Montblanc
- Founded
- 1906
- Based in
- Hamburg, Germany (watches made in Le Locle and Villeret, Switzerland)
- In our catalog
- 5 watches from $2,700 to $6,900
Montblanc is famous for its pens, but it has been making watches since 1997, and its watches have more substance than you might expect. Through the Richemont group it owns Minerva, a historic Swiss workshop known for chronographs, and its mountain-themed sports watches have won over many skeptics.
History
Montblanc was founded in Hamburg in 1906 as a pen maker, and became part of the Richemont group in 1993. It launched its first watches in 1997, made in Le Locle. In 2006 Richemont gave it control of Minerva, a small Villeret workshop founded in 1858 that had a long history of chronographs and pocket watches.
Montblanc's 1858 collection, named after Minerva's founding year, draws on vintage Minerva designs. In recent years the brand has focused on mountain and adventure themes, including watches with glacier-inspired dials.
Signature models
- 1858 Automatic: A vintage-inspired field watch with cathedral hands and Arabic numerals, based on Minerva designs.
- 1858 Geosphere: A world-time watch with two rotating hemispheres.
- Iced Sea Automatic Date: A dive watch with a dial textured to look like glacier ice.
- Star Legacy Moonphase: A classic dress watch with a moon phase.
- Heritage Automatic: A slim, 1950s-inspired dress watch.
What it's known for
Montblanc's top-end Minerva chronographs are some of the best in the industry, and its everyday watches offer good design and value.
Price and positioning
Most Montblanc watches cost $2,500 to $6,000, with Minerva chronographs much higher. At the lower end it's priced against Longines and Frederique Constant, and the 1858 line has more personality than either. The real treasures, the Minerva chronographs, are aimed at serious collectors.
Montblanc watches in our library
- Montblanc Heritage Automatic ($2,700 to $3,000)
- Montblanc 1858 Automatic ($2,800 to $3,200)
- Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date ($3,600 to $3,950)
- Montblanc Star Legacy Moonphase ($4,400 to $4,800)
- Montblanc 1858 Geosphere ($6,000 to $6,900)