patrick_y[PuristSPro Moderator]
28689
Someone knows Montblanc/Richemont very well.
May 14, 2013,11:34 AM
Montblanc isn't trying to absorb Minerva and pass it off as their own. They're trying to uphold it and preserve it. And I think they let Minerva stay very independent from the rest of Montblanc, especially production-wise, they don't even get involved in production. They only get involved in some of the design.
In the beginning when Richemont had bought Minerva and was wondering which brand they would give it to manage, it was a tough choice, give it to a brand like Cartier and it would just get lost, commercially successful yes, but the styling, it would be lost within the large Cartier space. Besides, Cartier was just getting a lot of investment in its own high end watchmaking arm so it wasn't necessary.
Give it to Vacheron Constantin and it would be confusing. Especially since the average Villeret is crafted more highly than the average Vacheron Constantin, which (along with Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet) is regarded as the Rolls-Royce brand among watches. Plus Villeret would've became lost in Vacheron Constantin's own identity.
No, they had to give it to a brand that would honor it, that would uphold it, that wouldn't fuss around with it too much, a brand that wouldn't trivialize it, and that brand was Montblanc. And I think it was the most difficult brand to align it with, because it would be less likely to be an immediate commercial success. But it was also the best brand to align it with to preserve and not dilute the Minerva Villeret identity.