Montblanc

Thanks for coming back to us with this response. You will of course realise the importance of building this sort of personal connection with watch collectors. I like to think that Purists are a little more immune to (or perhaps aware of) marketing and don’t purchase watches just because James Bond or Arnold Schwarzenegger wore them. No matter how large a company becomes, if they can maintain this more personal dialogue with the public, then that will go a long way to building that all important legitimacy.

I applaud the fact that MB is trying to support and build on the heritage of Minerva. The business model seems a little different to other ‘owners’ of watch companies in that you are trying to maintain Minerva as a legitimate movement manufacture and I believe this can be used to your advantage. The message that MB is supporting the Institut Minerva and allowing their skills to blossom is an important one to promote.

Hopefully the investment in Minerva will allow the manufacture to raise and maintain the high quality that Minerva appears to be able to achieve.

In John’s review of the Pythagore from a decade ago the finish of the non-visible surfaces was mentioned and I would be interested to know how the new MB-supported Minerva is finishing the current movements, particularly given the upward movement in prices.

Regards

Andrew