With the 1858 The Unveiled Timekeeper Minerva Limited Edition, Montblanc brings a creative innovation to the single-pusher chronograph by moving the function drive to the bezel. "The bezel was introduced by Minerva in 1927 and our research shows that we were the first to introduce a fluted bezel in the watch industry," Nicolas Baretzki, CEO of Montblanc, told us in an interview. "On the original bezel, there was a red triangle referring to the 12, so the bezel itself had a function. Starting with this element, we said to ourselves: we want to revolutionise the world of chronographs by producing a bezel-operated chronograph. We are known for monopusher chronographs, so the idea was to rotate the bezel to activate the functions in succession, as on the monopusher.
The watch is thus characterised by the absence of push-buttons. The chronograph measurement is activated by a clockwise click of the unidirectional fluted bezel; with the second click, the chronograph stops; with the third click, it resets to zero. This is an additional mechanism on a movement that belongs to Minerva's core specialisation that is chronography, introduced on a watch celebrating the 165th anniversary of the Manufacture and the 100th anniversary of its first wrist chronograph movement (the calibre 13.20).
The movement is in fact the in-house MB M13.21 calibre, a hand-wound mechanical movement with a 60-hour power reserve, a modern version of the historic Minerva 13.20 calibre. Its finishing is visible on the caseback side, which creates a sort of narrative page on Minerva, showing some key dates in the history of its chronographs, separated by small stars of the original logo.
The 42 mm case is available in two versions: in steel with a fluted Au750 gold bezel (a feature that distinguishes all the new timepieces made in the Villeret manufacture) and a blue dial, in a limited edition of 100. Or in Lime Gold with a dark green dial, in a limited edition of 28 pieces only.
Prices46,100 euros (in steel and gold); 61,500 euros (in Lime Gold).
