MONTA
Michael DiMartini

Co-founder and CEO Michael DiMartini (right)

 and Justin Kraudel (left)

An Overall Sentiment of Courage
 

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of Michael’s path into horology and business, let’s take a moment to discuss the overall necessity of doing what we love and working hard at it until it works, despite the bumps in the road. It is easy to assume that all successful business people we hear about in the news never make mistakes, otherwise why would they be so successful? They must have a particular talent for creating business strategies or articulating their vision. They must have had a wealthy parent who gave them everything they needed to be successful like a good education and better opportunities. It’s easy to get lost by how flashy these people seem and fall under the impression that it has always been this way for them.  

Well, that would be naive. 

Morgan Housel’s book made everything click for me. We can be successful even if we make bad calculations or poor planning, and even if our business venture—whatever it is—flops repeatedly. Many people would quickly quit after failing more than once, as I have certainly done in the past, but once we find what we are truly passionate about, we discover that we have this superpower to push ourselves beyond the limits of our self confidence and mental courage. I experienced these feelings when I created Mainspring because each time I failed at writing a good article or making the right business connection, I  persevered regardless of the outcome.  

This is Michael’s story as well. He didn’t let previous difficulties drive him away from wanting to create MONTA. He had the courage to learn from his mistakes, have a good laugh at it, and move on to the next project. Again and again, he persevered no matter how difficult the tasks were. He knew he had to work at it relentlessly in order to get it right. The end result of this process is a collection of outstanding watches that the entire watch community raves about. Not only do people say that MONTA makes the best finished watches under $2,000, many watch enthusiasts and collectors see MONTA both as a microbrand and (more importantly) as “a” brand. That is the result of perseverance

The Triumph 

Before MONTA: Everest Bands

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Michael and his co-founders were not new to the watch entrepreneur world before creating MONTA. Indeed, Michael had been a fan of Rolex watches since his childhood when his dad, a physician, used to visit his patients on weekends and would let young Michael play with his Datejust, reference 16013. As he played with the watch, he grew to admire the bracelet and the fact that it didn’t need a battery to operate, leaving a long-lasting impression on Michael that would drive him to later build a collection strong of several iconic Rolex references. Even before having Rolexes in his collection, Michael became close to the watch community by way of the “Watchuseek” forum which he discovered in 2012.  

Before getting into watches, Michael worked as a real estate developer for a decade and  lived through the 2008 recession caused by the housing bubble in the United States. This made things rather tough for Michael and his wife, as he found himself with little to no work and having to part with a Tudor Sports that he had bought not too long before on a trip to Switzerland. Although at the time Michael did not own a Rolex himself, it didn’t stop him from admiring the brand and their models by going on forums. He said that just like we can admire the Mona Lisa without owning it, we can properly admire Rolex without owning one.

This admiration and the struggle to survive during the recession gave birth to the idea of making his own collection of high-end straps for Rolex watches. In fact, it was shortly after the birth of his first son in January 2012 that Michael presented the idea to his wife (while she was still in the hospital!).

It was then that Michael and David, the co-founder of Everest, decided to create their own watch band company. As is the case with many entrepreneurs who get into the watch world, they had to research the watch market and the materials that would later make Everest famous: Swiss-made vulcanized rubber and leather. They found a designer who made a decent prototype that could be used as a basis for their first Kickstarter campaign, which luckily turned out to be a success. Everest has made a name for itself as being the go-to manufacturer of high-quality Swiss-made, custom-fit straps for Rolex, Tudor, and Panerai.  

Despite his later success, Michael did not always get the early support he would have hoped for, as back in 2012, creating a watch business was somewhat looked down upon (now, getting into horology seems like a decent professional path to take, given the resurgence of watches). He was advised several times to “get a real job” in a field like real estate or finance, but Michael had a vision and he persevered, so capitalizing on his success with Everest Bands, he created MONTA.