Business News: Minerva Repositions In New Role As “Distinct Entity” Within Montblanc Brand

Minerva, the historic Swiss brand known for its high horology and manufacture in Villeret, will now have separate billing as a distinct entity within the Montblanc brand, with the name Minerva standing alone on the dial of its new watches.

The change marks a notable shift in brand positioning for Minerva, founded in 1858, and long considered the horological jewel within the Montblanc product line, which includes watches, leather goods, and, of course, writing instruments. The separation in identity for watch products in the Montblanc unit continues a shift in assets and products within watchmaking brands controlled by Richemont. The Swiss luxury conglomerate announced, in January, an agreement to sell its Baume & Mercier watch brand to Italy’s Damiani Group.

Minerva was acquired by Richemont in 2006 and integrated into Montblanc in 2007, with watches adopting a double signature bearing both names. In a break from tradition for watchmakers within the Richemont group and signaling the new direction, neither brand will be exhibiting at Watches and Wonders in Geneva this year, and Minerva is releasing new models ahead of the annual salon.

“Montblanc is establishing Minerva as a distinct entity within the Montblanc Maison. This step reflects strong collector interest and the historic legitimacy of the Minerva manufacture, allowing it to further express its identity as a haute horlogerie specialist alongside Montblanc Watches,” Montblanc says in a prepared statement.

To mark the brand’s repositioning as a more independent entity, Minerva is launching a series of new watches, most notably “The Unveiled Crownless,” a modern interpretation that showcases the company’s unique design cues and watchmaking bona fides, with a ‘crownless’ model that subtly nods to its newfound independence. A time-only watch with small seconds, a heritage-inspired dial, and a case measuring 41.5 millimeters in diameter, it features a new in-house, manual-wind, hand-decorated and finished movement, with the time-setting and winding functions operated via the rose gold fluted bezel.

Minerva says The Unveiled Crownless plays off the military watches Minerva started producing in 1927, which were among the first to feature bezel-operated complications that allowed pilots to activate flight-timing functions while wearing gloves. Minerva brought back the bezel-operated chronograph in 2023, highlighting its historic use of the feature. However, this watch marks the symmetry of a truly crownless timepiece.

The textured, warm opaline dial recalls Minerva’s 1950s-era aesthetics with guilloché engraving, a heritage brand logo ‘Villeret 1858’, and beveled, rose-gold-coated hands and indexes with a small seconds display. Framed by a single Arabic numeral 12 above, the watch face uses traditional dial finishing techniques to bring depth and texture, and is priced at €39,000.

The dial layout gives prominence to the rose gold fluted bezel – the touchpoint for both winding and timesetting functions done through bi-directional turns. A lever on the underside of the steel case switches between winding and timesetting. The steel case is 12 millimeters high, with downward-sloping, chamfered lugs that Minerva says improve wearability.

An open sapphire caseback reveals the new, in-house caliber M15.08 movement, a hand-finished, loupe-worthy asset. With a free-sprung balance and hairspring made and set at the Minerva atelier in Villeret, the movement has 139 components. Using rhodium-plated German silver and Côtes de Genève bridges, the movement has links to the Minerva’s historic ‘Pythagore’ calibers featuring the brand’s distinct shape and design language. Beating at a relatively slow 2.5Hz, it offers about 80 hours of power reserve, Minerva says. The watch comes on a dark green alligator strap with a deployant buckle with the singular Minerva logo.

Classic in design, with a hand-decorated and finished new movement and functionality that underlie a clean, simple layout, The Unveiled Crownless represents a worthy headline model to announce Minerva’s restored independent identity.

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