Hi Nicolas,
I understand the points you make, but then does brand matter? The Montblanc Minerva watches are evidently of high quality, I have yet to hear anyone say they are badly or insufficiently finished. Therefore the tangible aspects of the watch are sufficient to justify the position as a high horology brand. Given that is the case, the brand should not matter, should it?
Furthermore, I do not believe Montblanc bought Minerva in a quest for recognition as a high horology brand, simply because Minerva was not known as a high horology brand in the first place.
The most well known incarnation of Minerva is the company that made the Pythagore watches, handsome watches but with quality appropriate for their $1500 price tag; the new Minerva as it stands today makes products in a whole different league. Minerva is still not recognised as a high horology brand, and it will take lots of promotion to get buyers to recognise what Montblanc Minerva is.
On another note, while most Montblanc (non-Minerva) watches are run of the mill ETA and quartz watches, they did make several horologically interesting timepieces. One notable piece is the flyback chrono with big date, using a Jaquet modified 7750 as found in Graham and others; it was and still is one of the most affordable watches with the Jaquet big date-flyback movement. Another notable watch was created for Montblanc's 75th anniversary some years back, a skeleton wristwatch with a Piguet movement done by Kurt Schaffo.
- SJX