This Bezel Does It All: Introducing The Minerva The Unveiled Crownless
What’s the best watch-related invention ever? I realize it’s not an easy question to answer, but please, give it a go. I asked myself the exact same thing, and I concluded that it has to be the crown. We have Jean-Adrien Philippe to thank for that. Now we have the Minerva, The Unveiled Crownless, the latest watch to challenge both Philippe’s invention and my answer to this rather poignant question. Let’s take a closer look at a very round, symmetric timepiece that’s slightly confusing to the eye and which boldly introduces a rare, intriguing concept. And nothing begs more for a hands-on experience than a crownless watch.
Jean-Adrien Philippe (1815–1894), indeed, the other half of Patek, thought of something 99.9% of all wristwatches are outfitted with for your practical pleasure. At the age of 25, the very talented watchmaker built his first self-designed movements and began exploring a revolutionary idea that would come to fruition in 1842: a method for winding a pocket watch and setting its hands without a key. A crown directly connected to the movement inside the watch case replaced the separate key. Philippe described his stem-winding system as “a simpler, more solid, and more convenient system than has ever existed before.” So, what about keyless and crownless winding and setting, using the bezel instead? The Minerva The Unveiled Crownless is here to convince you that this is yet another step higher on the evolutionary ladder of horological progress.
Introducing the Minerva, The Unveiled Crownless
Crowns nowadays come in all shapes and sizes. Some are screwed in to help ensure water resistance, but hidden and retractable crowns are also available. You can also wind and set your watch with the case back, but that’s very unusual and quite “Freaky.” The vast majority of watches, simple and ultra-complicated, use a crown. We now take it for granted, but it is a feature that deserves praise and respect. Minerva is undoubtedly aware of the crown’s importance and value, and perhaps because of that, it came up with The Unveiled Crownless, a watch that does away with the crown and lets the bezel take over its functions.
Interestingly, as far back as 1927, Minerva from the tiny Swiss town of Villeret created a military watch with a bezel-operated timing function. Nearly a century later, the brand released The Unveiled Timekeeper, a watch whose chronograph functions were controlled by the bezel. That watch still had a crown. The Unveiled Crownless does away with the chronograph function and the crown, but the bezel remains, serving a practical purpose.
What am I looking at?
Seeing a perfectly round watch, classically styled and executed but without a crown, is almost unsettling. At first, it looks incomplete. Only after a while does the uncomfortable feeling of something missing give way to curiosity. The next step is to explore the watch and search for what replaced the crown and how it works.
It’s the rose-gold fluted bezel that replaces the crown. You operate the bidirectional bezel, but to have it engage with the movement, you first have to find a hidden lever. Turn the watch on its back, and you will find the lever next to the 3-bar water-resistance engraving. When you push the lever in, the bezel rotates to wind the movement. Pull it out, and the bezel lets you set the time. The system looks delicate and is discreet, but the way it feels and operates is solid. When you turn the bezel, its fluted structure helps you to grip it firmly, and both winding and setting can be executed smoothly and effortlessly. At the same time, it’s also a very novel experience. It makes you feel special, because it is special.
Classic looks, modern proportions
The 41.5mm steel case is just under 12mm thick, so despite its elegant appearance, The Unveiled Crownless is not a vintage-sized dress watch. Still, the classy look and proportions work well together. The longish lugs curve downwards to help the case sit naturally on the wrist, while the absence of a crown means there is nothing pressing into the back of your hand. An experience that’s completely opposite of wearing my Chronoswiss Timemaster with its XXL onion crown on a stilt.
There are a plethora of details, and the rose-gold plaque on the left side of the case, engraved with “Depuis 1858,” is one of them. The dial is also quite intricate. It’s firmly rooted in the brand’s past, and its design draws heavily on Minerva watches from the 1950s, combining an opaline center with a finely guilloche outer ring. The warm ivory tone suits the watch well, while the contrasting textures catch the light without becoming overly conspicuous. The vintage-inspired domed, box-shaped sapphire crystal with double-sided anti-reflective coating protects the dial and allows a clear view of it.
The presence of applied, faceted hour markers gives the watch an elevated look, consistent with the concept, finishing, and movement inside, but more on that later. Most indexes are trapezoidal, with contrasting triangular markers at 3 and 9 o’clock. Even more contrasting, but not out of place, is the large applied Arabic 12. Large rose-gold-coated, sword-shaped hands continue the classical theme, and so does the recessed small-seconds display at six o’clock. It’s a well-balanced dial in a perfectly round setting, which sounds quite regular, but isn’t because the normally “interrupting” crown is missing.
New concept, new movement
When you say Minerva, you say beautifully crafted and finished movements featuring the characteristic arrow. The movement inside The Unveiled Crownless is a sight for sore eyes through the transparent case back, and it has plenty of pretty details. It features rhodium-plated German silver bridges decorated with Geneva stripes, polished bevels, and circular graining. The large free-sprung balance takes center stage, accompanied by an arrow-shaped regulator.
Removing the crown means Minerva needed to create something new and special. The caliber M15.08 was developed specifically for The Unveiled Crownless and is produced entirely in Minerva’s Villeret workshops. Its architecture shares its base with the 1858 Geosphere Annual Calendar and can also be traced back to the historic Pythagore caliber 10-48, one of Minerva’s notable movements, originally created by André Frey in 1943. The manually wound M15.08 operates at a steady and traditional 18,000 vibrations per hour, and a large mainspring provides an 80-hour power reserve.
Wearing and operating The Unveiled Crownless
Do you miss the crown while wearing The Unveiled Crownless? Actually, no. Once it’s on the wrist, the watch’s appearance turns to “normal” fairly quickly. Still, the way you operate the watch is anything but normal, and it offers plenty of horological fun. Unfortunately, unlike a chronograph, you can start, stop, and reset over and over again. Once you’ve set and wound this crownless watch, you’re done playing with it. Still, it will make for an interesting conversation piece. It’s unconventional and surprising, and that also means it is an acquired taste. And there is nothing wrong with that.
I think Minerva deserves applause for having the guts to release something as original as The Unveiled Crownless. The watch comes on a very dark green, borderline black, 21mm alligator strap and a stainless steel triple-folding clasp with a fine adjustment system. The little arrow on the buckle is a very nice touch.
The watch’s originality also makes it a bit tough to place it at the €39,000 / US$38,000 price. There is nothing to compare this watch to. In order to understand and place the price, you need to consider, for instance, the watch’s carefully crafted, hand-finished dial and newly constructed in-house movement. The Unveiled Crownless is very clearly the result of passionate and dedicated craftsmanship. And dare. I mean, how dare you remove the crown from a watch and expect it to work?
What are your thoughts about the Montblanc The Unveiled Crownless: is it for you, or are you good with a good old-fashioned crown? Please let me know in the comments section below.
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