On the great glacier with Laurent Lecamp

“Welcome to the ice cave, right in the middle of the Mer de Glace,” begins Laurent Lecamp. The managing director of Montblanc’s watch division is almost shouting to be heard as he braves a tempestuous wind and ice spray. The largest glacier in France, the ‘sea of ice’ is 7 km long and 200 m deep and is located in the Chamonix valley, where some of the world’s famous mountaineers mastered ice walking. Which brings us back to Lecamp’s storytelling — months ahead of Watches & Wonders, he chose this location to talk about his debut collection at Montblanc since taking over as watch head.

It is also the perfect backdrop for the passing of the baton from legendary mountain climber Reinhold Messner to mountaineer Nimsdai Purja. Messner was one of the first to climb Mount Everest without the assistance of supplementary oxygen in 1978, and in 2020, Montblanc created the 1858 Geosphere in his honour. Meanwhile, among the watches launched at Watches & Wonders last week is the 1858 Geosphere Zero Oxygen watch. This May it will be tested by mountaineer Nimsdai Purja in an ascent of Mount Everest, again, without supplemental oxygen.

The 1858 Geosphere Zero Oxygen and the 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date

Lecamp, 43, has been credited with bringing a special kind of energy to the maison. A lover of nature, he talks about being a runner and prefers the extreme weather of the mountains. “When I was a child I was always kissing the trees,” he chuckles. “I still do.” Lecamp will be climbing Mont Blanc in August. “When I joined the company, I asked them to give me as many books to read about the brand. And realised, despite its heritage, nothing specific was done to celebrate this famous glacier,” he explains. This month’s launches, therefore, include the brand’s first watch made for divers, the 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date.

It comes with a dial, in three colours, that resembles the characteristics of ice found in glaciers. Lecamp talks about how they rejected close to 50 glacier dials before arriving at what he wanted, involving an old technique called Gratte Boise tor the textured effect. “They told me ‘you are crazy, the thickness of the dial is 0.4 mm, how do you want to showcase the grooves, vents and colours?’ I knew we needed to meet the right dial maker. It is magical when it catches the light,” he continues. The watch conforms to the ISO 6425 standard for diving, is priced under Euro 3000, and has an engraving of an iceberg and a diver on the case back.

From left to right: Diane Schumacher, Reinhold Messner, Vincent Montalescot (Executive Vice President Marketing of Montblanc), Nimsdai Purja, Laurent Lecamp (Managing Director of Watch Division at Montblanc), and Stephanie Radl (Director International Public Relations & Cultural Affairs at Montblanc)
| Photo Credit: Julien M Hekimian

Perceived value is one of the strategies that both Lecamp and Montblanc CEO, Nicolas Baretzki, have been focussing on this year. Lecamp, who used to be Executive Vice-President at Carl F Bucherer and has visited India often during that time, observes that trips to Chennai, Hyderabad and more than 14 Indian cities, have taught him many lessons. “I love India. When you are with an Indian customer, he often asks about a discount. And they all want an amazing story.”

In 2015, Lecamp wrote a book, Independent Luxury, where he explored the challenges of creating independent luxury brands in gastronomy, automobiles, jewellery, watchmaking and fashion accessories. He also has the experience of creating an independent watch brand himself, Cyrus, in 2010.

This month also sees the launch of the new 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph Red Arrow LE88, with a homage to the goddess. But what we are most excited about is the 1858 Geosphere Zero Oxygen watch, cased in an oxygen-free vacuum compartment by Montblanc’s watchmakers. This will prevent fogging and oxidisation and protect the movement. With only 290 pieces (for the 29,031 feet that Purja will climb) the watch retails for $8,600. As for Lecamp, his next challenge will be to help Montblanc fans experience Purja’s ascent in May. A livestream, perhaps?