Montblanc

Yesterday, I made a visit at the new Montblanc flagship store rue de la Paix.

The store has opened at the end of the month of August and is the entrance to the whole luxury world of Montblanc.

I was perfectly welcome by Stephanie Berdoulat, the store manager and her staff. She gave me the opportunity to visit the 500 square meters of the shop and the two floors.

The groundfloor is dedicated to the selling: watches, writing instruments, jewels, accessories.

The first floor is a private space with a workshop. It will be dedicated to events with clients and to meetings with the staff. The worshop will be a jewellery workshop which will give the ability to Montblanc to personalize  jewels and to create new ones. A true asset for the store !

Please find below some pics of the store:

Groundfloor:

First floor:

The workshop:

Now, I will present you several watches which give you a good idea of the current collection.

Fr.Xavier

This message has been edited by foversta on 2009-09-27 13:15:27 This message has been edited by mkt33 on 2009-09-28 12:25:13 This message has been edited by mkt33 on 2009-09-28 12:25:30 This message has been edited by mkt33 on 2009-10-02 12:29:21

This Monopusher Chronograph is maybe the most impressive timepiece of the Montblanc collection.

It is a LE of 1 piece in Pt, 8 in WG and 58 in PG.

The diameter of the case is 47mm and the height 13,55mm.

The caliber can be found under the hinged cuvette... and the caliber is the key feature of the watch. It's the movement 16-29 coming from Minerva with  a power reserve of 55 hours, a diameter of 38,4mm and a frequency of 2,5hz.

You will appreciate its excellent finishings and its characteristics: balance spring with Phillips terminal curve, the swan's neck regulator and the blocking lever with Minerva arrowhead.

A stunning watch which gives the feeling to have a pocket chronograph on the wrist.

Fr.Xavier


This message has been edited by foversta on 2009-09-27 13:16:31

The second Authentique is a watch with a subsidiary second at 6 o'clock.

The diameter is 41mm and the caliber is the 62-00 also coming from Minerva. Its frequency is 2,5hz. Its diameter is 24mm so it appears to be a bit smaller for the case.

This is the version with a jewelled bezel and a MOP dial.

Stéphanie wore the watch for the wristshot.

Fr.Xavier

This message has been edited by foversta on 2009-09-27 12:52:50

The Nicolas Rieussec chronograph is a monopusher chronograph with a 43mm case.

It is powered by the caliber MB R100 (handwind, now the MB R110) or MB R200 (automatic). Both are exclusive calibers which were developed by Val-Fleurier and are built by the Manufacture Montblanc.

The frequency is 4hz and the power reserve 72 hours.

You will appreciate the very specific layout of the calibers and of the dial.

There are 3 collections inside the Montblanc world:

the watches with ETA calibers
the Nicolas Rieussec
the watches with Minerva calibers

I really think that the Nicolas Rieussec collection is the best way to enter Montblanc world due to the price positioning and the exclusive calibers.

Handwind version:

Automatic. You will notice the different date system and a second timezone display:

I would like to thank a lot Stéphanie and her team for the time they spent with me.

Fr.Xavier
This message has been edited by foversta on 2009-09-27 13:18:05

A few pics to compare 2 great low frequency calibers:

The 16-29 from Minerva and the L951.0 from Lange.

Same frequency (2,5hz) but not the same size and not the same balance wheel diameter !

Fr.Xavier

Both are beautiful, but there is definitely a difference in decorative choices between the two.  IMO it's interesting that Lange's dials tend toward the sober but their movements are high artistic drama; conversely Minerva's dials are more decorative but their movements are not quite as colorful or intensely intricate as Lange's (at least to my eye).

Cheers,

Daos

I think the Minerva decoration is historic to its roots, without the blued screws and engraved bridge.

I like the longer more flowing design of the levers on the Minerva chrono.  The Lange has always looked too "complex" for my eye...but this is just aesthetics.

I wonder if any watchmakers would comment on the advantages/disadvantages of having a large balance wheel on a chronograph?

What did you think about the finish on the Villeret piece?

 

Cheers, Mike

 

A beautiful store!

I've been visiting several beautiful Montblanc stores in the past few months;

San Francisco, Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills (extraordinary!), New York City (smaller than before), Orange County (second highest grossing store in the United States), Taipei 101, Ginza Tokyo, and probably a few other smaller ones. But I haven't seen one that seems to be as interesting as this one in terms of design of the store.

I'd personally say the Beverly Hills store would come close. Although, the Beverly Hills store has a very unassuming and modest facade on the exterior.

How does this store compare with the store on Champs-Élysées? From my understanding, the Champs-Élysées store had the largest retail space among any store for many years.

Come to think of it, I haven't visited many Montblanc boutiques in Germany. I ought to put that on my to-do list.

Thanks for the pictures of the beautiful watches. I personally think the diamond-covered Villeret watch is perhaps one of the best formal watches for women that's currently on the market.

to demonstrate the value of having a strong retail presence and substantial customer base.

For those who thought the Italian group failed because of the lack of a market presence...time will tell if this really was the nail in the coffin for their venture.

There are enough flagship boutiques to absorb the entire production of the Villeret workshop.  I seriously doubt we'll see any float down illegit channels to dilute their pricing.

Even with their jewelry line, I see Montblanc developing a younger following than those associated with Cartier (new money vs. old)... modern connoisseurs who appreciate newer designs but still want quality.  Their Villeret watches follow this train of thought...a more radical "package" surrounding a very fine product of traditional watchmaking.

Thanks again Fr.-Xavier

 

Mike