1990s Minerva Pythagore A481 Aviation Black Cal. 48 34mm

Here we have a 1990s Minerva Pythagore A481 Aviation Black Cal. 48. In 1943, a time-only Pythagore watch featuring the Calibre 10-48 movement was introduced. The name comes from the way the watch's inner workings are arranged, following the Golden Ratio—an intriguing mathematical concept linked to beauty, first explored by the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras. Featuring a 34mm satin-brushed stainless steel case that gently curves over your wrist, with finely tapered, flat-ended lugs. Its brushed curved flanks lead to a comfortable lug-to-lug length of 41.5mm and a case thickness of just 8.5mm. On the right side, a deep knurled signed crown. A smooth brushed bezel holds a slightly domed sapphire crystal above a matte black dial. An outer minute track features the small 24-hour scale above the larger Arabic numerals coated in Radium, marking the hours. Elegant Cathedral hands filled with the same lume sit above a recessed subdial. At noon, the Minerva motif completes this vintage-inspired pilot's watch. On the reverse, a screw-down exhibition case back is engraved with the watch's details around its edge. Inside a manually wound Minerva Cal. 48, 17 jewels, beating at a leisurely 18,000 beats per hour. Expertly decorated in Cotes de Geneve. It comes paired with its 18mm Minerva leather strap and signed pin buckle.

This watch is sold as "Watch Only" and therefore comes with no original box or paperwork. It comes paired with its 18mm Minerva leather strap and signed pin buckle. The watch is from Circa. 1990s and is sold in worn condition, with an even patina and a lovely-quality dial, as you can see. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

This is something you don't see every day. An early 1990s Minerva Pythagore A481, named after the way the watch's inner workings are arranged, following the Golden Ratio—an intriguing mathematical concept linked to beauty, first explored by the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras. This is powered by the manually wound Minerva calibre 48, a beautifully simple movement from a brand renowned for their movements. I would not hesitate to add this watch to your collection. They come up rarely on the secondary market, especially in this condition!

Reference : A481
Movement : Manually Wound Minerva Cal. 48
Age : Circa. 1990s
Year : Circa. 1990s
Case Size : 34mm
Case Thickness : 8.5mm
Lug to Lug : 41.5mm
Lugs : 18mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box and Papers : None
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
The wrist model's wrist size is 7inch

Minerva, a Swiss watch company founded in 1858 by brothers Charles-Yvan and Hyppolite Robert in Villeret, a town in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland. Originally, it was called Robert Frères Villeret. The name "Minerva" was registered in 1887 and was named after the Roman goddess of crafts. Minerva became famous for its special handmade watch movements. In 1916, they created stopwatches that could measure time to the hundredth of a second, which were very important for motorsports. During World War II, Minerva, along with several other watch brands, provided special timing watches to the German Army. These watches had unique features that helped pilots and soldiers measure distances. By timing how long it took for light (like a flash from a gun) to reach them compared to the sound (like the boom of the artillery), they could estimate how far away the event was happening. In 1955, a man named Jacques Pelot passed on his company shares to his nephew, Andre Frey. Then, in 1960, the shares of another key figure, Charles Haussener, were inherited by his son-in-law, Maurice Favre. Together, Frey and Favre managed the company until 1989. After that, Jean-Jacques Frey, the son of Andre Frey, took over the running of the company along with his father. In 2007, Minerva was acquired by the Richemont Group and became a key part of Montblanc’s high-end watch movement production, which remains based in Villeret.