Horological Meandering

Friends,

On the wrist today … Minerva 38 mm “blue hands” model ref A482 with the Pythagore calibre 48 … with its orginal bracelet.

This neo-vintage piece is rather rare, made by Minerva owner and master watchmaker Jean-Jacques Frey in 1999. Very few were made. I guesstimate about 50 made … possibly less.

Many may not know that many years prior, Frey created the Venus caliber 175 which would go on to eventually evolve into what we today know to be the Valjoux 7750.

The Minerva company would be sold in the year 2000 (first to the Gnutti family and eventually come to be owned by the Richemont group).

Montblanc reserves the use of Minerva movements to its most highend watches only. Don’t be confused seeing the lower-end lines that say Villeret and such with solid casebacks. They do not have Minerva calibres within.

While MontBlanc has treated the heritage of the brand well, we now see the Montblanc logo on the dial instead.

Personally, I love seeing the Minerva logo on the dial and will always treasure this one in my collection. There are somethings that money alone can not buy.

Thanks for reading. Hope you found it interesting. Do share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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The proportions look just right, you wear it well. Thanks for sharing !

You can argue with the larger dial but it does provide for a full size, uncut index at 6 and the bracelet comes in handy in warmer climates in this part of the world!

For me, I prefer no partially eaten numbers on dials. Especially chronographs.




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I would rather they not have them, move the subdial, or shrink the numerals/indices looks so much better.

As an aside, it was a marketing blunder by Montblanc to not use the Minerva name exclusively on its high end pieces. The name Montblanc simply doesn't carry the same weight in the watch world that it does in the world of writing instruments. 

The colab between a collective horology and MonBlanc saw a small Minerva stamp at the bottom to replace 6 o’clock.

That’s the closest I’ve seen this far for “Minerva” to make it back on the dial.


Picture from Revolution

I agree… it was and is a mistake for MB to not have “Minerva” on the dial.

Perhaps they should have done the opposite … have “Minerva” right at the top in its original font and have “MB” as the secret in small font between 4 & 5

The other thing that MontBlanc is doing now is confusing people. Intentionally or not, but even the lower end pieces with factory mass produced calibres are starting to use the Minerva name, Villeret and 1858 in marketing.

A collector friend said to me rather foolishly a few months ago that “Minerva’s are easy to get at MontBlanc”. He was in fact referring to the low end stuff that do not have Minerva calibres.

Anyway, I hope the Richemont/Mont Blanc brand guys read this and start thinking about how to better leverage the Minerva name without detracting away from the MB name.

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I see what you mean now.

https://www.watchgecko.com/blogs/magazine/montblanc-1858-the-unveiled-minerva-monopusher-chronograph

Thanks for the reminder about this one.

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You wear it well!

Thanks for sharing.
Best, Emmanuel

The Venus cal 175 is not designed by André Frey, He has never worked for Fabrique d'Ebauches Vénus S.A. Before Minerva, André Frey worked for Lip in France.

I was too fast to write my original post and also failed to make it more clear and accurate.

I based my claim on the link of Frey on this and another post (which I’m tying to find). Either way, it was not accurate for me to generalise the link of Frey to the Venus 7750 as directly as I did.



I’ll research further and revert here on what I find. Please do also share some more of any links of Frey to the Venus/Valjoux companies.

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Source: people.timezone.com
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I love the Frey era Minervas! Your 38 mm is a beautiful watch. I bought my 34 mm Pythagore 25 years ago. 

Lovely dial. Has all the classic simplicity that we have come to appreciate from the Frey pieces from the late 90’s.

A collectors item. Congratulations 🤝

Not getting one of those  when they were available.... 

I have a "hit list" now and when I see one on the list, I don't hesitate.