Introducing The New Montblanc 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph With Collective Horology (Live Pics)

Collective Horology is back with another collaborative project, this time with Montblanc. Vintage watch lovers will be excited to hear that it's not just a Montblanc, the new release is an 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph.

The new watch is called the "Blue Arrow" P.05 and comes signed with the Minerva logo. Limited to only 30 pieces, the 42mm steel-cased watch includes two of the most iconic features of Minerva chronograph design. First, is the aforementioned classic Minerva logo. And then there's the eponymous rotating blue timing arrow, controlled by an 18K white gold fluted bezel, originally designed to be easily operated by pilots wearing gloves.

The "Blue Arrow" has a number of other vintage-inspired touches. Yellow subdials and blue scales accent the watch's white lacquered dial. Those designs were drawn from vintage Minerva stopwatches, including one that Gabe Reilly, co-founder of Collective, discovered at dealer Eric Wind’s booth at last year's Worn & Wound Windup Watch Fair. As a reminder, Collective Horology is both a group and retailer that creates collaborative watches and retails independent brands with limited distribution in the US. We covered them as far back as 2019 and as recently as earlier this year. 

From a functional standpoint, the watch has a 30-minute chronograph counter located at three o'clock, with a running seconds counter positioned at nine o'clock. That's all powered by the hand-wound MB M13.21 movement – the current-day descendent of the Minerva Calibre 13.20 – visible through a display caseback. Nearly every component of the movement – with the exception of jewels and a handful of screws – was made in-house in Villeret. With a 60-hour power reserve, the movement has a screw balance with Philips curve, Rhodium-coated German silver bridges with Côtes de Genève, circular graining on both sides, and hand-chamfered edges.

The real (albeit subtle) win for vintage fans is the fact that the dial is double-signed with both the Minerva and Montblanc logos. This is only the second time the Minerva arrow logo has returned on a modern Montblanc watch. The watches are currently being produced and will be delivered in December. This new vintage-inspired Montblanc will run you $34,500.

I'm a fan of vintage Minerva. In fact, one of my favorite vintage watches of the year was an oversized and tropical split-seconds Minerva chronograph sold at the Monaco Legend Auction this spring. That watch was powered by a Valjoux 55VBR movement, however, and when you're celebrating Minerva, you've got to talk about movements.

The Minerva Calibre 13.20 was a classic hand-wound chronograph movement from the 1920s to 1930s. It makes me happy that after Montblanc acquired Minerva in 2007, they didn't just take their technology and know-how and sunset the brand entirely. That's usually how these acquisitions go – it's often hard to forge your own path without being compared to historical successes. But with the inclusion of the MB M13.21, you can see the lineage of the Minerva brand in the new Montblanc.

Making the tooling for recreating a movement is incredibly cost-prohibitive. Luckily, Montblanc not only has the tools, but they have the ability to service every single caliber they’ve made. But when it comes to the 13.20 (now 13.21), they keep making them, with a team of 7 watchmakers who are responsible for these movements from top to bottom. The movement has a column wheel and a lateral clutch; the bridges are made of rhodium-plated German silver, and you'll notice the signature arrow-shaped "Devil'sTail" on the column wheel lever. 

The inclusion of the Minerva stamp on the dial is something that Laurent Lecamp, Managing Director of Watches for Montblanc, told me is the most requested touch for their watches. They've only done it once before and when I showed him that old Minerva split chronograph he drew a little breath as if he was thinking "oh no, not another one of these guys." I would have loved to see the vintage Minerva cursive logo on the dial instead of the Minerva arrow design that adorned the casebacks and movements of old Minerva caliber watches. But I get the sense that probably won't happen in my lifetime, nor will they likely do this stamp any time soon (if ever again).

After handling the watch, I think it checks all the boxes. The winding of the movement is a lot softer than I remember, not hard or crunchy, but the chronograph push is very soft and smooth too. The dial is the standout here. There's just a lot of depth. Oh, and of all things to highlight, the new packaging is pretty cool too. There's a kind of puzzle box quality (a secret to which I won't spoil for you) and the entire thing is hand-made in Switzerland with a lot of historical touches.

At $34,500, it might seem like a steep price. When compared to past 1858 Minerva Monopushers, like our own release or the "Red Arrow" last year, you can see the price has slowly ticked up over the past few years. Part of that, I was told, was due to increased manufacturing costs across the board. Another is due to the lower production run – 30 here instead of 88 in the past – and finally the dial costs more because of the hand production and mix of colors. But the Red Arrow is also sold out and with the craftsmanship put into this piece, I suspect there are enough Minerva fans to sell this release through with no trouble at all.

Brand: Montblanc
Model: 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph "Blue Arrow" P.05 for Collective Horology

Diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 12.5mm
Lug-to-lug: 51.5mm
Case Material: Stainless steel case with 18K white gold bi-directional rotating bezel
Dial Color: Stopwatch-inspired color palette on a lacquered dial
Indexes: Printed, telemeter (outer) and tachymeter (inner) scales,
Water Resistance: 30m
Strap/Bracelet: Black textile strap inspired by the cords used to carry stopwatches

Caliber: MB M13.21 Column-Wheel movement
Functions: Hours, minutes, running seconds, and chronograph with 30-minute counter
Diameter: 29.50mm
Power Reserve: 60-hour power reserve
Winding: Manual
Frequency: 18000 bph
Additional Details: Thermally-blued central chronograph and totalizer hands, Bi-directional rotating blue arrow (operated by 18K white gold fluted-bezel), Screw balance with Philips curve, Devil's tail bridge

Price: $34,500
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: Yes, 30 pieces are available at collectivehorology.com