At Gem Bijou, we support and love brands of all types, from budget-friendly to high luxury, and we appreciate the passion and conversation about watches from our friends and customers while they’re visiting our boutiques in Toronto or Markville. To keep a long story short, we love wearing and talking watches. To our surprise, there’s one brand that is seldom spoken of and often forgotten in conversations among collectors and enthusiasts, and that brand is Montblanc. Now, this isn’t coming from a place of negativity; that’s how it works in watches sometimes. However, given the history the brand carries, paired with its very unique start, Montblanc is A brand that should be included in more conversations within the watch community.
The Brief History of Montblanc:
For many brands, their history often starts back when they were creating pocket watches, clocks, or other timekeeping instruments. However, the origin story of Montblanc begins in 1908 When the brand was registered as SIMPLO, and would become a renowned name in the manufacturing of fountain pens. The name Montblanc would be established as a product and a “sub-brand” of SIMPLO, and the first fountain pen under the Montblanc name was created in 1909, leading to the registration of the Montblanc logo in 1913.
In addition to creating writing instruments, Montblanc Simplo GmbH (the official name of the brand since 1934) crafted leather goods, making this yet another staple in their collections. Fast forward a couple of decades, and Montblanc was acquired by the Dunhill Group in 1985, which was then purchased by the Richemont Group in 1998, placing Montblanc under the same umbrella as juggernauts like A. Lange & Söhne, Vacheron Constantin, and others. The next and most logical step for Montblanc was to become a watch brand. The challenge became, “How do we make a pen and leather goods company into a watch brand?”
In 1997, the first watch from Montblanc was released: the Meisterstück Reserve De Marche Ref. 7003. The black and gold aesthetics and overall finishing were a nod to and inspired by the Meisterstück fountain pen, which was a core piece of Montblanc’s writing instruments. The Meisterstück Reserve De Marche spoke to those looking for elegance and a beautiful dress watch, but Montblanc wanted to create watches that spoke to a younger audience.
Since the release of the Meisterstück Reserve De Marche, Montblanc has released classics such as the 2003 TimeWalker collection and their 100th anniversary release of the Star Chrono GMT Perpetual Calendar in 2006, which was the first Grande Complication created by Montblanc. For those unaware, a Grande Complication is a mechanical movement that features multiple complications or functions, such as the Perpetual Calendar.
2006 not only featured the release of a beautifully complex watch from Montblanc but also saw The purchase of a horological icon and the designer of some of the best chronographs created: Minerva. Richemont purchased Minerva and converted it into a subsidiary brand of Montblanc, giving them the upper hand to create some truly stunning chronographs and to push themselves Into a position to stand out among the crowd through design and mechanics.
Present-day Montblanc features a plethora of chronographs, divers, dress, and concept/technical pieces, displaying their exceptional watchmaking in a variety of form factors. As stated at the beginning, Montblanc is a name that should be spoken of more in collector and enthusiast circles. With such an extensive history across so many spectrums of product and design, paired with their success across all ventures, Montblanc is a brand of many hats and Talents.
This is a very condensed version of the history of Montblanc. With such an illustrious history in both writing instruments and watches, Gem Bijou is proud to carry Montblanc and is happy to share this history with all who walk through our doors. Montblanc is a brand that creates beautiful watches, and their watchmaking is of the highest calibre. We’re more than happy to show you all their stunning creations.
