Montblanc at Watches and Wonders 2014 Report

jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) provides a detailed first-hand account of Montblanc's presence at Watches and Wonders 2014. His report highlights key novelties like the Metamorphosis II and offers an immersive look into the brand's booth experience, including an interactive watchmaking activity. This article gives readers a unique perspective on Montblanc's exhibition strategy and new releases from nearly a decade ago.

Dear all,

As promised, here is the first part of my report of Montblanc at Watches and Wonders 2014.
Today is the first day of W&W, a day for VIPs so it's less crowded. I took as many pics as I could but I hope to cover more over the next 2 days so stay tuned

Of course, the key novelty launched for W&W by Montblanc is the Metamorphosis II and Mike has already shared some info and videos here, including a very informative real life demo by Mr Alexander Schmidt. I also took the chance to snap some pics of many of the 2014 models launched by Montblanc recently, including the new Boheme ladies watches, which I finally had the time to appreciate closer in the metal today.

Before I stepped into the venue, I decided to take some fun photos at the entrance with my Montblanc Villeret gracing my wrist

At first I thought it was an Exo-tourbillon, a patented tourbillon system from Montblanc Villeret but I later learned it is instead, a simple balance wheel model (referencing the large traditional Montblanc Villeret balance wheel). One of the main activity of the Montblanc booth is for participants to try to regulate a balance wheel by hand, as if they were in the Minerva manufacture, seated in the same kind of watchmakers' chair, and the large balance wheel model on the ceiling shows the importance of this activity.

I have not tried this yet today but I understand Julien and/or Monique will coach me tomorrow on this (and rumours have it that they will be giving me a tough time!) - I hope to share more on this tomorrow.

A key novelty released by Montblanc for W&W 2014 is of course, the Metamorphosis II. This is one of the most complex watch movements ever built by Montblanc in Villeret, since the Metamorphosis I, and the watch now has a more classical/traditional look. The Metamorphosis movement has 746 components, took over 4 years to develop.

As we already saw in the Metamorphosis I, the key function of this watch is to showcase 2 watch dials and their transformations from a simple time only dial to a chronograph. You can see more from the videos Mike posted on how this works. Here are some live pictures of this watch to share here. It is a rather huge watch at 52mm and you need a pretty big wrist to carry it nicely!

I much prefer this dial finishing and case shape to the original Metamorphosis I - being in a beautiful Rose Gold case, fine Swiss engine turned Guilloche finishing on the dial and overall a more classical look.

I will follow up with more reports soon on Montblanc at W&W 2014. The new ladies Boheme series and other watches also caught my attention and I will do a separate post on them.

Stay tuned!

Cheers,

robin