It was 1858 when Charles-Yvan Robert founded a watchmaking workshop in Villeret, in the Swiss Jura mountains, marking the beginning of Minerva. A date and a place that also proved to be central for Montblanc, which acquired the historic manufacture in 2006. This is where the Movement & Innovation Excellence Centre is located.
A small-scale centre where the link with the past and tradition is very strong. Around thirty people work there, dedicated to research and development for the movements, to the production of the 80% of components, to the decoration of the watches, to the production of springs, to the assembly of all movements made in-house, from innovative and avant-garde to small, highly functional complications.
Montblanc's other headquarters is in Le Locle, a small town in the Canton of Neuchâtel in the Jura mountains. Housed in an Art Nouveau villa with a modern basement area where the main activities take place, it is Montblanc's Watch & Quality Excellence Centre.
In the Montblanc Laboratory Test 500, the 500-hour test takes place, the stringent test that every watch must pass before it is put on the market and which includes a series of checks such as normal daily wear and tear, exposure to water, numerous crown settings and adjustments, a wide variety of climatic conditions and verification of their functions.
