The Vianney Halter X Massena LAB Old Soul: A lost 1920's Minerva Movement Reborn In 2025

Every once in a while, a watch comes along that feels like it has slipped out of time altogether. Not vintage, not modern, not even futuristic in the usual sense—just something… other. Old Soul, the latest collaboration between Vianney Halter and Massena LAB, is exactly that. To explain Old Soul, you have to start with its “soul”—the movement. William Massena (of Massena LAB) stumbled upon a small stock of unused Minerva calibers from the 1920s–40s, the kind originally built for pocket watches. These are not reproductions or reissues—they are genuine, hand-finished movements, made almost a century ago, waiting to be brought to life. Vianney Halter, a watchmaker whose mind dances between Jules Verne and Star Trek, was the perfect person to reimagine them. The result is a watch that blends past, present, and a little science fiction.

The Heart: A Vintage Minerva Movement

The Minerva 17’22 caliber is at the center of this story. First produced in the 1920s, it ticks at a slow, almost meditative 18,000 vibrations per hour. You can see its age in the finishing—striped Côtes de Genève, beveled edges polished by hand, and even Minerva’s old arrow signature still engraved on the barrel. Nothing about it is rushed or industrial. But Halter and Massena didn’t just showcase this movement—they modified it to drive something new: a mystery display for the minutes. Instead of a traditional hand, a blued arrow appears to float magically above the dial, orbiting without visible connection. For the first time, an old Minerva caliber has been adapted for such a trick.

What is Minerva?
Minerva was a historic Swiss watch manufacture, founded in 1858, famous for its beautifully hand-finished chronographs and pocket watch calibers. Today, it is part of Montblanc’s watchmaking division, but vintage Minerva movements remain highly prized by collectors.

What is a “mystery display”?
A complication where a hand (or pointer) seems to float freely, with no visible attachment to the movement. Usually achieved by mounting it on a transparent disc. Cartier’s “mystery clocks” are the most famous example.

The Face: A Dial Out of Time

Look at the dial, and you immediately know this is a Vianney Halter creation. Layers, textures, and his signature steampunk DNA are everywhere.

The time is split into three registers:

• Hours at three o’clock
• Seconds at nine o’clock
• Minutes around the outer ring, via that mysterious floating arrow

It’s a regulator-style display, but with Halter’s sci-fi edge. The Arabic numerals are in his distinctive typeface, while the railroad tracks recall 19th-century precision watches. Even the signatures of Halter and Massena are not on the dial itself—they’re printed on the underside of the sapphire crystal, creating shadows and depth. One last flourish: a stainless steel “shield” sits on top of the crystal, engraved with concentric circles and dotted with studs. It feels equal parts retro machine and spaceship panel.

What is a “regulator dial”?
A regulator separates hours, minutes, and seconds into different sub-dials for clarity. Historically used in observatories and workshops, where precision mattered more than quick legibility.

What is a “chemin de fer”?
French for “railroad track”—a decorative minute scale that looks like train tracks, common in vintage watches.

The Body: A Vintage-Inspired Case

The 42mm stainless steel case balances its futuristic dial with more classical proportions. The stepped lugs are a nod to mid-century design, while alternating brushed and polished surfaces keep it elegant. The crown, again studded in Halter’s style, is tactile and easy to grip. Flip the watch over, and the movement is revealed through a sapphire caseback. Each one is individually numbered, co-signed by Halter and Massena LAB, and engraved with a line from poet Delmore Schwartz: “Time is the fire in which we burn.” A nod to mortality, science fiction, and Halter’s love of Star Trek.

Why “Old Soul”?

This project is part of Massena LAB’s “Old Masters” series, where contemporary watchmakers reinterpret themes of legacy and time. The first was Old School, with Luca Soprana. Old Soul pushes the concept further: instead of looking at a watchmaker’s beginnings, it confronts endings—what survives when everything else fades. And here, the “soul” is literal. These Minerva movements have outlived their original era, and now they’ve been given a second life inside a watch that itself seems suspended outside of history.

The Minds Behind It

Vianney Halter needs little introduction to watch enthusiasts. Since the 1990s, his creations have stood apart—steampunk perpetual calendars, marine chronometer fantasies, and space-age tourbillons, being one of the first independents to truly shape watch design beyond convention.  William Massena, on the other hand, is not a watchmaker but a curator, historian, and collector. Through Massena LAB, he collaborates with artisans and independents to create pieces that speak to watchmaking’s past and future. His projects often feel like thought experiments in steel and sapphire. Together, Halter and Massena have made something that is both concept and object, philosophy and mechanism.

In Conclusion

Old Soul is more than a limited-edition watch (47 pieces). It’s a meditation on what lasts. By reviving forgotten Minerva calibers and wrapping them in Halter’s time-bending design, Massena LAB has created a piece that feels like an artifact from an alternate timeline. For collectors, it’s a chance to own not just a watch, but a fragment of horological history given a new existence. For everyone else, it’s proof that watchmaking is not just about keeping time—it’s about bending it, questioning it, and sometimes even escaping it.

Massena LAB X Vianney Halter Old Soul Price : CHF 37,000 / INR 40,26,188 (approx)