Jérôme Lambert, the former CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre and A. Lange & Söhne, has been at the helm of Montblanc for barely six months but the impact of his arrival can already be seen on several fronts: a strong accent on horological values, a clearer structure to the collections and much more commercial aggressiveness. In short, a number of recipes that already proved successful above all at Jaeger-LeCoultre have now been implemented.

Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Montblanc

The new “motto” chosen for Montblanc must be understood for what it is – “Share the passion for high-end watchmaking”: on the one hand it is meant to infuse the entire collection (from the grand complications to the simple three-hander) with the codes of high-end watchmaking and on the other it is about “sharing” these codes, in other words offering high-end watchmaking at “very attractive” prices.

A PERPETUAL CALENDAR FOR 10’000 EUROS!
The most striking example of this new policy of “sharing” is a perpetual calendar that costs 10,000 euros in steel and 16,900 euros in gold! Ten thousand euros for a perpetual calendar will upset the competition, as Jérôme Lambert did before with a Jaeger-LeCoultre tourbillon for around 40,000 Swiss francs, which caused a stir throughout the entire watchmaking community.

Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar

Will we see the same reactions from within the profession and from competitors? After all, this perpetual calendar (with a Dubois-Dépraz movement) forms part of the new Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage collection, which “is based on the quality standards of the Montblanc Meisterstuck”, the famous writing instrument of the Hamburg firm, in other words a mixture of craftsmanship, functionality and “timeless” design, as well as on the most traditional Swiss horological codes.
The Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage collection comprises silvered dials in a pure style with a fine sun-brushed finish and polished, facetted appliques, above which sweep facetted Dauphine hands. The cases, in diameters of 39mm or 41mm, are very sober and delicately satin-finished on the case middle. Classic, the whole classic and nothing but the classic.

Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Pulsograph

We find these horological characteristics throughout the collection, from the most sober self-winding watches with three hands, with or without date, or with a moon phase surrounded by a small seconds counter, in the perpetual calendar or even in the flagship Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Pulsograph Limited Edition piece. This classic hand-wound monopusher chronograph also has a pulsometer scale that gives it a slightly “retro” look but, above all, it is fitted with the MB M13.21 manufacture calibre, which is assembled entirely by hand at the Montblanc workshop in Villeret (the Minerva workshop). Its large balance wheel with screws - which oscillates at 18,000 vibrations per hour - and its balance spring with a Philips terminal curve are produced and rated in the workshop. Fitted with a column wheel and a horizontal clutch, this monopusher chronograph (the pusher is at 2 o’clock) has a decorative finish: all the components are hand bevelled, polished on the upper surfaces and brushed on the sides; the mainplate and bridges are in rhodium-plated nickel silver with Côtes de Genève decoration and the interior surfaces are circular grained. It is a limited edition of 90 that costs 27,000 euros.
A small diamond cut in the shape of the brand’s emblem and set in the case middle at 6 o’clock indicates that the watch has a manufacture movement.

AN AVANT-GARDE TOUCH
We also see the signature of Jérôme Lambert in another collection presented at the SIHH, the Montblanc Timewalker Collection, which has been subjected to a makeover that gives it a more contemporary sporty look.

Montblanc Timewalker Chronograph 100

One example is the Montblanc Timewalker Chronograph 100, which, as its name suggests, measures time to 100th of a second and is driven by the new MB M6625 calibre. This movement “with two hearts” and two mainspring barrels is fitted with a classic balance that beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour (2.5Hz) for the timekeeping and a second balance that beats at 360,000 vibrations per hour (50Hz) for the 100th of a second chronograph function. But this energy-sapping balance only starts oscillating once the chronograph is activated, by means of a “whip” in the form of a steel blade that provides the starting impulse. Furthermore, this calibre is fitted with a patented control mechanism that can be used to reset the minutes and seconds for the chronograph and, independently, the hundredths of a second. (We will come back to the technical details of this invention in a future issue).
This high-performance movement is encased in a three-piece case that shows off the “avant-garde” nature of the watch, with a black DLC coated titanium bezel, a screw-in caseback in titanium and sapphire crystal, titanium case middle with carbon fibre surrounds and a sweeping view of the movement and its contemporary architecture.

SERIOUS FACELIFTS AND PRECISION SURGERY
Two other new models have also undergone a serious facelift: the new “Hommage à Nicolas Rieussec” chronograph, which reinterprets the legendary ink chronograph patented in 1822 by this pioneer of the chronograph. The fixed chronograph hand in the form of a double hour marker faithfully replicates the one used by Nicolas Rieussec and indicates the elapsed time on two separate white discs: on the left the minute counter and on the right the 30-minute counter. Above them is a subdial for the hours, with the minute clearly visible at night thanks to numerals in SuperLuminova that are invisible during the day.

Finally, as a demonstration of the company’s expertise in high-precision, high-end watchmaking, Montblanc presented the ExoTourbillon Chronographe Rattrapante, a world first that has a large balance positioned outside the tourbillon cage, coupled with a split-seconds chronograph, with a three-dimensional regulator display in gold and grand feu enamel. This spectacular piece has a price that is less susceptible to “sharing”: 250,000 euros.
The Lambertian revolution seems to be well under way at Montblanc, which seems more determined than ever to prove that it can excel as much in high-end watchmaking as it can in writing instruments. And which is trying at the same time to project a more contemporary image.

Source: Europa Star February - March 2014 Magazine Issue