to bring in something new to the market in effecting the case and design. The design is very strong, timeless, and with distinctive vintage accents. In terms of its value for Montblanc, it is a very important one as it is able to leverage a very strong design with a very strong technical content, but at a very competitive price, meaning it is very accessible to our clients. This means that the value of the watch will only grow further in the future.

Why did Montblanc want a very niche watch, such as the Pulsograph, in its product lines?

I am in constant discussion with a lot of collectors around the world, and it is very important for me – as important as in participating in auctions – to keep an eye and find out in advance what we will be offered in the mainstream watch industry. I find that collectors are very fond of what are called “Doctors’ watches” or pocket watches that are reminiscent of doctors using them while checking the pulse of their patients. This applies perfectly to the Chrono Monopusher of the Minerva collection, and with the addition of the vintage details and the salmon pink dial, it is the perfect “Doctors’ watch”.

How important is the Minerva collection, which is almost fully made in-house, to Montblanc?

It is very important, indeed crucial, to Montblanc. This is not only because it is very unique, high-quality, hand-made high-end movement, but also because we can now say, “Minerva is Montblanc, and Montblanc is Minerva”, as we are now fully integrated. Minerva is our watch history, and we are now leveraging 160 years of incredible watchmaking skills. Minerva is the possibility of looking into an incredibly rich museum of more than 1,000 pieces to get inspiration for new designs. The new designs of the Heritage product line are perfect examples, and are nothing else but new Minervas or new Montblancs, and they have fantastic stories behind each of them. So now we are interconnected in all ways.

In conclusion, can you describe the new collection in a few words?

It is a collection that is meant to appeal to the modern gentleman – a gentleman with attitude – with a very nice vintage but very distinctive design. This is the kind of product for people who like craftsmanship, who like to know the history of the product they are buying, who like bespoke details in the dials and fabrics, who like to wear understated products that are rich in detailed expression of who they are and what they like.