With the arrival of Davide Cerrato in the company five years ago as the head of watches, Montblanc has completely reinvented its watchmaking division in this short timespan. Shifting focus from design-oriented modern timepieces, the brand has integrated the rich legacy of Minerva watchmaking traditions more boldly to create heritage-inspired watches that are now extremely popular with collectors. It?s an incredible achievement for Montblanc considering the fact that it?s a relatively new entrant in the business of high watchmaking. Montblanc started as a luxury pen manufacturer in Germany in 1908 under the name ?Simplo Filler Pen Company.? The company?s second fountain pen line was named Montblanc, after Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe, and went on to become the brand?s official name in 1934. The German company continued to diversify its business and consistently looked for more opportunities in other markets, including leather goods and men?s jewelry and accessories. It was in 1997 when Montblanc decided to enter the watch industry and built a state-of-the-art watch factory in Le Locle, Switzerland.
Montblanc has been a part of Richemont?s extensive family of top-tier names since 1993, which went by the name Vendôme Luxury Group during that time. Being the second-largest luxury brand in the world with 17 Maisons under its umbrella, Montblanc hugely benefitted from it and new possibilities opened up for the German manufacturer. However, things completely ch...