Montblanc

mkt33
[PuristS]
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True or False: Montblanc and Panerai share "DNA"

True.

I love Italian design.  

Shoes  

Cars   

I can’t put my finger on it, the elements are combined just right for my sense of aesthetics.  

When Panerai started producing a small series for the commercial market in 1993, its design was a dramatic visual change from other watches.  

 In 1997-1998, Richemont management introduced Panerai to the international market.  Which this relaunch, the models were redesigned by an Italian designer named Giampeiro Bodino.  

Bodino, far right

"With Panerai," he says, "we have succeeded in keeping all the expressive strength of the original model intact while giving it new life. We were not content to simply produce a remake. The limits we respected were many, all dictated by the profound nature of this essentially military style model. I sincerely believe that this forms the basis for the success of the new Officine Panerai. The historical watches were truly fascinating pieces but a little brutal in the look of their military functions. The current watch is, on the other hand, rather sophisticated while maintaining its strong and evocative power” (1)  

 In 2003, Norbert Platt was the CEO of Montblanc.  It was Mr. Platt who engineered the transformation of Montblanc from a pen manufacture to a diverse luxury goods brand, a process spanning seventeen years.  But before he was promoted to the CEO position of the Richemont group in 2004, Mr. Platt requested Giampeiro Bodino to work his magic and revitalize Montblanc’s timepiece division.  

 Platt, far left

Within a year, Mr. Bodino created the next generation of Montblanc watches…The Timewalker series. 

It looked nothing like the nondescript Montblanc watches of the past; instead its architectural design coupled with skeletonized lugs marked a dramatic shift from the traditional designs which Montblanc was known for.  

According to Bodino, the first idea was to create a watch which could complement and accentuate Montblanc’s signature colors: black and white.

The skeletonization of the lugs was Bodino’s counter response to Montblanc’s collection of heavily ornamented watchcases.  The new size of 42mm was a contemporary compromise which offered the greatest possible space for the graphics and the subsequent readability of the dial.  

In Bodino’s own words the Timewalker project was meant to reshape Montblanc’s image: “it was like going from a brick wall to a beautiful wrought iron gate” (2)  

 I think Mr. Bodino has succeeded.  

It has been almost 6 years since Montblanc introduced the Timewalker series to the world.  The style is still fresh and unique.  Most importantly, in one glance, the watch is immediately recognizable as a Montblanc.

Would you agree?  Do you like the Timewalker case?