Brunmontagne

Brunmontagne

We are a watch brand from the Netherlands with a vision of our own. We offer you a destinctive but minimalistic design. A true statement for every occasion. We want you to feel represented by our watches. We love to see you as a true “Representor” together with hundreds of like-minded customers around the world. You wear Brunmontagne becuase you know what you like; no one has to tell you that. You want quality and you want people who know it to recognise it. You wear a watch that stands out because of it’s design and not just because of it’s name. A real watch with a genuine pricetag . The value for money makes the watch within reach, but at the same time nice to give or get. A watch befitting life’s beautiful moments. Pascal Bruinenberg Brunmontagne
The story of Brunmontagne

The story of Brunmontagne

The story of Brunmontagne began in the summer of 2018 during my search for a new watch for myself. After a long search, I came to the conclusion that I was not going to find the watch to top my, at that time, Hamilton Jazzmaster Auto Chrono. That watch had the ideal picture for me at that time, minimalist and all-round. Now you may wonder why I couldn't find the watch I wanted in a world where everything is available. In daily life I worked for over 8 years as an account manager and I wanted a watch that really said something about me as a person, something unique. A watch that I could wear anywhere and anytime, business and personal.

After a few months, I came up with the idea of designing my own ideal watch. Admittedly, I was not known to people who know me as a handy and technical person. In fact, I find myself cooking at home while my girlfriend is working on our house. Something I am, however, is practical. So I figured I could definitely do this and so I simply started drawing. Well, I soon found out that I could not draw a straight line on paper, so working out my own design on paper was not going to be a success. My practical side came to the fore again and I decided to start drawing in Paint, not the most obvious thing, but certainly something I could work out my idea in.

After an evening of designing, I had finally worked out my first design, drawn purely from myself, without having a concrete design in mind. Since I like to share my enthusiasm with others, I soon started sharing my design with clients, friends, acquaintances and family. The reactions I received were immediately very positive. Even so positive that I decided to take my design to a business client of mine specializing in metalworking. There they told me that it was possible to make a special mold based on the design. All I would have at that moment was a mold, nothing more than that. In short, I parked my thoughts. However, this customer gave me the tip to go order watches and then dismantle them to get a better feel for them, so that's what I did!

During all this, I got to the point where I wanted to order some watches, so I contacted a manufacturer asking them to manufacture some watches for me. What I didn't realize right away was that I was apparently tendering. As a result, I received proposals from 12 manufacturers, so I grabbed back to my practical side. I contacted the manufacturer who thought best along with me and unconsciously, in doing so, I took the best choice I had made to date. We got further into conversation and as the contact progressed I was asked if I possibly had my own design that I would like to do something with. After a good night's sleep I decided I had nothing to lose, after all I only wanted to have 1 watch made for myself. I sent them a picture I had taken from the screen of my laptop and the response I received was very positive. So positive that they suggested we take this further, something I thought was a good idea! This resulted in a follow-up where we spent several months working out my design, I gave the input, they helped me with the technical aspects.

After several months, the design was ready and I was about to have the first watch manufactured, until a good friend came up with the suggestion of a rose gold variant. Then another friend came up with the suggestion steel/blue and another suggested the all-black variant. So one watch became four watches. I decided that after months of development we could start, but then the response came back from the manufacturer; we're not going to do it, sorry. One did not agree with the design because it was too complex to manufacture. After negotiations with management, we came to a new agreement and a "go" was still given. The prototypes arrived in November of 2018 and in between some business appointments I drove home to pick up the package. This went straight to my next appointment, where we got to hold the watches together for the first time, wow!

It had cost me a small fortune all in all, but I just had my own designed watch, how cool was that. As mentioned, I can't keep my enthusiasm to myself and shared it with everyone. The inevitable question became, when can I order one from you? Since this was not planned, my answer was invariably that there was no such option. But after hearing this over and over again I took these words back. I decided to get started with Brunmontagne!

Brunmontagne is derived from my last name Bruinenberg. It's a translation I found using Google Translate, Brun = Brown and Montagne = Mountain in French. The first real print run of the Representor (Brunmontagne's first watch) was ready in May 2019, and I decided that I would like to personally hand off as many of the watches as possible to my first customers. I wanted to see the reactions of the customers themselves so I scheduled the appointments. In addition to these appointments, I met with several professionals in the watch world to ask them to critically review the watches as well. The reactions were very positive and it was really great to see the joy in the eyes of the first customers.

The name of the first watch, the Representor, came from my daily work at that time, account manager/representative. In addition, I thought it was an appropriate name since it represents my entry into the world of watches. Coincidence or not, my clients now also call themselves Representors, but from Brunmontagne. I must admit that I am very proud of that! Suddenly my watches and Brunmontagne's story were picked up by a Dutch forum about watches, Horlogeforum. This took it all a big step forward. The watches were very well received and thanks to all the meaningful feedback, the brand has even expanded with new models at the forum's intercession, steel/green, rose gold/green and steel black which have also been very well received, also outside the forum. I may say that to this day I am really enjoying this great experience. The past years have flown by and I still enjoy it every day. You may have noticed, but the story is written purely from myself. No whipped up story with all kinds of fancy marketing slogans. Just an enthusiast who happened to get the chance to enter the world of watches. People who know me personally will also agree that there is one thing I value highly, trust and openness.

In 2021 Brunmontagne even won an election to release a limited edition watch for the Dutch Watch Forum! This watch is shown in the picture above and has been incredibly well received by members.

In short, this is the story of Brunmontagne to date. It has brought me personally a watch that I am incredibly proud of and in addition it has brought me a wonderful story which I am happy to share with everyone. In fact, I have a wide range of great stories from my customers that I love to share.

Thanks for reading!

With kind regards,

Pascal Bruinenberg

Owner Brunmontagne