Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie - Villeret

Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie

There are only a handful of watch manufactures in the whole world able to cover a watchmaking spectrum that extends from the art of handmade watches according to old Swiss tradition through to the state-of-the-art engineering behind the industry of today. One of these is the Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie, which has grown out of the small, exclusive workshop that was once Minerva. The company was founded in 1858 in the village of Villeret and very soon began specialising in the production of chronographs of the very highest quality. Only very few watch manufacturers can still look back on such a long, uninterrupted history, and over the years Minerva has held fast to the working methods traditionally associated with Swiss watchmaking at its best. It is none other than the art of traditional haute horlogerie, which is carried out largely by hand. Only a very small number of master watchmakers today have the knowledge and expertise needed for this extremely rare and exclusive form of watchmaking.

In order to preserve its authenticity, under Montblanc‘s aegis, Minerva became the Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie, dedicated to classical fine watchmaking and the upholding of traditional skills and special complications. It is thus able to focus completely on its true calling: the art of watchmaking at its consummate best, calling for a wealth of manual skills, authentic Swiss tradition and an extremely high degree of vertical integration.

The name Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858 has stood for timepieces manufactured in accordance with the tenets of traditional haute horlogerie. Each demands such a high level of specialised craftsmanship and finishing that annual production is limited to just a few hundred watches. They are items with a high cultural value and can rightfully be considered very special works of art.