A Midwestern Unboxing...
Fellow Purists, Hoping you are all having a fine weekend, allow me to suggest this is how a true Midwesterner enjoys a mid-morning unboxing. I'm confident you’ll enjoy this moment with me, as well as help answer a couple of important questions a few days’...
Nice watch Frederick and that pie looks delicious
Should have gone with some ice cream or custard with it though. You never know how is looking so posting the box with the full adress is not something i would do.
I fixed the address and have a comparison for you
I recently repaired this watch for a friend, and in looking at your pictures I thought this looks like the same watch. Then I thought No, Fred's got a Minerva. But Minerva is MontBlanc now. Sort of. Anyway, notice the lume and hands This is a larger watch...
Yes, well the pie was killing me. If I could have taken it off with Photoshop, I would have!
Luckily my wife made me s'mores Graham cracker, chocolate, melting marshmallows. These are normally decadent Girl Scout desserts made around the campfire, but in this case kicked up with gourmet chocolate and cinnamon sugar crusted crackers and 30 sec in ...
And you're worried about a piece of pie??? These are a favorite of my Norwegian wife (where did she pick up a taste for such? go figure…) so I sometimes conclude a charcoal-
grilled dinner with same. Your microwave version undoubtedly is less carcinogenic!
Well, my friend, some answers.
I've seem more white hour markers and hands than non matching specimens, true. And sometimes, yellowish hour markers and hands. Not sure there is something wrong here, apart, maybe, the fact that at some time, the hands were changed. Maybe. As for the " b...
Wow! I didn't even see the Arrow problem, I saw the V in Minerva stamped out of line and a sloppy N
We all see different things. Mike
I was heavily engaged with Minerva in Norway during the JJ Frey ownership and also at the TimeZone Minerva forum (long time since that existed).
This is a re-print/summary of some technical information I contributed at that time - after the Gnutti take-over and might be biased by my relationship with JJ Frey. (I am do not believe that has been shared at this forum, if I am wrong, bear with and old...
Dear Kjell, How can we thank you enough for this treasure-trove of information regarding the Minerva Watch Company, and Andre Frey's iconic Pythagore, cal. 48? This is golden!
As I've been a member of this forum for only a few months beyond a year I can't say whether or not we should be concerned about your "failing memory." But I can say that your contribution is exactly the kind of information I'd hoped might turn up. Great t...
Some points to you question
I should believe your watch is from the last batch and was shipped during the last year of the “Frey period”. As for the spearhead - all “modern” Pythagorean’s were made from bins with old parts - and imperfections like this was some of the charm of the o...
So good of you to offer this assessment, Nicolas. I'll naturally wait for more opinions, but at this point my thoughts run along these lines.
1) It's so unlikely that the watch is anything but an original Pythagore. For it seems to me this watch was never popular enough for anyone to profit from slavish copying. A watch-making sweatshop in Malaysia churning out copies of Minerva Grand Pilots? U...
I might - just might - be able to source some original papers, box, poster, brochure.
My associate in the former Minerva business is on vacation, let’s see what I can dig out (watchmakers never throw away anything). To your second point. This movement was made from old parts, except the balance, the hair spring and (maybe) some screws.