Montblanc's Future: Jerome Lambert's Vision

foversta · 2014-01-03T10:57:20Z

Explore Montblanc's 2014 strategy under Jerome Lambert, focusing on Villeret exclusivity, new Heritage line, and market expansion. Essential insights for collectors.

foversta

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Jerome Lambert's tenure at Montblanc marked a pivotal moment for the brand, especially concerning its watchmaking division. Foversta's timely translation of a key interview from Le Figaro offers invaluable insights into Lambert's strategic vision, revealing Montblanc's ambitious plans for design, market expansion, and product segmentation. This article provides a crucial historical snapshot of Montblanc's direction in 2014, highlighting the brand's commitment to both high-horology Villeret pieces and accessible luxury.

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In an interview of the French newspaper Le Figaro published today, Jerome Lambert brought some important news about the future projects of Montblanc and gave some hints about the 2014 collection. The full interview can be found here (sadly, in French):

www.lefigaro.fr

Some important data:

His first mission is to encourage a more daring design
Montblanc has a staff of 3500 employees with 450 boutiques in the world. It is the second largest company of Richemont.
1000 persons work on the design and making of the writing instruments
The leather activity is based in Firenze with a staff of 50 people
Watchmaking has a staff of 200 persons based in Swatzerland, the activity was launched in 1997.
2 sites as you know: Le Locle and Villeret
The after-sales service has the best (ie the lowest) rate within Richemont (I thought it was Cartier)

His second mission is to reinforce the presence of the company in geographic areas like Middle-East and South America

In november 2014, a new leather collection will be launched, l'Atelier, which will propose semi-finished products to be personalized

The turnover breakdown is:

writing instruments: 45%
leather: 25%
watchmaking 25%
others (jewelry etc...): 5%

Within 3 years, the three main activities will have the same share

Montblanc produces 80,000 watches per year and 350,000 belts

The 50 watchmakers at Villeret produce 50 watches per year

SIHH 2014:

A new line will be launched: Heritage which will be made of 5 models.

A chronograph monopoussoir with a caliber signed by Villeret in a LE with a price of 27.000 euros
A simple automatic watch with a price below 2.000 euros
A moonphase watch with a price of 3.400 euros
A PC watch with a price of 10.000 euros

The prices were set to be highly competitive in order to attract clients who have the passion for fine watchmaking. Within 3 years, the Heritage line would represent the third part of the watchmaking sales figures of Montblanc.

In Fall 2014, a highly complicated watch will be launched and also a new ladies' watch.

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I thought that these news were very important so I decided to quickly translate the main sentences of the interview which gives a lot of interesting data about the present and the future of the company. Of course, we will follow very closely the development of the ambition of Montblanc under the leadership of Jerome Lambert.

Fx

Key Points from the Discussion

Montblanc's Villeret production is extremely limited to 50 pieces per year, reinforcing its exclusivity and high price point, contrary to initial thoughts of higher volumes.
Montblanc's quality control standards are exceptionally high, contributing to the lowest after-sales service rate within the Richemont group.
The Villeret line is intentionally kept very limited and expensive, serving as the pinnacle of Montblanc's product offerings, and will not see cheaper iterations.
Montblanc's strategy involves maintaining a diverse product ecosystem, where watches, pens, and leather goods coexist in boutiques, rather than establishing watch-only flagship stores.
There was a shift in Montblanc's strategy regarding entry-level watches; initially, there was talk of cutting pieces under 3k, but under Lambert, the focus shifted to developing this segment.
The 2014 Heritage line aimed for competitive pricing, with models ranging from a 27,000 euro Villeret monopusher to an automatic watch under 2,000 euros, to attract fine watchmaking enthusiasts.

The Discussion

foversta

Jan 3, 2014

A monopoussoir chronograph with a movement by Villeret at a price of 27.000 euros...

It sounds very exciting! :) Can't wait to discover it! Fx

bigdave

Jan 3, 2014

50 Pieces a Year!

I am blown away by the 50 pieces/year datum. I don't remember where the idea got into my head, but I thought that the number was more like 200. This is an important fact to keep in mind when folks start talking about a steel Villeret, or other ideas to "grow" the line: a five piece limited edition in steel would be 10% of annual production. In those terms, it no longer sounds so "limited".

MTF

Jan 4, 2014

Not limited.......more like NEVER

bigdave, That is the point about Villeret. People whinge that they want cheaper watches from Villeret. Its NOT going to happen because they only make 50 pieces a year. Villeret portfolio is the pinnacle of the Montblanc product line and will be kept very limited as well as very expensive...even bespoked watches are available to order. However, the more affordable products from Montblanc may contain ideas, movements and features that "drift down" from Villeret Research Institute like the upcoming

bigdave

Jan 5, 2014

The Numbers Game

Mike, As Robin's post below suggests, the numbers anticipated may have changed over time, which at least lets me feel old instead of ready for the room with mattresses instead of wallpaper. That said, it is hard to get 50 pieces a year to work with the 1858 (1 platinum plus 8 white gold plus 58 rose gold) editions contemplated for several of the original models, unless more of those have already been sold than anecdotal evidence would suggest. On another note, one man's trickle down is another m

amanico

Jan 3, 2014

Can't wait to see Mr Lambert in Geneva. We'll certainly have a nice interview!

As for the Choton Monopusher, I am impatient to discover it... Best, Nicolas

foversta

Jan 4, 2014

If you meet him, I will forward you questions. [nt]

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