Montblanc at the Fountain Pen Hospital

[dbs]

On 4/22/2024 at 9:51 PM, marlinspike said:

The mistake they are making is, if the reason they are giving the stores they are ending their relationship with is believed, that they are killing off the retailing by businesses which they perceive compete with their own boutiques too much, which means they are essentially targeting their most effective retail channels.

 

The boutique (and boutique only) idea is brought in by Omega around 2010. After that, many watch brands follow this trend and it has many benefits:

   1) eliminate the middle man, means more profit for manufacturers

   2) control the market stock, quickly know which design is better

   3) better relationship with customers

   and most important, 4) avoid situation Rolex/Patek facing now(sales of those two brands now are mostly controlled by "God Fathers", see Chicago CD Peacock court record)

 

Richemont group is a watch group, every step it has done on Montblanc follows the market direction that watch industry has taken.  In a few years, I will not be surprised the Montblanc would be a boutique only brand. It might not be able to work with fountain pen, but this is a knowing direction.

 

 

[gerigo]

I have more Montblancs than I care to admit, and do have a pen that is in the 10k range. But I have walked away from the brand myself because the prices are spiraling to a level that I can no longer sanely buy. Plus there are more interesting pens and makers coming out with pens that are in the what I would consider to be sane prices.

[NoType]

4 hours ago, marlinspike said:

Perhaps, or perhaps they're milking their customer eventually comes to a crescendo as others like me also walk from the brand. Sure, they have customers who spend more than $10,000 on a single pen, but I would still wager over $10,000 in Montblancs is pretty committed as far as customers go to now be walking.

@marlinspikeI agree that that is a good definition for being committed to a brand.

[NoType]

3 hours ago, dbs said:

 

The boutique (and boutique only) idea is brought in by Omega around 2010. After that, many watch brands follow this trend and it has many benefits:

   1) eliminate the middle man, means more profit for manufacturers

   2) control the market stock, quickly know which design is better

   3) better relationship with customers

   and most important, 4) avoid situation Rolex/Patek facing now(sales of those two brands now are mostly controlled by "God Fathers", see Chicago CD Peacock court record)

 

Richemont group is a watch group, every step it has done on Montblanc follows the market direction that watch industry has taken.  In a few years, I will not be surprised the Montblanc would be a boutique only brand. It might not be able to work with fountain pen, but this is a knowing direction.

 

 

Thank you @dbs for this insightful analysis of the boutique-centric marketing strategy. 

[NoType]

On 4/24/2024 at 12:47 AM, gerigo said:

I have more Montblancs than I care to admit, and do have a pen that is in the 10k range. But I have walked away from the brand myself because the prices are spiraling to a level that I can no longer sanely buy. Plus there are more interesting pens and makers coming out with pens that are in the what I would consider to be sane prices.

@gerigo As you are someone who is knowledgeable and has firsthand experience with several Montblanc models, going forward it will be a loss to the forum regarding Montblanc future releases.  However, your perspective is completely understandable and your assessment of the industry is spot-on.

[marlinspike]

6 hours ago, dbs said:

 

The boutique (and boutique only) idea is brought in by Omega around 2010. After that, many watch brands follow this trend and it has many benefits:

   1) eliminate the middle man, means more profit for manufacturers

   2) control the market stock, quickly know which design is better

   3) better relationship with customers

   and most important, 4) avoid situation Rolex/Patek facing now(sales of those two brands now are mostly controlled by "God Fathers", see Chicago CD Peacock court record)

 

Richemont group is a watch group, every step it has done on Montblanc follows the market direction that watch industry has taken.  In a few years, I will not be surprised the Montblanc would be a boutique only brand. It might not be able to work with fountain pen, but this is a knowing direction.

 

 

I think you're absolutely right that they are doing the watch model (or is it the LV model? Not sure who started on that path first), but I also think it doesn't bode well for them that they have been selling watches for almost 30 years now, yet still nobody cares about Montblanc watches and Montblanc is still having to force retailers to carry the watches if they want to carry the pens. Of course, all it would take is some watch influencers to push Montblanc like they did Cartier and suddenly they'll have demand. I don't think the model will ever work for the pens (it's going to be hard to get bitcoin bros and executive technical advisors at big tech to care about pens), but that's probably why they are selling watches, headphones, and backpacks now, so it will work out for the company even if it kills the pens.

[NoType]

10 hours ago, marlinspike said:

it doesn't bode well for them that they have been selling watches for almost 30 years now, yet still nobody cares about Montblanc watches and Montblanc is still having to force retailers to carry the watches if they want to carry the pens.

@marlinspikeAfter having released the 75 Years of Passion and Soul Skeleton Watch to accompany the Skeleton Pen (the pen being recently received after a five-year wait by @mosh_2k7), one would have thought that Montblanc would be recognised for horology, but I suppose a single model, no matter how spectacular, was insufficient.

[marlinspike]

24 minutes ago, NoType said:

@marlinspikeAfter having released the 75 Years of Passion and Soul Skeleton Watch to accompany the Skeleton Pen (the pen being recently received after a five-year wait by @mosh_2k7), one would have thought that Montblanc would be recognised for horology, but I suppose a single model, no matter how spectacular, was insufficient.

In terms of actual sales I believe the pen has always been worth a fair bit more than the watch. The best thing about Montblanc watches is if you can find the one you want at a seller who wants it gone within 1 year, you can get a great price.

[NoType]

1 minute ago, marlinspike said:

In terms of actual sales I believe the pen has always been worth a fair bit more than the watch. The best thing about Montblanc watches is if you can find the one you want at a seller who wants it gone within 1 year, you can get a great price.

@marlinspikeI must confess that as an enthusiast of Vacheron Constantin, and an admirer of their vintage ultrathin skeletonised manual calibre 1003 and automatic calibre 1120, I have never been seduced by Montblanc’s watches, save for their aforementioned 1999 skeleton model.  But it is good to know that negotiation for Montblanc watches is possible, knowledge which might come in handy were I to consider gifting a pen-and-watch combination for a Montblanc connoisseur.

[torstar]

Montblanc Pens — Be Urbane (be-urbane.com)

 

just a stroll by one of the main MB carriers letting me indulge in pen/cigar/shaving stuff...

 

the front left and right sections are MB, i guess they have maintained the quota relationship for my 25 years in the financial district... 

 

 

 

 

 

[PenchantRx]

On 4/24/2024 at 3:47 AM, gerigo said:

I have more Montblancs than I care to admit, and do have a pen that is in the 10k range. But I have walked away from the brand myself because the prices are spiraling to a level that I can no longer sanely buy. Plus there are more interesting pens and makers coming out with pens that are in the what I would consider to be sane prices.

I agree with that 100% (though I've only owned a few Montblancs, with none being close to the $10k range).  Years ago I owned a 149 and though I liked it a lot, it was way overpriced for what it was and I'd have probably been just as happy with a Pelikan M800.  Some of MB's recent offerings are just gaudy in my opinion.

 

Too bad about FPH.  The new website looks horrible, and it just tells me they're on their way out.

[Seney724]

4 minutes ago, PenchantRx said:

I agree with that 100% (though I've only owned a few Montblancs, with none being close to the $10k range).  Years ago I owned a 149 and though I liked it a lot, it was way overpriced for what it was and I'd have probably been just as happy with a Pelikan M800.  Some of MB's recent offerings are just gaudy in my opinion.

 

Too bad about FPH.  The new website looks horrible, and it just tells me they're on their way out.

IMO, this has nothing to do with Montblanc's eliminating them as an authorized dealer.

I think it can all be attributed to their "new" ownership which is now nearing the one year mark.