Montblanc
Introducing Montblanc’s 1858 Novelties for 2020
Platt might have sensed that the world was changing, far beyond what most of us anticipated in 1997. Thus he put in place a plan for diversification, one that has paid off in unexpected ways. Mr Platt brought in Mr Thierry Pellaton, a fourth generation watchmaker with an illustrious family history in horology, to quickly develop Montblanc’s watchmaking competencies.
Twenty-three years later, Montblanc’s ability to define its tale of watchmaking has rested on the shoulders of brilliant minds such as Pellaton’s and others after him, as well as the foresight of leaders such as Lutz Bethge and Jérôme Lambert (now CEO of Richemont) and its current CEO and watch managing director, Nicolas Baretzki and Davide Cerrato, respectively.
Montblanc at Le Locle
The earliest Montblanc timepieces were classic models, powered by ETA movements styled by the brand’s design team to keep in line with its design ethos. As it developed, it eventually settled on the city of Le Locle for its manufacture. The Montblanc mansion at Le Locle is a high-tech, modern facility for assembly and production, and most significantly, quality control.
From its earliest days, Montblanc realised that to compete with its peers, it had to deliver the best performing creations it could master. Even before the 500 Hours Quality Certification was established, Montblanc had already been subjecting its timepieces and in-house movements to the 12-week-long testing programme, ensuring that its watches were highly precise.
A decade later, an opportunity came to then-CEO Lutz Bethge to acquire a significant property — the Minerva manufacture in Villeret, a significant watchmaking facility with historical importance. The brand quickly decided to acquire it, restoring and modernising the Minerva manufacture, while retaining its know-how, historically notable movement designs and machining skills.
In the following years, the Minerva manufacture churned out innovative ideas and designs, from the ExoTourbillon to the Metamorphosis, and even developing a dual cylindrical hairspring which delivered greater precision. When Mr Lambert joined the brand as CEO in 2013, he pushed for greater innovation in Montblanc, a task that Mr Baretzki and Cerrato continues to this day.
The Minerva Manufacture
Montblanc’s watch development today come from a strategy devised by CEO Nicolas Baretzki with watch managing director Davide Cerrato. Together they segmented for the watch division’s products: two primary segments, with two design styles, plus a rarefied segment that would bring in high-end collectors. More importantly, he began to develop a closer alignment between Montblanc’s Le Locle and Villeret manufactures. Cerrato made sure to fuse their know-how and initiated the release in a new line that surprised the industry then: the 1858 collection.
The collection simultaneously marked 160 years of watchmaking tradition by Minerva, while embracing a new phase of design for Montblanc. The 1858 collection debuted with the Geosphere, a superbly priced world-time complication that simplified the legibility of the function through the use of two domed counters on which both hemispheres are printed, marked out with the seven greatest summits of the world. A 24-hour indication on each counter, controlled by the crown, enables control of the second timezone while also displaying timings across continents. In many ways it is a more convenient mode of quickly gauging the hour in another part of the world.
“When I first joined the company four years ago, it was agreed that we needed to develop the sports segment of the brand’s watch offering. We wanted to enhance our sports watch offering. Coming from a long experience in developing sports watches, we realised that mountaineering was a natural theme for the brand, given its name, the six-sided star logo that represents the Mont Blanc snowcap (the Planpincieux glacier), as well as the symbolism of mountaineering, challenging yourself and going beyond your limit.”
Since then, the brand has continued to evolve through the use of materials and colour tones in the watch dials of the 1858. Bronze was a material of choice, since it naturally ages and matures, developing a patina over time. Last year, for the Only Watch 2019 auction, it presented the 1858 Split-Second Chronograph with a titanium case and degraded blue agate dial that gave the impression of a fumé dial. The dial was particularly outstanding, reminding one of a glacier surrounded by a sea of water.
Montblanc’s 2020 Releases
Coincidentally in line with Pantone’s Colour of the Year, the brand’s key releases are in blue. The 1858 Geosphere is dressed in shades of blue, from cool blue on the ceramic bezel to a deep midnight on the textured dial that graduates to near pitch black around the circumference of the dial. The seas and oceans of each hemisphere are in the same deep blue, with luminous paint on the continents, indexes, hands and compass points on the bezel.
The addition of Super-LumiNova to the bezel’s markers are a new touch, as well as its bi-directional operation and ceramic material, highlighting the watch’s tool purpose to be able to navigate even in the dark with ease. In addition, to further highlight the 1858’s dedication as a durable timepiece, the new Geosphere is housed in grade 5 titanium. Montblanc has also introduced a new bi-metal bracelet for the watch, in titanium with steel central links.
The dial itself is crafted in grand feu enamel, on a base of solid gold. A master enamellist applies layer upon layer of vitreous enamel material, heating them to temperatures of between 800 and 900 degree Celsius before cooling, and while grand feu enamel is usually done in a singular colour, Montblanc has created a graduated blue dial that goes from a marine blue at the centre of the dial to a deep blue near the edges. This is particularly challenging, as the artisan needs to blend the colours evenly to create an even gradation across the dial.
Like the 16.29 calibre, the 16.31 calibre is signed as a Minerva and Montblanc movement, with the manufacture and its location engraved on the baseplate of the movement this time. Bevelling, anglage, perlage, Genevan stripes and brushed surfaces show off the movement in a breathtakingly beautiful manner. The orange details on the dial reveal the chronograph and splitting operations, with the rattrapante pusher at the two o’clock position.
The use of Sellita-modified movements for selected Montblanc models is designed to keep the timepieces at highly accessible prices, thus introducing new collectors to the world of Montblanc watchmaking. As Cerrato points out, “We’re very lucky in that we’ve been able to work with Sellita to really enhance the reliability of their movements. Thanks to our work with them, it’s allowed us to develop exclusive movements like the SW510 MP and MPC variants, which we use in the Heritage Monopusher Chronographs and [for which we] can maintain a pricing below €5,000.”
All these are in addition to the new Star and Heritage models introduced last month, and reveals the comprehensive work that Cerrato and his team have done on the entire Montblanc watch range. We’re looking forward to seeing what else will be forthcoming from the brand.