Manufacturer
Minerva
Also recorded as: Minerva SA · Fabrique d'Horlogerie Minerva · Minerva Villeret · H. & C. Robert
Villeret manufacture known for its own chronograph movements and sports stopwatches.
Minerva traces its origins to a workshop set up in Villeret, in the Saint-Imier valley, in 1858 by the Robert family (Richemont names Charles Robert as founder; other accounts give the brothers H. & C. Robert), at first assembling pocket watches from parts made in the region. In the early twentieth century the firm began making its own movements and became a specialist in chronographs and stopwatches for sports timing; its monopusher wrist chronographs with the 19-9 and 13-20 calibres of the 1920s–1940s are prized by collectors.
Minerva remained a small, specialised manufacture through the quartz era. In 2006 the Richemont group bought it, and it now works as the high-end chronograph workshop of Montblanc, which reissues models based on the old Minerva calibres.
- Country
- Switzerland
- City / centre
- Villeret
- Founded
- 1858
- Status
- Part of Montblanc (Richemont, from 2006)
- Key people
- Charles Robert (founder)
Innovations & specialities
- In-house chronograph movements (19-9, 13-20 calibres)
- Sports stopwatches and timers
Works by Minerva in the catalogue
All 26 records →
Pocket Watches · c. 1925
Minerva pocket watch, Art Deco Single Button Chronograph, circa 1925
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Pocket Watches · c. 1930s
Minerva pocket watch, Single Button Chronograph Black Dial, circa 1930's
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · late 1940s
Minerva 'Jumbo' Chronograph, late 1940s
Analog/Shift (dealer), New York
Wristwatches · c. 1940s
Minerva Big Eye Two Register Chronograph, Tropical Salmon Pink Dial, circa 1940s
Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom
Wristwatches · 1940s
Minerva D.H. German Military Watch, 1940s
Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles
Wristwatches · 1940s
Minerva Oversized Chronograph Black Dial Valjoux 22, 1940s
Bulang & Sons (dealer), Copenhagen
Wristwatches · c. 1940s
Minerva wristwatch, Single Button Chronograph New Old Stock, circa 1940's
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · 1950s
Minerva Chronograph (Ref. VD712), 1950s
Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles
Wristwatches · 1950s
Minerva Steel Chronograph Ref VD712, 1950s
Bulang & Sons (dealer), Copenhagen
Wristwatches · c. 1950s
Minerva wristwatch, ref. 1527, circa 1950's
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · 1960s
Minerva Decimal Chronograph (Ref. VD712), 1960s
Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles
Wristwatches · c. 1960s
Minerva wristwatch, ref. VD712, Chronograph, circa 1960s
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Linked through the Atlas maker authority list, which reconciles the spellings used by different institutions. Attributions are as stated by each holding institution or auction house.
Read and see more
Magazine features
- The Wrist Chronograph, 1913–1975: Monopushers, Compax and the Race to the Automatic
How a stopwatch was moved to the wrist, given a second pusher, calendars and slide rules, and finally an automatic winding rotor in 1969 — told through nineteen chronographs in the catalogue, from an Omega sold in 1913 to a Lemania made for the British forces.
