From idea to watch. This realisation is a process in which the CEO, the Watch Division Director, the Creative Director and the Ambassador step onto the stage and play a leading role with devotion, dedication and love. These past four years a lot has happened and changed at Montblanc when it comes to watches. 0024 WatchWorld talked to four initiators of these changes. In this second of four episodes: Watch Division Director Davide Cerrato.
The history of Minerva enables us to develop the future Montblanc sports watches.
“This is my first year at Montblanc. The challenge I’m faced with is to keep the momentum going and develop new collections. I instantly clicked with Jérome (Lambert, ed.). We complement each other and we share an unbridled passion for watches. And we are both ambitious. When I look at the developments at Montblanc over the past three years I can only say that I am extremely impressed. The collection has been completely updated and, because of the integration of Minerva, technical baggage has been added to Montblanc, which is extremely valuable to a serious watch maison. Partly because of this aspect I consider Montblanc the maison with the most potential.
Montblanc has only been a producer of watches for a relatively short time, but the history of Minerva is long, fascinating and full of beautiful watch creations. The first time I went to Villeret to go through the old Minerva pieces I was so enthusiastic that they almost had to throw me out of the building (laughs). Since the start of the previous century so many striking creations have been built. Striking in the technical as well as the aesthetic aspects. The stopwatches I saw in the manufacture are stunningly beautiful. Have you been there? Yes? Did you see that regatta timer with the curved hand that curls around the central shaft like a question mark to count down to the start of a regatta? Isn’t that crazy? And that’s only an example of the treasures I found there. Incredibly beautiful dials, wrapped in brown paper and stored in chests of drawers. As if time has stopped completely.
Beauty is a result of the complications
The history of Minerva enables us to develop the future Montblanc sports watches. This means that, after the first impressions, the different historical Minerva pieces must be studied. In the first instance you see beautiful colours and sometimes bizarre shapes, and if you subsequently look at the watches and stopwatches from an almost scientific angle you see that all the creations get their beauty from pure functionality. The beauty is a result of the complications and because the aesthetics follow the technology we get clear and beautiful design that is truly timeless. The enormous skill and craftsmanship of the movement makers and dial makers also play a major role. As far as I am concerned Minerva stands for utter quality and the maison retains the original spirit of the chronograph. In January next year, during the SIHH (Salon de la Haute Horlogerie, ed.) we will be revealing the first Montblanc models that are linked to the sporty side of Minerva. It will be a collection that is impossible to realise without Minerva. We still have a lot of work to do. For example, we are still talking about which logo to use: the modern Montblanc logo or the old logo that we have recently started to use, or perhaps a Minerva logo after all? We haven’t been able to decide yet. But we will.”
