The view of this hand-wound mechanical movement reveals the high level of finishing that demands experience, skill and dexterity. The components, visible or not, are hand-decorated with bevelling, chamfered edges, circular graining on both sides, and grained and polished surfaces. This know-how can be admired on the rhodium-coated, German silver main plate that features circular graining and hand-chamfered edges; on the bridges which are decorated on all sides, beveled by hand and manually-embellished with Geneva stripes (Côtes de Genève), and also on the wheels which are plated with gold and have faceted arms.
Particular attention has been paid to the dial. Following the codes of the Heritage product line, the timepiece is composed of a refined, two-toned, salmon-colored dial that has been lacquered for a distinctive aesthetic and domed. Paying tribute to the history of the Manufacture, and for the very first time, a Minerva secret signature has been added between four and five o’clock, making it a very special limited edition. A small second counter with “azuré” (circular guilloché) finishing is set slightly lower than the main dial to provide greater contrast.
Other details include curved Dauphine-shaped hands that follow the domed shape of the dial; black rhodium-coated applied indexes; and Arabic numerals and dots which have all been coated with white Super-LumiNova, a first in the Heritage collection. A precise railway track (minuterie) in blue completes the overall design and provides better readability.
The Montblanc Heritage Small Second Limited Edition 38 comes with a fully polished stainless steel case with curved horns and is adorned with a domed box-shaped sapphire crystal glass with antireflective coating and an open sapphire crystal case back, enhancing a special “Historical Minerva movement” engraving. This edition is limited and numbered. Each timepiece is entirely crafted and assembled from A to Z by the same master watchmaker at the Montblanc Manufacture in Villeret, making each timepiece truly unique.