Jerome Lambert, CEO, Montblanc Watches, Raises the Bar Adding Complications and Women’s Watches

It was only about a year and a half ago that Jerome Lambert – then fierce-leader at Jaeger-LeCoultre – took over the helm of Montblanc. (You can read a Q&A from that appointment here). The brand, with a rich heritage in writing instruments and then timepieces, was ripe for the reshaping – something I knew Lambert would do in his own inimitable style.

Captain of a new ship, Lambert wasted no time getting it on course. He capitalized on the brand’s superb Minerva workshops in Villeret (you can read about that manufacture here), bringing much of this Manufacture’s high standards and codes of watchmaking to the forefront for the core Montblanc watchmaking facility in LeLocle – where the brand already has exceptional testing standards, with a 500-hour testing of each watch.

Next came new product innovations and unveilings that elevated the collection to new heights. Among them: the introduction of the Star Twin Moonphase (with northern and southerner hemisphere displays – you can read more about that watch here).  Then, Lambert did what every great leader should do: went straight to the brand’s roots. Earlier this year, capitalizing on Montblanc’s 90th anniversary of the Meisterstuck writing instruments, Lambert unveiled an entire new collection of timepieces called the Meisterstuck Heritage line, which includes a perpetual calendar watch for just $12,800. You can read more about that unveiling here.

Now, after just over a year of research and development, the brand unveils an all-new for-women-only line called the Boheme. This elegant round watch line offers classic beauty in several sizes, both with and without diamonds – and goes so far as to offer a women’s perpetual calendar with diamonds at a price just under $20,000 as the flagship of the line. According to Lambert, “Boheme is a name that has existed at Montblanc and sort of stand for a philosophy of ‘I go my own way.’” You can read more about Boheme at our sister site, WatchSeduction.

Additionally, Lambert has raised the bar even further, brining ever more complex timepieces to the forefront of the Montblanc collection – thereby demonstrating the brand’s rich watchmaking savvy. Among the newest pieces: a special version of the Villeret Exo Tourbillon Chronograph Rattrapante, created in a limited edition of just 18 pieces, with several coming to America for sale in November.

“It is an exciting journey we are on,” says Lambert. “The more we open the brand to the higher complications, the more our team keeps coming up with new ideas. We will always be accessible to our customers, but we also want to offer the unusual.”

With that said, Montblanc does, indeed, have a couple of very unusual new projects on the drawing board – which will come to fruition very soon. Unfortunately for you, at this point in time, we are not able to disclose those secrets –but stay tuned. We will bring the news as soon as possible.