Montblanc

To me is top notch. I love the classical finishing techniques.the rich cotes de Geneve, the anglage, gold chatons, counter sunk screws, the black polishing and satin finishes, etc. What I noticed today, not sure if by doctrine or by chance, the screw head on the classic minerva V bridge of the chrono lines up perfect with the cotes de Geneve. Cool effect.

Like the VC NAC treatments or even the LF origin finishing. But something about the classic ways too. Does you v bridge screw lineup? Wondering if that is how they do them all?

next to the technical skills at Villeret ;-)

Nico has the skill with no shadows or reflections!

For pics, try a ringlight.

These watches are such gems, they have to be held and played with to be truly appreciated for the high horology they are.

They feel like a bespoke item

I was always curious to know from owners what rate accuracy are you getting with this movement?  I believe MB does 500 hours testing on them?

Obviously hard to generalize from one example, but still.

Also the balance spring is hand made / rolled in-house, not mass produced.

I haven't checked time to second on a watch in years. Especially without hacking seconds.

A true watch lover's brand.  Now that Patek Philippe is totally mainstream...  Many Patek Philippe buyers today are more about the show than the appreciation of the art. 

Not as much with branding and dissemination of information on reference. I have not seen any 100k Patek in person, but in the 50k and less range these are finished better IMO.

I've seen some of the most expensive Patek Philippe timepiecess. And they're well finished. Even the lower end Patek Philippe timepiecess are still well finished. It's not fair to compare finishing between Patek Philippe and Minerva Villeret. The Villeret timepieces are crafted with German Silver which just generally look better finished, but it's still not a fair comparison. Villeret movements are made from German Silver, Patek Philippe movements are made from watchmaker's brass. Brass is simply a material that doesn't look as nice as German silver even after investing the same amount of time and effort to finish it. The striping looks better on German Silver and the anglage can be polished more cleanly and consistently than the watchmaker's brass used in Patek Philippe movements. So simply, the material differences make the comparison less meaningful. But I agree with you, to the eye, the Villeret movement looks great. But in terms of effort and expertise, the Patek Philippe movement isn't necessarily "lesser" just from the appearance alone. If that makes any sense.

Just because it is not as flashy or shiny does not mean finishing was done with less labor or hand craftsmanship. 👍

And also, that Villeret architecture and how they do chronographs, is the best. Better than even the Lemania movement architecture in some ways. Of course, the modern movements are easier to adjust, easier to service, and easier to assemble. The Patek Philippe 5270 movement is "technically" a better and more modern movement than the Patek Philippe 5970. But the charm of these old movements and their architecture really is quite special. And that V bridge on the Villeret... That deep concave kink is just so appealing, and the anglage in the deepest part of the concavity is definitely not easy to finish.