This is a conceptual project and isn’t affiliated to Montblanc. Any use of the brand and logo are solely for representational purposes.
What’s the fanciest pair of TWS earphones you can think of? By fancy I mean, wearing a Rolex or signing documents with a Montblanc fancy. Yeah, I couldn’t think of anything too. Sure, there was a time when wearing Beats headphones were a status symbol, but now everyone wears AirPods, and there’s nothing really premium about them as far as social perception goes. In come the Montblanc TWS Earbuds, a conceptual pair of ear-candy from the mind of Jinwoo Hong. They look classy, and even sport the insignia on the outside, allowing people to notice the brand from a few feet away. They are, in that regard, the perfect flair and perhaps the perfect TWS earbuds to pair with formalwear like a tuxedo.
Designer: Jinwoo Hong
These conceptual Montblanc TWS earbuds have the appeal of cufflinks, with their monochrome design and bold use of Montblanc’s insignia. The earbuds, rather compact, rest in an all-black case with a matte-gloss interplay for drama. Pop open the lid and the earbuds reveal themselves, cradled in their charging docks. They come with silicone tips to ensure a perfect seal when in the ear, and even though there’s little information on the actual details of the earbuds, it’s safe to assume that the Montblanc logos are touch-sensitive, allowing you to tap to control playback, volume, and answer/reject calls.
That cufflink analogy really shines through with how the earbuds themselves are designed. The earbud form is perfectly circular, to mirror the Montblanc logo, and the absence of a stem or overarching earpiece makes them really look great when they’re in the ear, effectively shrouding everything except Montblanc’s branding.
The Montblanc TWS earbuds are a great exercise in understanding luxury. A lot of people equate luxury with opulence, an overdose of gems, gold, etc., but that direction has fast become outdated. In modern times, luxury has found a way to embrace minimalism in a unique way, which is why Steve Jobs wore the same clothes over and over (an attitude that Zuckerberg copied). Jobs and Jony Ive even instilled that thinking into Apple’s line of tech, resulting in phones, tablets, and laptops that strongly evoked the less-is-more approach to great design.
Sadly these Montblanc TWS earbuds don’t exist. They were designed as a form exercise by Jinwoo Hong, who wanted to see how a premium stationery brand’s aesthetic could seamlessly be carried to audio technology. The crossover, although ambitious, works really well, and Hong’s been especially clever with how he’s allowed the brand’s 116-year-long legacy to speak volumes without letting the tech aspect overshadow anything.
