Manufacture
As some of you remember, Olivier was JLC's Japan CEO and we were neighbors and had lots of great time off-time together around our town. And needless to say, it was such a pleasant surprise that he was coming to Tokyo (actually, this was the second time) and have time to have breakfast with me, the
As some of you remember, Olivier was JLC's Japan CEO and we were neighbors and had lots of great time off-time together around our town. And needless to say, it was such a pleasant surprise that he was coming to Tokyo (actually, this was the second time) and have time to have breakfast with me, the first time to meet up since he left Japan and then became a Director of Montblanc.
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Here goes a mini-interview:
KIH: So, what brought you here this time?
Olivier ("OL"): We believe in the potential for Montblanc in Japan is huge. Jerome (Lambert) was here a while ago, I was here a few months ago. Japan is an important market. It is important for the Senior representatives from the Head Office to keep close contact with the distributors, retailers, and journalists in the particular market. Like I said, there is a huge potential here and worth investing out time and effort to understand the specifics. Besides, it is always pleasure to visit Japan 
1. Montblanc still is making a big push into China, I thought the market had cooled there 2. A new Metamorphosis! This should be interesting...I wonder what two features will be hidden. Also that means that the Metamorphosis mechanism/movement is now perfected and they are confident enough to go with a second edition. 3. Love the idea of continued integration from Villeret into Le Locle. This year was the Timewalker chronograph 100. Could they be putting something together for the Rieussec line?
Enjoyed all the new info provided thank you Ken! Those piece unique Villerets... If I want another Montblanc Villeret it will have to be a piece unique or bespoke one :) The closer collaboration of LeLocle and Villeret has already begun and I look forward to more unique creations from the synergies of the 2 manufactures. Cheers Robin
Thank you for the interview. I thought the name was familiar... It is incredible how resistant watch-geeks are to change. The normal customer seems unaffected by product change. When Montblanc the pen company bought the Seeger leather brand and continued under the Montblanc name, we had little resistance but they overcame it. Maybe because they already had Montblanc-branded leather goods on offer for years before the acquisition? The good news is that Montblanc have been there, seen it, done it
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