An interesting new piece from Blancpain — and a reflection on the attention given to the Chinese consumer these days.   With it, Blancpain lays claim to the first mechanical wristwatch equipped with a traditional Chinese calendar.  On its dial, the hours, minutes and the Gregorian calendar rub shoulders with the main indications of the Chinese calendar: traditional double-hour indication, day, month with indication of leap months, signs of the zodiac, as well as the five elements and the 10 celestial stems. The combination of the latter with the 12 animals of the zodiac that represent the terrestrial branches follows the sixty-year cycle that is central to Chinese culture. The moon phases, a key element in Blancpain complete calendars, are also presented and play a particularly important role in this model, given the link between the lunar cycle and traditional Chinese months.  The watch will be available in platinum (20 piece limited edition with special “dragon” rotor) or red gold (non-limited edition).  Read on for more details…

Blancpain Traditional Chinese Calendar (Villeret Collection)

platinum:  20 pieces limited edition; or red gold (non limited)

45mm platinum or red gold case (15mm thick), Madagascar ruby crown, five integrated under-lug correctors serving to adjust the indications, grand feu enamel dial, “hollow leaf” shaped hands, automatic mechanical Caliber 3638

The watch is powered by Blancpain’s new self-winding Calibre 3638.  Its complexity stems as much from the number of indications to be displayed as from the irregular nature of their cycles. The hours, minutes and the Gregorian calendar are presented in the center. The counter at 12 o’clock indicates the double-hour numerals and symbols (24-hour cycle); while the one at 3 o’clock shows the elements and the celestial stems (10-year cycle). The month of the Chinese calendar (12-month cycle), its date (30-day cycle) and the leap month indicator appear at 9 o’clock, while a 12 o’clock aperture reveals the zodiac sign of the year in progress (12-year cycle); and the moon phases are displayed at 6 o’clock.

 platinum case (limited edition 20 pieces)

Contrary to the Gregorian solar calendar which uses the solar day as the base unit, the traditional Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, meaning a solar calendar with the lunar cycle (29.53059 days) as its base unit. Since a year comprising 12 lunar months (354.36707 days) is approximately 11 days too short compared with the tropical or solar year (365.242374 days), a leap month is sometimes added to preserve the match with the cycle of the seasons. Given that each month of the Chinese calendar, including the leap months, begins on the day of the new moon, its length is either 29 or 30 days. This means that when a year comprises a leap month, this 13-month year will be longer than the tropical year. On the contrary, when there is no leap month, the year of 12 lunar months is shorter than the tropical year. This distinctive feature is the reason behind the variable date of the Chinese New Year.

red gold case (non limited edition)

VIDEO

Baselworld 2012:  From Blancpain’s Villeret collection, a masterfully executed skeleton dial with exquisite engraving and decoration.  Manual wind Breguet caliber with 8 days power reserve.  Yes please!

Blancpain Villeret Skeleton 8 Days

Ref. 6633-1500-55B

38 mm x 9.08 mm white gold case, manual wind Blancpain Calibre 1333SQ, 8-Day (192-hours) power reserve, hand-decorated

A retrograde small seconds…

In 2012, the Blancpain Villeret collection welcomes its first model featuring a beautiful flinqué lacquered dial.  Several layers of translucent blue lacquer applied to the dial create a rich depth effect, while preserving the pure lines of its most classic collection.  The watch is housed in a 40mm white gold case, powered by the ultra-slim Blancpain Calibre 7663Q, a new self-winding movement.  In addition to the hour, minute and “serpentine” styled date pointer,  there is also a retrograde seconds function at 6 o’clock.  This watch also features Blancpain’s very slick under-lug corrector at 5 o’clock for fast date adjustment. Fitted on a matching blue alligator leather strap with folding clasp.

Blancpain Villeret Collection

Technical Specifications

6653Q-1529-55B

VILLERET, Ultra-slim, date, retrograde small seconds, flinqué blue lacquered dial, under-lug corrector, self-winding

CALIBER

Thick: 4.57 mm

Diameter: 27.00 mm

Power-reserve in hours: 72

Jewels: 34

Components: 244

CASE

Thickness: 10.83 mm

Diameter: 40.00 mm

Water-resistance: 3 bar

Sapphire crystal back: Yes

Interhorn space: 22.00 mm

Press release from Blancpain:

A burglary attempt occurred yesterday on our X Fathoms exhibition at “Cité du Temps” in Geneva. It seems like some people are ready to risk their life for our timepieces!

Fortunately, nobody was hurt during the robbery and thanks to the efficient intervention of the security company (SIR) one of the four thieves was quickly arrested and most of our watches were found back. However the damages caused on several pieces gives us no choice but to close the doors of this event earlier than scheduled.

Blancpain X Fathoms, continued.  See the dial schematic below for a full breakdown on the watch.  Very cool looking, very cool functionality, and looks great.  Though in the real world I really wonder about that 55mm case size — overwhelming!   Also, no word yet on price or volume. the Blancpain X Fathoms price will be 30,000-40,000 Swiss Francs.

Check out these additional looks…

Here it is…and the Blancpain X Fathoms looks to be quite an impressive dive watch.  For now I will quickly say that it has a built-in depth gauge capable of measuring both current and maximum depth (up to 90 meters) — max depth is the the small inner hand with the squarish red tip and current depth is the yellow-tipped inner hand.  At the 10 o’clock to 11 o’clock is a retrograde gauge for decompression (up to five minutes), and this gauge is activated by a lever at 10 o’clock.  Back with full specs in awhile…

Update:  See specs below.  Seems the watch is inspired by a 1953 ancestor (of same name?), which I like.  At 55mm, the case size is absolutely enormous — a bit off-putting for me, despite the technical marvel of this watch.  Seriously — 55mm case?   Blancpain also claims a “The most complex injected rubber strap ever conceived” featuring 14 articulated parts to ensure a perfect fit on the wrist and allow water to seep in under the watch in order to come in contact with the membrane under all circumstances.  Alright, OK, good work on the new strap.  This watch is really nothing more than a showpiece, but I guess that’s not such a bad thing.

Blancpain X Fathoms Dive Watch

55.65mm x 24mm satin brushed titanium case, automatic mechanical BLANCPAIN caliber 9918B (based on the Caliber 1315, used in several Fifty Fathoms models),

titanium case

The live unveiling of Blancpain’s new ‘extreme dive watch’, the “X Fathoms”, will be streamed live from Dubai starting at 10am EST…official pics, specs to follow…

Blancpain X Fathoms Dive Watch

World Premiere Launch – October 25 – Dubai…Blancpain will unveil its new “Blancpain X Fathoms” watch….and “other surprises”….stay tuned to discover the first pictures and videos…right here at Perpetuelle, first in watches!

Blancpain X Fathoms Caseback (Spy Shot )

Blancpain X Fathoms (Teaser Video)

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:

“Only Watch” is a biennial charity auction of one-of-a-kind watches created by many of the most renowned watch brands in Switzerland.  This exceptional event is held every two years in Monaco during the Monaco Yacht Show and is under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II.   All the proceeds from Only Watch go to support Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research which is why many of these watches go extraordinarily high prices.

Starting today Perpetuelle will begin its coverage of Only Watch 2011.  Stay tuned in because over the next few months, you will get to see awesome “piece unique” watches from each of the participating brands for the 2011 event:

Click through to see our in-depth preview of each watch:

• Harry Winston Midnight GMT Tourbillon
• Patek Philippe Ref 3939A Minute Repeater
• Urwerk UR-103 “Phoenix”
• Romain Jerome “Rock the Rock”
• Hublot Oceanographic 4000m dive watch
• MB&F HM-4 “Flying Panda”
• TAG Heuer “Monaco Mikrograph”
• Bell & Ross Pink Gold “Casino”
• Louis Vuitton Tambour Diver Chronograph
• Blancpain Villeret Grand Decoration
• Piaget Altiplano Skeleton
• Breguet Reveil Musical Watch
• Audemars Piguet Gstaad Classic
• Jaquet Droz Petit Heure Minute
• Van Cleef & Arpel “From the Earth to the Moon” Watch
• Girard-Perregaux ww.TC
• Corum Golden Bridge Automatic Titanium
  
• Vulcain Anniversary Heart Watch
• Chanel J12 Marine Watch
• Franck Muller “Totally Switzerland”
• Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo
• Vacheron Constantin “Dove” Watch (M.C. Escher-inspired)
  
• Zenith El Primero “Destro” watches
• Montblanc Villeret 1858 Pulsograph
• Ikepod Red Hourglass by Marc Newson
• Bovet Fleurier, Celsius, Chaumet, Chopard, De Bethune, Delacour, De Witt, Frédérique Constant, Hermès, Laurent Ferrier, Maurice Lacroix, Richard Mille
  

Only Watch 2011 will be held September 24, 2011 and managed by watch auction house Antiquorum.  But you don’t have to wait this long — because part of the excitement leading up to the September 24, 2011 event is the release of each participating brand’s special edition watch.

ONLY WATCH 2009

If you are interested in looking back, I covered the Only Watch 2009 auction extensively including blogging about several of my favorites inlcluding:  Piaget Emperador Coussin, MB&F Sage Vaughn HM-2, Bovet 3-in-1 Mona Lisa Watch, Tourneau Jump Hour, Louis Vuitton Tambour, Chanel J12 Joallerie with pink sapphire, and Blancpain 500 Fathoms.   You can see all 34 “Only Watch 2009″ watches here on the Perpeuelle World Watch Forum.  The Only Watch 2009 auction was hosted by Patrizzi & Co.