Today, Collective Horology announces their eighth collaboration in partnership with Montblanc – an 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph evoking the brand’s historical sporting stopwatches. Signed with the Minerva logo on the dial and limited to just 30 examples, the watch is available exclusively at Collective Horology’s online shop (collectivehorology.com).
Attracted by their watchmaking capabilities, distinctive design, and signature complications like the Geosphere worldtimers and Nicolas Rieussec chronographs, Collective reached out to Montblanc in 2021 about working together.
Asher Rapkin, co-founder of Collective notes, “Among Montblanc’s many watchmaking bonafides, perhaps its most commendable is its custodianship of Minerva. When visiting the brand at Watches and Wonders a number of years ago, we were amazed when a Villeret watchmaker disassembled a Minerva movement before our eyes, revealing hand-finishing on all sides of the components, even the undersides of movement elements not otherwise visible.”
Eric wind inspires design
The decision over which product line to work on came into focus the following year at Worn&Wound’s Windup Watch Fair, where the Collective team stumbled across a mid-century Minerva stopwatch offered by Eric Wind of Wind Vintage – a fervent collector of unusual stopwatches. Inspiration came quickly. The stopwatch not only highlighted Minerva’s prominence as a maker of precision chronographs, but also showed the way for a sportier take on the maker’s current collection.
Gabe Reilly, co-founder of Collective explains, “When we saw a mid-century Minerva stopwatch sitting in Eric Wind’s case, lightning struck. Not only was the historical significance of Minerva palpable and compelling, but the opportunity to create a sportier take on the current collection was clear as day. Needless to say, we immediately purchased the stopwatch, and began work on design.”
With the inspiration in-hand, the Montblanc and Collective teams developed an 1858 Monopusher Chronograph drawing on the design, colors, materials and finishes of Minerva’s mid-century stopwatches. It begins with the watch’s white lacquered dial, accented by yellow subdials and blue scales drawn from Minerva stopwatches. Additionally, the thermally-blued hands, countdown arrow, and steel case also nod to those legacy watches. Likewise, the textile strap is meant to evoke the nylon cords typically affixed to sporting stopwatches.
The sum total of these details: a watch that brings a fresh, sporting take to the Villeret chronograph family, yet feels right at home.
The eponymous "blue arrow"
At the top of the dial is the rotating blue timing arrow, controlled by a bi-directional 18K white gold fluted bezel. The arrow adds another timing complication to the watch, based on historical Minerva stopwatches and wristwatches. In 1927, Minerva introduced a stopwatch with an internal rotating bezel for countdown timing. This was followed in 1939 by a chronograph wristwatch – known affectionately as the "Red Arrow” – featuring a fluted rotating bezel, designed to be easily operated by pilots wearing gloves. The arrow is not only functional, its use in Minerva watches is a nod to the Roman deity Minerva, the goddess of craftsmanship, who carried a spear with an arrow at its tip.
The watch’s functions are rounded out by a 30-minute chronograph counter located at three o’clock, a small second counter positioned at nine o’clock, and the chronograph seconds indicated by a central hand. Finally, a telemeter scale runs around the outside of the dial along with a tachymeter (base 1000) in the center with a colimaçon snail shape.
Minerva on the dial
Perhaps the most significant design detail can be found in plain sight. The dial is double-signed with both the Minerva and Montblanc logos at six and twelve o’clock respectively. The prominence of the Minerva logo to the dial is a recognition of the deep love many enthusiasts have for the brand and the legendary chronograph caliber that lies within.
Hand-finished Minerva caliber
Of course, at its core the P.05 is a Minerva chronograph through-and-through. The watch is powered by the legendary, hand-wound MB M13.21 movement – the current-day descendent of the Minerva Calibre 13.20, first produced in 1923. The architecture features the same V bridge as the original, a shape that was inspired by the view of the mountain ridge seen from the windows of the Villeret workshop. In fact, nearly every component – with only the exception of jewels and a handful of screws – is made in-house in Villeret.
Painstakingly finished, each movement requires more than two full days of handwork to decorate. Even the underside of each component is finished by hand. Perhaps the quintessential demonstration of Minerva’s commitment to finishing is the Devil’s tail lateral clutch – a lyrical design flourish which showcases Minerva’s skill at hand-finishing internal angles.
Laurent Lecamp, Managing Director Montblanc Watches, explains, “In our Villeret manufacture, we have watchmakers dedicated to specific calibers. This allows us to know which watchmaker assembled which timepiece, and we offer our end customers the very unique opportunity to meet ‘their’ watchmaker! This is in particular what we offer with the 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph P.05 for Collective. On top of it, each of our timepieces is fully assembled, disassembled and reassembled before delivery. Last but not least, we meticulously monitor the evolution of our pieces over time. As a result, we are one of the last manufacturers in Switzerland to be able to repair all the calibers we have manufactured, from day one.”
Pricing & availability
The Montblanc 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph “Blue Arrow” P.05 for Collective is limited to 30 pieces and priced at $34,500 USD. Watches are currently in production, and will ship December 2023. Pre-orders are open now exclusively at collectivehorology.com.
