Montblanc Watches

History of Montblanc

Montblanc was founded in 1906 in Hamburg, Germany, as Simplo Filler Pen Co. to produce writing instruments. The company took its current name from a fountain pen. Released in 1909, this writing instrument was named after Europe's grandest mountain, the Mont Blanc.

The brand launched the iconic Meisterstück fountain pen in 1924. In Montblanc established a leather goods company in 1935. Introduced in 1983 and made with solid gold, the Meisterstück Solitaire was the first high-luxury version of the legendary Meisterstück pen. In 1977, London based Dunhill Holding became the owner of the company. When Compagnie Financière Richemont SA acquired Dunhill Holding in 1988, Montblanc became a branch of one of the largest luxury holding companies in the world.

Presently, Montblanc operates three major production facilities to cater its diverse business portfolio. Its Hamburg facility produces writing instruments. The company manufactures their timepieces in Switzerland. Richemont Pelletteria in Florence, Italy produces the leather goods, including the wristbands for equipping the brand’s leather strap watches.

History of Montblanc Watches

The watchmaking tradition of the brand began with the establishment of Montblanc Montre S. A. in Le Locle, Switzerland in 1997. The brand unveiled their first Meisterstück watch collection at SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) in Geneva. In 2003, the company introduced the Montblanc TimeWalker line of timepieces. In the subsequent years, Montblanc continued adding several new models into their watch collections.

In 2006, Richemont acquired Minerva SA, the iconic Swiss manufacture established in 1858. In 2008, Montblanc launched the brand’s first chronograph with its own in-house movement, the MB R100. In the same year, the Collection Villeret 1858 was launched to mark 150th anniversary of Minerva. In 2017, Montblanc released its first smartwatch collection.

Right now, the luxury brand has two watch manufacturing facilities in Switzerland: the first one in Le Locle, the birthplace of Montblanc watches and the second one in Villeret, the proud home of the legendary Minerva manufacture.

Montblanc Watch Collections

Montblanc Star Legacy

Introduced at the SIHH 2018 Haute-horlogerie exhibition, the Montblanc Star Legacy collection takes inspiration from Minerva’s watchmaking heritage that dates back to 1858. The elegant design of these timepieces is inspired after the iconic Minerva pocket watches, made during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The inaugural models of this series were the Star Legacy Automatic Chronograph and the Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph. In 2019, the Masion released the Star Legacy Moonphase & Date for Ladies. In 2020, this splendid collection was further enhanced with the Star Legacy Automatic Date and the Star Legacy Chronograph day-date models.

Montblanc 1858

Introduced in 2015, the Montblanc 1858 collection takes inspiration from the designs of the 1920s and the 1930s, when Minerva used to produce watches designed for mountain exploration and military. Drawing inspiration from the world of Mountain exploration, these Montblanc timepieces are the modern reinterpretations of the Minerva pocket watches and chronographs of the long-gone era.

Montblanc Heritage

The Montblanc Heritage collection takes inspiration from the Minerva’s wristwatches produced in the 1940s and the 1950s.Introduced in 2019, the Heritage series watch combines the vintage elegance with most modern technology and contemporary design features. Dedicated to sophisticated men who appreciate the so-called sartorial style; these masculine and elegant timepieces featuring polished cases and curved horns with facets. The prominent vintage elements associated with this collection are domed dials, dot indexes, curved dauphine hands, the minute track and glass box crystals. This collection includes some of the best mens leather watches.

Montblanc TimeWalker

This impressive collection pays tribute to Minerva’s high-precision stop watches especially created for racing divers and motor-sports professionals. The legendary Swiss manufacture produced a wide range of precision timekeepers from 1910 to 1960. Introduced in 2003, the TimeWalker represents a unique fusion of both traditional and avant-garde designs. Unifying craftsmanship and grand style, these watches feature broad circular cases and skeletonized horns. It is the best collection to discover racing inspired montblanc chronograph timepieces.

Montblanc Bohème

Introduced in 2014, the Montblanc Bohème been dedicated to ultra-feminine watches. The inaugural models from this outstanding collection were the Perpetual Calendar Jewellery, the Date Automatic and the Date Automatic Jewellery. This distinct collection offers the most elegant feminine interpretations of Montblanc’s fine timepieces, including some exceptional complication models.

A prominent attribute of these timepieces is their finely decorated dials, adorned with guilloché, gem-setting, miniature gold-work or hand painting. Other notable aesthetic features are leaf-shaped hour and minute hands, floral Arabic numerals with sensual curves, “filet sauté” minute scale and the refined case design with slightly curved faceted horns. A large number of Bohème models feature diamond-set bezels. These timepieces typically have 18-carat gold or stainless steel cases, with diameters ranging from 30mm to 36mm. This notable collection also offers a number or quartz watch models.

Buy Montblanc Watches Now

Initially established as a writing instruments manufacture in 1906 in Germany, Montblanc took another nine decades for venturing into watchmaking. The brand has been producing fine, Swiss made timepieces since 1997. The strategic acquisition of Minerva in 2006 paved the way for transforming Montblanc’s watchmaking branch into a fully-fledged watch manufacture.

Within a brief span of time, Montblanc has mastered in various watchmaking skills, including the development of complex mechanisms like the mono-pusher, flyback and split-seconds chronographs, annual, perpetual and triple calendars, tourbillon and multiple time zones. The brand offers a comprehensive range of timepieces featuring any of these extraordinary complications. In addition, Montblanc also creates multi-complication timepieces like Tourbillon Chronograph and Tourbillon with Triple Time Zone.

All these creations unite the brand’s values with high-precision watchmaking. Every Montblanc watch proudly reflects the luxury brand’s enduring passion for outstanding craftsmanship and exceptional quality standards.

Montblanc’s products have been typically associated with luxury business lifestyle since long time. Majority of Montblanc watches perfectly embody this essence, while carefully respecting the long-established watchmaking traditions. Each of these timepieces undergoes a rigorous quality test procedure called the Montblanc Laboratory Test 500.