jrwong23 (aka watchthebin)
[Purist]
13960
Montblanc Boheme ladies collection
Recently, I was asked by a lady colleague to recommend a nice ladies watch for her. Working in the advertising industry, more than 70% of my colleagues are professional ladies who are increasingly into watches (especially those who know me better for I am also known by some here as Vlad junior lol).
She wants a mechanical watch. In her own words, she is over Quartz watches (as she already has a few Quartz watches). She doesn't want a brand that every other girl likes (she said no girly brand).
Both of us went viewing together at some boutiques. Chopard, JLC, Cartier, some ADs. Without biasing her view, I am surprised she was most impressed with the Montblanc Boheme collection! I first saw the Boheme watch collection for ladies at Watches and Wonders in Hong Kong last year and I remember I liked what I saw.
I was quite surprised and I asked "My wife told me she likes girly brands, why do you like the Montblanc Boheme collection?" Her reply was simple: the elegant (yet youthful) looks, with a touch of feminism but not too girly (she actually felt the Chopards and even the JLC rendezvous was a tad girly for her liking for this purchase). She was also impressed with the price points.
To be fair, she is completely not into the movement of the watch and to her, the Boheme's dial and case and the colorful straps at those price points represent good value to her. Personally I believe she was quite surprised to see the other brands priced quite highly compared to the Montblanc Boheme line. She commented that the Bohemes she saw had diamond bezels that are usually more pricey on other brands she knows.
I know many of my female colleagues would all go for the brands that are more popular amongst the ladies especially Cartier and Chopard here. So I asked her "Why a Montblanc which is more well known as a luxury brand for males?". I expected her to say because she wants to be different etc but her response surprised me. She said "Precisely because guys like Montblanc - I want to impress guys and not my fellow girls! Our bosses are guys! The handsome colleagues (minority in the office) are guys..." Lol!!! I felt she was quite smart!
She typically likes bracelet watches due to the hot weather in Singapore. But when I requested the sales rep to show her the blue lacqured dial Boheme, she was won over!
She loved the blue dial! Very interesting again (at least to me) as each time I asked my wife if she wanted a blue dial watch she would say no as it's hard to match clothes and bags etc. My colleague on the other hand felt this was a very special blue and she also loves the blue strap!
The way the blue dial plays with light is also cool. Sometimes it looks a darker blue but with light shining on the dial, the blue becomes quite bright too.
I know she is in love with this piece and have since started saving up for it (I also told her not to buy on impulse but to check more brands first to be sure).
Meanwhile I also checked out some models that my wife may like. She has a lot more conservative tastes in dial colors. I am tempted to get her a watch despite her telling me she likes bags and shoes only. I think this rose gold Boheme will suit her very well.
With a white dial, the gullioche is more obviously and hence gives the dial a much more classy looks. I showed my wife these pics and indeed she prefers this white dial version.
Some other shots. I know my wife will like the 2 colored straps too! Unlikely my colleague, my wife loves the girly designs and colors.
Finally I took a closer look at the case. There are some similarities to the Montblanc Heritage Spirit collection's (previously known as Meisterstuck Heritage collection) case design, especially from the side profile. This makes these two gents' and ladies' collection perfect for a couple watch.
Secretly I hope my colleague will choose the blue dial Boheme. I like that a lot too since I saw it first at Watches and Wonders 2014 and I hope to see it being worn by a nice lady colleague (so I can see it more often too lol).
As for my wife, let's just say my Vlad poison has little effect on her for watches. She still prefers shoes, bags and also Quartz watches that are bling bling lol.
Let's see....well if she doesn't like mechanical watches that much, I can always use that budget for my own watch funds lol!
Cheers
Robin
Montblanc Boheme ladies collection
Great story Robin and are you sure that she ...
