NARRATIVE WIZARDRY

Montblanc Managing Director of the Watch Division Laurent Lecamp explains the importance of dramatic authenticity

- ASHOK SOMAN

Watchmaking is full of amazing storytellers. One need only look at the example of Abraham-Louis Breguet for confirmation. He was an amazing watchmaker who might just have been an even more accomplished narrative wizard. Breguet was by no means alone, with Constant Girard perhaps outdoing him with the famous Three Gold Bridges pocket watch. One thing is clear with these examples though: the watches need to be stars of the stories, not supporting characters. To use 21st century creative speak, the watch must be the emotional heart of the story.

A contemporary brand that is in prime position to inherit the mantle of the greats of the past is none other than Montblanc. And if you are thinking that writing instruments have a perhaps ironic role to play here, Montblanc Managing Director of the Watch Division Laurent Lecamp will want a word.  

We know Lecamp relatively well here, with the youthful senior executive having starred in these pages a number of times. He will likely put in a return appearance at Watches and Wonders Geneva next year. Lecamp is himself a prodigious storyteller, as we have noted before, but he is always careful to position the watches as the main characters. Lecamp is just the man giving voice to the work of the watchmakers at Villeret and Le Locle, the two manufactures of Montblanc.

LEGACY BUSINESS