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Montal - watch case makers?

Shortie

Shortie

master brummie
Does anyone know of this factory which I believe was in the Jewellery Quarter. They moved around 1947ish to Cheltenham. I may not have the spelling correct, but I would like to know where they were please.

Shortie
 
Montal Watch Fittings Ltd. watch material mkrs. 235 Icknield st 18. TA" Montal; " Northern 2684. It is the building in red near hockley station


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Thanks Mike. I always thought they were near Northampton Street for some reason.

Cheers, Shortie
 
I only have them listed there 1944-46. In 1943 they are not listed. Could the company have been called something else before then at Northampton St (but still used the trade name Montal for te products?
Mike
 
I don't know Mike, but the Northampton Street was only an assumption on my part. My aunt, who se funeral it was last Wednesday worked at Johnstone's in Northampton Street before the war (she was born in 1919). She met her husband who worked for Montal, and married him in 1939. He apparently joined the RAF but worked for Montal after the war, then the company moved to Bouncer's Lane in Prestbury, just outside Cheltenham in 1947/1949. I had assumed that as she lived in Yardley Wood before her marriage and given the longer working hours in the day, that she would not have really moved about much in the JQ, just gone to work, and gone home, so I assumed that uncle Bob had worked in the same street. I got it wrong, obviously! Bob died last year, and at both funerals there were people who had worked at Montal in Cheltenham, and it just made me curious as to where it was. All I know about Montal that it was Swiss owned. I guess you could be right about another name, perhaps we shall never know.
 
Did you know tha the firm went into voluntary liquidation last year. Page no longer available but cached at https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6bRWsp3_5owJ:www.insolvencylist.com/InsolvencyList/details.php%3Fserial%3D304498+%22montal%22+watch+birmingham&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&source=www.google.co.uk / . They seem to have made straps for Omega and were incorpoarated in 1919, though can't fond where they were before Icknield st, as descriptions of company seem to be (or rather may be) on forums you have to join
Mike
 
That's interesting Mike, I had no idea what they actually made, just the name of the company. I wonder if they made part or all of my watch bracelet - I have an Omega mini Constellation. I had thought after reading your previous post that perhaps Bob worked nearer Northampton Street before the war and went to work at Montal after he left the RAF, then moved with them to Cheltenham. It's funny that the firm decided to move there, as Bob's mother originated in Cheltenham, and so did his wife's mother (my gran). We probably will never know the full story, it's not really important, but just nice to know. Thanks again.

Shortie
 
 
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