Montblanc

From Mr Alexander Schmiedt

 

 

 

Dear Mike and members of the PuristS community,

I read the discussion on the MB/ Minerva branding and that you guys are interested in the "MB perspective".

I remember when I first came to visit the Villeret manufacture in December 2006. It was a terribly snowy day and we were standing in front of Minerva, looking up from across the street to the over 100 years old building. When we actually stepped in, we left 2006 outside and entered a world which felt like some 80 years back in time: the people and the family like athmosphere, the production tools and competence, the stunning high level of manual craftsmanship and a really living 150 years of heritage.
(In fact it reminded me a lot of the "Artisan Ateliers" at our HQ in Hamburg were 40 highly skilled artisans create Writing Instruments of the highest level of perfection in true manual craftsmanship.) 

So for MB it was clear from the beginning, that this unique heritage of Minerva is something that has to be safeguarded and developed for the future. And that is how the idea of the "Institut Minerva" and the "Collection Villeret 1858" was born.
The watches of the "Collection Villeret" actually exactly represent this idea. They are Montblanc watches (with MB on the dial) with a Minerva heart (Minerva on the movement). the important thing is that one could not exist without the other and a mutual understanding of the importance of real craftmanship. 

If it would not be for Minerva, there would not be the unique watchmaking competence from Villeret, not the 150 years of heritage and not the line of beautiful movements that we inherited when we took over Minerva (16.29, 13.21...).

But tradition can only stay tradition of it constantly develops itself further- and a great story needs somebody to tell it! And this is where MB comes in. right from the beginning our goal was to invest in the manufacture to safeguard watchmaking competencies that today are very rarely found (e.g. traditional spiral regulation and production, true manual finishing and decoration...) and to create new movements which further develop tradition with innovation (the first outcomes of which you see in the calibres 13.18, 16.18 and 16.30).
And of course MBs international network is very important to bring the story of Minerva and Montblanc out to the world.

So for me, it is a "win-win" for all parties: the 150 Years of heritage of Minerva continue under the umbrella of MB, the manufacture in Villeret becomes the "Artisan Atelier" for MB watches and the Institut Minerva becomes the 2nd MB watch competence center next to Montblanc Montres in Le Locle. And the results are watches that aficionados will hopefully continue to enjoy! 


Best wishes,

Alex

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2009-05-23 20:35:13

. . . that explains the decision to continue the Minerva brand concurrently with Montblanc . . . cordially, Art

Dear Alex and Mike,

 

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

 

Montblanc, I think, correctly identified the core competence of Minerva, that is their impressive capability of designing and producing haute de gamme movements, and tried to provide the necessary enabling environment to make those capabilities bloom. In this case this means that watches are sold as Montblanc watches.

The fact that they even used the existing case designs which they found when acquiring the 'workshop' is for me another telltale sign of their humble approach.

So often new owners of a company have he desire to make a media-effective bold clean out to show off who's the boss now.

Montblanc did not do so, in fact, they put not themselves, but the watches and the masters behind them in the spotlight. I said it before, but I feel a true watchmaking spirit here. I can only encourage Mr Schmied and Mr Hess to continue this way. It would be for the benefit of all involved.

Best regards,
Magnus

Dear Herr Schmiedt,

I dare not speak for others but only for myself.  Although we applaud the efforts at Villeret to combine modern marketing and traditional craftmanship (or craftwomanship), please can we have less of the superfluous wording on the dials?

"Pure Mechanique Horlogere" and "Grand Tourbillon Heures Mysterieuses" ?  Really?

Regards,

MTF

No text!

Agreed...

 

I find this distracting as well, to say the least. For a watch pitched at this level most buyers are not going to be purchasing a watch that shouts “Pure Mechanique Horlogere” or “Grand Tourbillon”, not this collector anyway. Beauty, subtlety, history with innovation is what is going to be calling out.

 

How about something along the lines of the Intel Corporation: “Minerva Inside” ? J

 

Andrew

One hallmark of the current Villeret collection is the finishing of movements.

One specification is that the edges of  ALL the bridges and steel components are bevelled and polished by hands.  The standard has been set that the edges all must be at an angle of 45 degrees and that the width of the bevel must remain constant along the entire length or circumference of the component.  Then the edges are polished again to a mirror finish.

Another point is that the nonvisible areas are finished:  Perlage is done on both sides of the plate, the underside of the bridges, the insides of the mainspring barrel and the hinged cuvette which makes up the solid back.

We need to do a complete teardown of a new Villeret

Again thanks for asking the original question Andrew.

 

Best, Mike

that it is really great that MB chose to answer this topic.
Of course it is their strategy to approach the watch collectors as they try to get a larger share of the upgrade market, however the fact remains that MB wants to address issues or questions by the collectors. Bravo
Cheers