I recently had the opportunity to visit the Czech watch company Robot among a group of journalists and watch media outlets that the brand had invited for an inside look at its heritage and manufacturing facilities. To help us fully steep ourselves in all things Robot, the brand let each of us choose a watch to wear during our trip, and while my personal favorite among the brand’s current-production lineup is the Aerodynamic collection that we reviewed earlier this year, the model I selected for my visit was the Robot Minor, which is a bold and distinctly Czech racing chronograph that currently holds the title of being Robot’s single best-selling model.

In 1949, two Czech-manufactured Aero Minor Sport cars entered the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, where both finished the event and one claimed victory within its category. Czech automotive manufacturers were early pioneers in the principles of aerodynamics, and while the results of the 1949 edition of Le Mans were incredibly promising, the spread of communism in Europe forced Czechoslovakia behind the Iron Curtain shortly thereafter, which prematurely ended the nation’s chances of becoming a major player within the world of motorsport. As a proudly Czech brand, Robot frequently draws inspiration from various aspects of its country’s heritage, and the Robot Minor racing chronograph celebrates the accomplishments of the Czech Aero Minor Sport at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1949.

Robot is the definition of a boutique brand, and everything about the company is significantly different from what you will find among the big household names within the industry. As of 2024, Robot has a total output of approximately 250 watches per year; however, rather than producing six-figure grail pieces like most brands with similarly small outputs, nearly all of Robot’s watches cost somewhere within the four-figure territory. Additionally, Robot offers a customization service where buyers can personalize their watch with different dials, hands, straps, and finishing, and upwards of 80% of Robot’s current output consists of commissioned works that have been custom-tailored to their owner’s preferences. While the brand may be fairly small, Robot has its own boutique located in the heart of Prague, and the company also has a dedicated workshop where it produces its watches and customizes them to their owners’ requests.

As for the Robot Minor, the version featured here is the Indy Sunburn model, although the brand also produces three other colorways that are inspired by famous racetracks (Le Mans Blue, Monaco Black, and Spa Gray), along with a fifth version that features a bronze PVD finish. All of Robot’s Minor chronographs have cases made from grade 5 titanium that measure 44mm in diameter by 15mm thick, and while the standard-catalog models showcase an entirely matte sandblasted finish, Robot’s personalization service significantly expands the range of possibilities. Brushing and polishing are naturally available options, although the limited-edition Emerson Fittipaldi and Superbike models have entirely blacked-out cases, and while visiting Robot’s manufacturing facilities, we also saw a Minor being assembled that had a deep blue finish across the entirety of its external components.

The top of the Robot Minor’s case is furnished by a domed sapphire crystal, which is surrounded by a bidirectional rotating timing bezel made from sandblasted titanium that has recessed luminous markings to denote the minutes/hours. Access to the movement is granted by a singed winding crown and a pair of chronograph pushers that are located on the right-hand side of the case, while the reverse side of the Minor is fitted with a display-style caseback that features the stylized silhouette of the 1949 Aero Minor Sport printed on the underside surface of its sapphire window. Additionally, water resistance for the Robot Minor collection comes in at a solid 100 meters, and while its dimensions undeniably offer a sizable presence on the wrist, its grade 5 titanium construction and smooth caseback profile ultimately create a surprisingly lightweight presence that is comfortable to wear for extended periods.

While the case of the Robot Minor offers a bold and distinctly modern appearance, arguably the most unique feature of the Minor is its dial. Featuring a two-register layout with a small running seconds hand at 9 o’clock and a circular date window between the 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock hour markers, the dial fitted to the Minor features a unique perforated design with 3,462 tiny holes appearing throughout its surface. In addition to offering a view of the internal movement, the perforations in the dial serve as a subtle nod to the holes that the Czech mechanics made in the hood of the Aero Minor Sport during the 1949 Le Mans race (using a screwdriver) as an impromptu way to help prevent the car from overheating. Additionally, rather than having a simple printed date disc, the Robot Minor features a skeletonized calendar wheel that displays the current value with a three-dimensional numeral through a framed aperture in the dial.

To create the micro-perforated dial for the Robot Minor chronograph, a special coating is applied to a thin metal sheet in the outline of the dial’s pattern, and the metal is then treated with a chemical process that removes the uncovered metal. Once the micro-perforated structure has been realized, the coating is removed, and the metal surface is then finished to provide it with its color and final appearance. On the Indy Sunburn version of the Robot Minor featured here, the perforated dial surface appears in a subtle brown/copper color, while a darker shade of brown is used for the chronograph registers and minute track. Meanwhile, the chronograph hands are a metallic blue hue for added contrast, and the color blue plays a constant theme throughout the Minor collection, as the historic Aero Minor Sport prominently featured a blue stripe across its hood when it raced at Le Mans.

The centrally-mounted chronograph seconds hand on the Robot Minor features a counterweight that is shaped like a tiny car. However, since Robot’s Founder and CEO Josef Zajíček has a strong passion for vintage automobiles, the counterweight that appears on the Minor isn’t just a generic car, but rather it is specifically shaped to resemble a 1949 Aero Minor Sport. On one of Zajíček’s personal watches (a model from the brand’s Aplos collection), the seconds hand has been customized to look like one of his all-time favorite car models, and custom hands are also part of Robot’s personalization services, where nearly anything imaginable is possible. While visiting Robot’s production facilities, we saw a vast assortment of different one-of-a-kind watch hands with designs ranging from guitars and motorcycles to wine bottles, pocket knives, and their owner’s initials.

Inside the Robot Minor is a 26-jewel La Joux-Perret automatic chronograph movement, which is based on the Swiss manufacturer’s 8000-series of calibers. Running at a frequency of 28,800vph with a power reserve of approximately 55 hours, the La Joux-Perret 8000-series movements are derived from the core architecture of the familiar Valjoux 7750. However, rather than using a cam-operated mechanism to control their chronograph complication, La Joux-Perret’s design features a column wheel, which is generally considered to be a more premium approach, as it is more expensive and difficult to manufacture. On the Robot Minor, the movement’s column wheel and partially skeletonized rotor are finished in a bright shade of metallic blue, which is further echoed on the blued screws that connect its various plates and bridges.

The strap for the Robot Minor chronograph features a standard two-piece leather construction, and it offers a perforated rally-style design that tapers from 22mm at the lugs down to 18mm where it connects to its sandblasted titanium tang-style buckle. Although the strap fitted to the example that was loaned to me during my visit had previously been worn, it is clear from handling the Minor’s strap that the leather used in its construction is of fairly high quality, and it would be comfortable and supple right out of the box, with little to no break-in time required. Additionally, while the other colorways of the Robot Minor are fitted with black leather straps, the Indy Sunburn version receives a dark brown leather strap with a bright blue keeper that recalls the blue stripe on the hood of the 1949 Aero Minor Sport that raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

While Robot’s small-batch production means that no model is selling hundreds of units per year, the Minor chronograph is easily the brand’s most popular, and approximately 30% of its annual sales come from the greater Minor collection. Additionally, from a movement standpoint, the Minor is Robot’s most complex timepiece, although it isn’t the brand’s most expensive offering, and this possibly helps to explain why it has proven to be a best-seller. With an official retail price of $5,370 USD, Robot Minor is positioned more-or-less within the middle of the brand’s current catalog, and it ultimately represents a rather compelling option considering that you are getting a titanium case, hand-finished components, and an automatic chronograph movement from La Joux-Perret. While Robot’s aesthetic is inherently slightly polarizing, the Czech brand doesn’t aim to be a mass-market marque, and the Minor collection offers a unique expression of the classic mechanical racing chronograph. For more information on the Robot Minor collection, please visit the brand’s website.