A timepiece that is as technical as it is aesthetically pleasing, Blancpain has introduced their latest Villeret Quantième Perpétuel model.
Filled with a wealth of watchmaking knowledge, Blancpain introduces the latest timepiece in their Villeret Quantième Perpétuel model range. This latest creation sparks a breath of fresh air into the collection, with a stunning green and red gold dial, encased in 18 ct red gold.
Blancpain’s Villeret collection is special to the brand as it named after the native village Villeret, located outside of Bern, Switzerland. As you can except, a collection named after the brand’s homeplace is bound to be exceptional and authentic. The timepeices in the Villeret collection showcases the brand’s roots, and carry the prime aesthetic designs that made Blancpain instantly recognisable.
The Villeret collection, resolutely in tune with the times.
Blancpain
President & CEO of Blancpain, Marc A. Hayek, states regarding the Villeret collection that “the Villeret collection symbolises Blancpain’s history and longevity. It enjoys an incredibly solid foundation across all of watchmaking’s celebrated complications.” While each new update to the collection doesn’t come with a brand new timepiece with new complications, Blancpain subtly and consistently reinterprets this collection with a contemporary face that nonetheless preserves its emblematic aesthetic. And that’s exactly what they have done with this latest Villeret Quantième Perpétuel model.
The Blancpain Villeret Quantième Perpétuel has been around for a few decades now, with its iconic elegant design and simple-to-read Perpetual Calendar sub-dials remaining unchanged as different model variants have been introduced throughout the years.
One of those iconic elements in this model is the moon phase at the 6 o’clock position, with the unique expression depicted on the moon. This isn’t just done for aesthetic purposes, as this emblematic expression has quite a history behind it. It was the symbol of prestige and mechanical watchmaking revival in the wake of the 1970s quartz crisis. Blancpain’s introduction of moon phases paved the way for many other horological complications, not least the perpetual calendar.
This latest Blancpain Villeret Quantième Perpétuel, fittingly unveiled on the 29th of February — Leap Day, features the inherently complex perpetual calendar on a beautifully elegant sunburst green dial background that recalls the fir forests of the Vallée de Joux, where the watchmakers of the Grandes Complications workshop craft this calendar.
To complete this beautiful aesthetic look, Blancpain has used the Villeret collection’s signature double-stepped case (40 mm), now in 18 ct red gold, while decorating the Roman hour indices, hands and sub-dials in the red-gold material as well. The two contrasting colours of red-gold and dark green not only enhances the reliability of the dial, but also gives a pleasing aesthetic appeal with the warm colours.
The perpetual calendar is certainly one of the more complex mechanisms and features in the world of watchmaking. Blancpain’s watchmakers have created the perpetual calendar to “automatically adjust the date display to take account of variations in months and years, including leap years. It represents a veritable mechanical memory that will require no adjustment until February 2100, a month that will not fall in a leap year because of an exception in the Gregorian calendar that occurs three centuries out of four.”
On the Villeret Quantième Perpétuel, the perpetual calendar is read through the sub-dials and moon phase at 6 o’clock. Firstly, we get the date indicator sub-dial at 3 o’clock, the month indication at the 12 o’clock subdial and within this subdial is also a smaller dial that indicates the leap years (L), the day of the week indication on the 9 o’clock subdial and lastly, the moon phase indicator showing the cycle up to 29.5 days.
The watchmakers have gone a step further by adding two more specific characteristics to this already complex perpetual calendar, aiming to make the timepiece’s functionality more user-friendly. The first of these features is a secure movement that protects the calendar mechanism from being damaged if the wearer was ever to adjust the watch while the indications are in the process of changing.
The second feature is the under-lug correctors, a world first for perpetual calendars introduced by Blancpain in 2005. Blancpain states that this “patented system enables the calendar indications to be adjusted simply by pressing with a finger, thus eliminating any need for a correction tool. These under-lug correctors are concealed when the timepiece is worn, meaning the sides remain smooth and uncluttered, unaltered by the small “dimples” usually found on calendar watches.”
Blancpain’s movement that drives this 21st-century perpetual calendar is the self-winding 5954 movement. The perpetual calendar mechanism has been entirely developed and produced by Blancpain, a testament to the brand and its watchmakers’ knowledge and experience in developing highly complex mechanisms.
Another impressive feat is the watch being able to produce a 3-day (72-hour) power reserve, which is above average for perpetual calendar watches (normally around 38-65 hours). A low power reserve is understabale on these timepieces, as there is so many high energy-consuming complications that drain the watch’s power reserve.
Final Thoughts
Blancpain has given their Villeret Quantième Perpétuel a fresh new look with an 18 ct red-gold case and a beautifully contrasting dark green sunburst dial that is a reference to where this inherently complex mechanism is made. The brand has kept the tried and tested dial aesthetics in-tact, and for a good reason too. Even though the four separate sub-dials showing the perpetual calendar indications are quite large on the dial, its still super easy to read, and doesn’t feel too cluttered when considering its put into a 40mm case.
The two separate features put into these latest perpetual calendars by Blancpain also offer the wearer a piece of mind, not only with accidentally damaging the complex movement by adjusting the watch at the wrong time, but also the actual ease of adjustments. The watch’s case back also comes highly decorated as well, with the red gold honeycomb oscillating weight with horizontal stripes and the Côtes de Genève finish on the movement main plate.
The Quantième Perpétuel is the ideal watch to showcase Blancpain’s Villeret collection. Its timeless design embodies the strong ties between the Manufacture and the extraordinary complications of Swiss mechanical watchmaking.
Reference: 6656 3653 55B
Specification
- Case: 40.3 mm x 10.8 mm thickness
- Case Material: 18 Ct red gold
- Dial: Sunburst green
- Crystal: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
- Water resistance: 30m (3 Bar)
- Movement: Self-winding automatic 5954, with silicon balance spring.
- Movement Frequency: 4Hz (28,800 VpH)
- Power reserve: 72 hours
- Bracelet: Brown alligator leather strap with red-gold folding clasp.
