Brothers Charles and Hyppolite Robert founded H. & C. Robert in 1858, ultimately becoming Minerva (the Roman goddess of handcrafts, the professions, the arts, and, later, war) in 1887. The brand introduced its first chronograph movement in 1908 and made a name for itself in the subsequent years as a makers of well crafted high quality chronographs.

The present Villeret single button chronograph is from the modern “golden era” of the brand and dates to the very early 2000s where the brand was purchased by Italian financier Emilio Gnutti and master watchmaker Demetrio Cabiddu as its technical director.

The era was ablaze with new ideas and the desire to push forward technical solutions and highly finished movements. Within three years of going under new management, Minerva presented in 2003 four new calibers inhouse manual wind calibers: two chronographs and two time-only.

The present single pusher chronograph in pink gold features the new Minerva Cal. 13-21 based on the original Calibre 13-20 from 1923. A superbly finished caliber that can be admired through the hinged caseback.
As a nod to its vintage roots the two tone dial features a pulsometer scale.