Montblanc

mkt33
[PuristS]
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Significant changes were made

Hi Andrew,  great question!

I don't think anyone realized how "defunct" Minerva was during the last days of the 1990's before it changed hands.

"Minerva was always considered a ‘value for money’ brand; not high horology, but good design with finishing where it mattered. "

Absolutely true but in the end, Minerva's workmanship was spotty and used old components to craft together new watches for sale.  Even Ei8htohm's review of the much acclaimed Pythagore demonstrated this.

A lot of the credit that has gone into the transition from the "old Minerva " to what it is now has to be given to the Italian group.  When Magnus Bosse visited and documented his trip (you can read his report on Ornatus Mundi) you can tell that a lot of resources were put into renovating and updating the equipment.

Some key skill people left over during the ownership change were there to continue the manufacturing ( springers, stampers) but alot of young watchmakers were brought in and trained under the watchful eye of Mr. Cabiddu. Some new equipment were purchased to bring the manufacturing aspects up to date so Minerva could do things "in house".  Nothing left over from the "old Minerva" could ever produce something as beautiful as this new generation of Minerva watches.

How expensive was this undertaking?  Well, the Italian group ran out of money! 

Montblanc / Richemont took over and continued the process (think about taking a beautiful old mansion and completing the restoration after an initial owner assumed the project and it was a bigger task than originally concieved)

Every professional knows how time consuming and expensive it is to train one person...imagine now training over a dozen young watchmakers to expertly finish each part to the standards required.  To the level where as an expert watchmaker you would feel comfortable engraving your name and be associated with this timepiece forever ( ask the people in line for over 4 years waiting for their Volker Vyskocil...not that MB is at that level of compulsion but I suspect that Mr. Cabiddu is close) 

Look at Mr. Cabiddu hovering over one of his pupils ( I love seeing this type of mentoring)

It takes 1 month to complete a watch from scratch to finish...

All the facilities were updated and expanded.  The colorful history of Minerva was expertly preserved and kept alive with a new exhibition hall (whether or not this is a wise use of resources is up for debate, I think it was)

For comparison pictures by Dr. Bosse in 2005, 2 years after the Italians took over

Look at what MB did to build upon this initial work

So there is a lot of change at Villeret:  updated expanded physical structure, new skilled staffing

There is a lot of change in the Minerva timepieces.  I do not think there is much argument: there is a striking difference in quality from "historical/vintage Minerva" timepieces to the current watches.  The first generation of watches after the transition from the Italian group to Montblanc were the same except for different dials but now we see new calibers and watches like the Grande Regulateur being released.

There is a lot   of change in focus as well.  One of Mr. Cabiddu's prime goals is to preserve and ensure the survival of traditional watchmaking.  To this effect, money has been spent to support  the training of young watchmakers not only at the Institut de Recherche but to support other groups dedicated to the same mission (i.e Time Aeon).

Whether or not all these changes bring "value" to a Montblanc Villeret timepiece is up to the collector.

I can understand and appreciate the price asked for these watches though.

I want one...

Do you?

Cheers, Mike