Many novices assume that a movement that “ticks” more than once per second is a trait of high-end watches, but it’s actually nothing special. Nearly all mechanical watches, from Chinese and Japanese value lines to Haute Horology, tick at least 5 times per second! The smooth 8-beat seconds hand now associated with fancy Rolex watches isn’t the pinnacle of technology. Seiko and Zenith popularized 10-beat movements in the late 1960’s, and some exotic pieces tick even faster!
NOS Minerva Pythagore Cal. 48
We’re suckers for Minerva movements. It’s not that they’re perfect (as well-documented in this tear-up review over at PuristS) but that they’re wonderfully handmade in a true classic way. Minerva was a little Swiss manufacture that went on about their business for 150 years before being snatched up by Richemont and made part of Montblanc. They only made a few movements in the classic era, but what they did produce ended up in some lovely watches. This all changed with a buyout in 2000 and the creation of new CAD-assisted versions of the classics, so it’s nice to see a true hand-made Minerva still out there.