Blancpain Villeret Grand Decoration for ONLY WATCH 2011

Superb…

Continuing my ONLY Watch 2011 previews (see them all here) — here’s a first look at the Blancpain Villeret Grande Décoration for Only Watch 2011. The watch is a study in contrast — on the front, its white enamel dial with painted hour-markers and red gold hands suggests simplicity and elegance; on the back, a depiction of the Rock of Monaco and the surrounding landscape is rich in detail. The hand-decoration on this one-of-a-kind watch was performed by Blancpain’s Master Engraver Marie-Laure Tarbouriech, to whom I say that much credit is due. The watch is equipped with a Blancpain Calibre 15B, an ultra-thin hand-wound movement. By the way, this is Blancpain’s seventh ONLY Watch event — it has donated a piece to each event since it was first formed in 2001.

Blancpain Villeret Grand Decoration for ONLY WATCH 2011

Unique Piece

45mm red gold case (8.3mm thick), white grand feu enamelled dial, hand-decorated manual-wind Caliber 15B movement (40 hrs power reserve)

depiction of the Rock of Monaco and the surrounding landscape:

http://www.luxurybazaar.com/ Luxury Bazaar

The red gold accents the simplicity of the design really well, in my opinion. Blancpain has a tendency, in terms of internal architecture and engineering, to do some really impressive things, then wrap them up in a case/bezel that’s very understated. I think the message they’re trying to convey is: “these watches are for people who know they’re successful and don’t need to boast about it”.
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