Montblanc once again allows the Minerva brand name to adorn the watches, and releases a time only watch controlled entirely from the bezel. Introducing the Minerva The Unveiled Crownless.
Press Release information with commentary in italics.
New: Minerva The Unveiled Crownless
The Minerva The Unveiled Crownless Ref. 137544 retails at EUR 39,000 / USD 38,000. EUR prices are inclusive of tax, where USD prices are before taxes.
Commentary
After a number of years of suppressing the Minerva brand name, Montblanc has returned to celebrate the glory of one of the mist interesting maisons. The Minerva brand has been in play since its founding in Villeret in 1858. They made a name for high precision watches, and was well known particularly for the chronographs and base movements. It was acquired by the Richemont Group and became part of Montblanc’s watch division. It was not until 2023, that the Minerva branding lives on the dial once again. The iconic move was made to introduce the bezel activated chronograph in a watch they call the Minerva Unveilled Timekeeper. This year, they released a time only watch, available only in steel and gold two tone finish.
The dial looks very nuanced, with a chapter ring featuring a guilloché surrounding a center medallion with an opaline matte finished center. The markers are faceted and appliqué, the numeral 12 in Arabic holding center stage and the other indices being faceted diamond shapes. The hour and minute hands are typical Dauphine hands. The subsidiary seconds dial is sunken and decorated with concentric circles.
The overall two tone look of the watch is rather fetching, with the bezel’s fluting looking more like the teeth on a cogwheel than the more common ones we see. A gold plate carry the identity of the maison being founded in 1858.
The heavy lifting for this crownless watch is done by the bezel, executed in gold. On the case back, Minerva engineered in a lever, which when activated allows the crown function to change from winding to setting the time.
The movement is the C. M15.08, a new movement which is handwound and beating at the classical slow beat 18,000 bph. The movement shows a very nice layout with curved bridges, and at least two fairly sharp inward angles, though the part of the main bridge with the jewels for the canon and third wheels are rounded for efficient machining. But overall, a good looking movement, with the little tell tale devil’s tail as the arrow for the regulating mechanism.
Release information
Minerva’s Crownless Innovations
In 1927, Minerva developed one of the first military watches to include bezel-activated functionality using an indicator, which allowed pilots wearing large gloves to easily set an internal timing ring to measure legs of their flight plan— essential for navigation. Today, bezel-activated functions have become a distinguishing feature for select Minerva timepieces, placing the recognisable fluted bezel into the spotlight both visually and functionally.
After introducing a bezel-activated chronograph through the Minerva Unveiled Timekeeper in 2023, Minerva now unveils its first crownless timepiece: Minerva The Unveiled Crownless, where the bezel becomes responsible for both the manual winding and time-setting functions of the watch. These functions are accessed via a concealed lever in the case back.
Calibre M15.08
In order to assign the manual winding and time-setting functions to the bezel, Minerva had to develop an entirely new calibre: the Calibre M15.08, a time-only, manually-wound movement with small-seconds crafted entirely in-house in at the Minerva manufacture in Villeret, Switzerland. The top power reserve is a full 80 hours, which, given the traditional beat rate of 18,000vph (2.5hz), indicates the large mainspring. Composed of 139 components and featuring curvaceous bridges in rhodium-plated German silver decorated with polished bevel edges and abundant Geneva striping, the Calibre M15.08 carries Minerva’s classic movement architecture and rigorous hand-finishing. Precision is attained via a free-sprung balance wheel with an array of finely tuned regulating weights mounted to an in-house hairspring. The regulator takes the signature shape of Minerva’s arrow.
The Symmetry of a Crownless Watch
Though offered at a modern 41.5mm diameter, Minerva The Unveiled Crownless evokes the meticulous handcraft of Minerva’s earliest wristwatches dating back to the 1920s, a manufacturing tradition carried on today in the same building in Villeret, Switzerland. The timepiece comes presented in a stainless steel and 18K rose gold case that possesses an especially strong symmetry due to its lack of a traditional crown. Measuring 12mm tall, including the 18K rose gold fluted bezel and crystal, the watch offers traditional dress-watch proportions. Chamfered lugs reach downward for a comfortable fit on any wrist, while the fully polished surfaces meet to form precision contours that spell out the subtle curvature of the lugs as they meet the dark green alligator strap with semi-matte finish. A new deployant clasp featuring the Minerva arrow emblem includes a fine adjustment system for convenient sizing.
The dial of Minerva The Unveiled Crownless echoes the design of a 1950s Minerva timepiece, masterfully reinterpreting its colourway, alongside its guilloché engraving and opaline textures. In its configuration, the dial emphasises the poise of the crownless case, with the inset small-seconds at 6 o’clock visually counterbalancing the vintage Minerva logo and rose-gold-coated Arabic numeral ’12’ above. The opaline-textured center dial is set into an outer ring of guilloché engraving onto which the faceted hour markers are applied. These indices are tonally matched by the rose-gold coated beveled hands, a nameplate “Villeret 1858” on the mid -case, and, of course, the signature fluted bezel.
The Crownless Case
The sapphire caseback allows a clear view of the highly decorated Calibre M15.08. On the 3 o’clock side of the caseback’s stainless steel frame is a lever for switching the bezel’s function between winding the movement (lever in) to time-setting (lever extended). Because this lever is discretely concealed in the case-back ring, the harmony of the crownless case stays visually balanced.
Minerva The Unveiled Crownless remains rooted in Minerva’s legacy while also displaying the manufacture’s ongoing dedication to watchmaking innovation at the highest level.
Packaging
Minerva The Unveiled Crownless is presented in a box featuring a secret opening system that makes for a clean appearance as well as an engaging experience for the owner. The box’s elegant natural walnut-veneer is topped with a stainless steel plate with a special engraving of the Minerva manufacture in Villeret, Switzerland, in addition to the RFV logo with Minerva’s arrow. The location of Villeret is also expressed on the latch, which includes an engraving of the village’s coat of arms.
Minerva The Unveiled Crownless Specifications
Movement: Minerva Manufacture Calibre M15.08 * Manufacture hand-finished manually wound movement * Dimensions: diameter 33.3mm, height 4.07mm * Components: 139 * Rubies: 19 * Power reserve: approx 80 hours * Balance: balance with screws diameter 10mm * Frequency: 18,000 bph * Hairspring: flat * Plate: rhodium plated German silver, circular graining on both sides, hand chamfered edges * Bridges: Rhodium-coated German silver with “Côtes de Genève”, circular graining, hand-chamfered edges * Going train: Gold-plated, circular grained, chamfered, diamond hubs on both sides * Displays: Gold-plated, circular grained, chamfered, diamond hubs on both sides
Habillage: Case: stainless steel case, satinated and polished finishing * Bezel: Rose gold 750/1000 (18 karats) bidirectional rotatable fluted bezel, satinated and polished * Crystal: Scratch-resistant, domed box-shaped sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective coating * Back: sapphire crystal back * Dimensions diameter 41.5mm height 11.99mm * Crown No crown * Dial Guilloché signature gold-colored dial with gold-coated indexes * Hands Yellow gold-coated hour and minute hands; yellow gold-coated seconds hand * Wristband Dark green alligator leather strap, semi-matte finish and stainless-steel triple-folding clasp with fine adjustment system
Limited Edition: No
Certified by the Minerva Laboratory Test 500H
