According to a recent interview with CEO Jérôme Lambert at the company’s Hamburg headquarters, Montblanc’s watch business is on a serious upswing. Another interesting statistic is that women constitute about 35 percent of the clients of this brand.

Montblanc CEO Jérôme Lambert wearing a Heritage Perpetual Calendar

Thus, it stands to perfect reason that the luxury brand boasting two Swiss factories producing well-designed and at times highly complicated wristwatches would not forget women in its campaign to “share its passion for fine watchmaking,” as Lambert put it.

Back at SIHH 2014, the watch world justifiably recognized one of the first examples of the changes Lambert has been instituting at Montblanc since becoming CEO: the Meisterstück Heritage line, whose purpose is to build a bridge to the world of fine watchmaking for the budding enthusiast or connoisseur of the finer things in life.

While the Meisterstück Heritage was released specifically as a partner product to complement the writing instruments’ big anniversary – the iconic Meisterstück pen turns 90 in 2014 and the company released several special editions in various product categories at SIHH to celebrate it – there were no new Montblanc releases in ladies’ wristwatches at the SIHH.

The Montblanc Bohème Date in two-tone stainless steel and red gold with eight diamond markers

And now we find out why. The “partner” line to the Meisterstück Heritage was saved to shine in the spotlight of its own product launch, which took place in August 2014 in Shanghai.

This new line called Bohème continues the brand’s wonderful thought process of effectively introducing fine watchmaking to possible new clients by offering an interesting price for a high-quality product. But if you were to think that you wouldn’t get much for this fair price, which starts at around €2,400, I am here to tell you that you couldn’t be more wrong.

The Montblanc Bohème Date in a 30 mm red gold case: note the automatic movement

In both stainless steel and red gold cases (and even a two-tone mixture of the two), the Bohème Date comes in an elegant 30 mm size that is bound to fit any feminine wrist. Despite its svelte sizing, it is powered by an automatic movement, which is can be appreciated through the sapphire crystal case back. A daintier version coming in at 27 mm is on the way as well, though this model will be quartz due to its much more petite size.

The dial begins the journey toward elegance with its refined typography and blued or red gold hands (depending on the case metal), while the dial material itself can be enhanced with the choice of mother-of-pearl and/or diamond setting. It is available with a date window in addition to the hours and minutes, or as a 36 mm top-of-the-line perpetual calendar.

A perpetual calendar for ladies

This perpetual calendar in the men’s Meisterstück Heritage got people talking at SIHH: serving as the link between the connoisseur’s complication and the beautiful design of a ladies’ timepiece (that also needs to have a jewelry function about it), the Montblanc Bohème Perpetual Calendar Jewelry’s fine silver dial is subtly stamped with a guilloche pattern encircling the calendar displays.

If the watch is kept wound − and most perpetuals calendar watches are kept on winders when not worn − the day, date, month, moon phase and leap year cycle, which are visible at a glance, will never need to be set until the year 2100.

The Bohème Perpetual Calendar’s bezel is embellished with 60 diamonds, and the crown offers the most interesting diamond of all: it is set with a Montblanc-cut diamond (this is a patented diamond cut in the shape of a Montblanc star reflecting maximum sparkle). The whole package is, simply put, beguiling. Particularly for the price.

The men’s Heritage Perpetual Calendar is offered for an unheard-of €10,000 in stainless steel and €16,900 in red gold. The ladies’ Bohème Perpetual Calendar Jewelry version is available for €19,900, and it includes 60 top Wesselton diamonds set around the bezel (just over 0.9 ct total) and the previously mentioned Montblanc-cut solitaire topping the crown.

The Montblanc Bohème Date in the jewelry version

Value for money

Pricing for the automatic Bohème Date begins at €2,400 for the stainless steel version with diamond markers, while the stainless steel version with diamond bezel is just €3,900.

The Montblanc Bohème Date with two tone strap looking very nice on the wrist indeed

Montblanc named this line Bohème, which we would translate into “Bohemian” in English. And while its classically designed case and dial are anything but Bohemian (synonyms: hippie, free spirit) – but rather an interpretation of timelessly classic elegance, in my opinion – I would say that it is the strap combination for the Bohème Automatic Date that one could genuinely describe as Bohemian. And, for the fashion-conscious woman, completely lust-worthy.

The Montblanc Bohème Date on a Montblanc double-wrap leather strap

In fact, this chic two-tone strap represents something unexpected and refined at the same time without having to add the tag “fashion forward.” The leather is made by Montblanc’s own Florence-located pelleteria (leather producer), the same institution that crafts the brand’s other high-quality leather goods. The straps for the Bohème Date are available in two blue tones (stainless steel model) or orange and yellow (red gold case).

The Bohème line also contains jewelry and writing instruments, making for an appealing complete package that allows the fashionable among us females who are interested in expressing ourselves through several levels of quality accessories to do just that.

For more on Montblanc’s SIHH offerings for men, please read Montblanc: A Winner In 2014.

A selection of Montblanc Bohème Date models

For more information, please visit www.montblanc.com.

Quick Facts Bohème Perpetual Calendar Jewelry
Case: 18-karat red gold, bezel set with 60 diamonds (ca. 0.9 ct); crown contains Montblanc-cut diamond
Movement: automatic Caliber MB 19.15 (ETA base with Dubois Dépraz module)
Functions: hours, minutes; perpetual calendar including day, date, month, moon phase, leap year cycle
Price: €19,900