Montblanc

The Cal.13-20 chronograph is from the swan-song era of the Frey ownership of the brand and has visually aged perhaps a tad more than the Pythagores from the same period. 

At 37mm it shows in how much smaller a case one can package the Cal.13-20 movement (size wise very much the same at the currently used 13-21), and what that does for proportions and legibility. Admittedly it results in some cut numerals but also in very large - relatively speaking - subdials and hence great usability in terms of the chrono function. 

The Frey era pieces were primarily about function, so even though the first owner got a display case back installed, the finishing of the movement is nowhere near as exquisite as introduced during the Gnutti era and carried over to the current day, while the architecture has the same appeal. 

We will probably never return to something like the Minerva brand of old but vintage pieces definitely have a charm somewhat missing from the current collection, even if they don’t have the finish 😊👍🏻👌🏻

Any other Montblancs / Minerva’s on wrists this week?

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