Blancpain Brings Its 2014 Collection to New York
Haute Time recently had the chance to visit with Blancpain in New York City, where the manufacture had put its 2014 novelties on display. While we already got to the ladies’ collections, today we’re bringing you a close up look at the new men’s watches.
It was a big year for Blancpain at BaselWorld, where the manufacture unveiled eight new additions to the Villeret collection, as well as a new flyback version of its famous Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe. Here are our favorites:
This new perpetual calendar not only boasts an 8-day power reserve but also a host of functions, including moonphase and small seconds. Its 42mm platinum case is equipped with Blancpain’s patented under-lug correctors, which remain invisible when the watch is worn, preserving the smooth lines of the double stepped bezel. The white grand feu enamel dial features large painted Roman numerals and blued steel hands. In addition to the month and leap years indications at 12 o’clock (which won’t need to be adjusted till 2100), there is also the date at 3 o’clock, the moonphase and small seconds at 6 o’clock, and the day at 9 o’clock. It is powered by the new self-winding Calibre 5939A, comprised of 379 parts and boasting a 192-hour power reserve. This movement can be glimpsed via the sapphire crystal caseback, revealing its honeycomb-motif oscillating weight. Only 188 pieces will be produced. Reference 6659-3431-55B.
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This model was recently chosen by readers as Haute Time‘s 2014 Watch of the Year. Housed in a 42mm 18K red gold case, it boasts the first-ever combination of a carrousel and a moon phase by Blancpain. The white grand feu enamel dial features painted enamel Roman numerals, hollowed sage leaf-shaped hands for the hours and minutes, and a blued-steel serpentine hand for the date. The carrousel carriage is visible at 12 o’clock, while the moon phase indicator is visible directly across the dial at 6 o’clock. The Blancpain 225L movement is visible via the sapphire crystal caseback, which is decorated with Côtes de Genève and features an openworked and striated oscillating weight. It boasts a five-day power reserve. It is completed by a chocolate brown alligator leather strap. Reference 6622L-3631-55B.
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This model would be the ideal timepiece for a doctor, thanks to its pulsometer and flyback chronograph. The flyback chronograph measures elapsed time without the wearer having to press a pushpiece repetitively to reset the function. Instead, the wearer simply presses the “flyback” button once to stop timing the first interval and reset the hand to zero, ideal for a busy doctor. The chronograph hand starts again the instant the button is released. This timing complication is showcased within a 43.60mm 18K red gold case with a white grand feu enamel cambered dial, Roman numerals and red gold hands. Additional functions include a 30-minute minute counter at 3 o’clock, a date window at 6 o’clock and a 12-hour counter at 9 o’clock. At its heart is the Calibre F385, a self-winding movement with a 50-hour power reserve. It is completed by an alzavel-lined alligator leather strap with a folding clasp. Reference 6680F-3631-55B.
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This addition to the Villeret family channel’s the collections traditional aesthetic roots. Housed in a 42mm platinum case, it features a white grand feu enamel dial with painted enamel Roman numerals and platinum hour and minute hands. The highlight of this piece is undoubtedly the tourbillon at 12 o’clock. It is powered by the Calibre 242, a self-winding movement with a 288-hour power reserve, or 12 days – thus its name, 12 Jours (French for twelve days). Only 188 pieces will be produced. Reference 66240-3431-55B.
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This model, a double timezone alarm watch, is ideal for travelers. Housed in a 40.30mm 18K red gold case, it features a stamped flinqué opaline dial with red gold Roman numerals and hands. At 12 o’clock, there is a réveil (French for alarm clock) for the power reserve indicator at its left, so that when the 45-hour power reserve is depleted, an alarm will be triggered. There is also a 24-hour chapter ring with a serpentine blued-steel hand, a 12-hour counter at 3 o’clock and a date aperture at 6 o’clock. It is powered by the Calibre 1240H, a self-winding movement which can be glimpsed via the sapphire crystal caseback. It is completed by an 18K red gold Mille Mailles bracelet with a folding clasp. Reference 6640-3642-MMB.
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This brushed steel version of Blancpain’s famous Bathyscaphe is a testament to the enduring appeal of the manufacture’s famous diving watch, which made its debut in the 1950s. Housed in a 43mm case, it features a meteor grey domed dial with lines and dots serving as hour markers, and rectangular hands. There is also a ceramic unidirectional rotating bezel with LiquidMetal® hour-markers, and Superluminova on all the key elements to ensure the wearer’s safety when diving. Functions include a flyback chronograph, a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, the date at 4 o’clock, small seconds at 6 o’clock, and a 12-hour counter at 9 o’clock. It is powered by the new self-winding F385. This movement beats at a rate of 36,000 vibrations/hour, and is equipped with a column-wheel chronograph mechanism and a vertical clutch. It is water resistant to 30.00 bar, including the flyback chronograph, which can be reset underwater using the pusher at 4 o’clock without any risk of damaging the watch. The movement, which features a silicon balance-spring and an 18K gold oscillating weight clad in NAC (a platinum alloy), can be glimpsed via the sapphire crystal caseback. Reference 5200-1110-70B.
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This self-winding three-hand watch features a beautifully understated grand feu enamel dial with date display. The classical aesthetic is further reinforced by enamel-painted numerals, and the tone-on-tone “JB” logo engraved between the numerals IV and V, VII and VIII, which only appears in certain light. The double-stepped 42mm case is in red gold, a material also used for the hollowed sage leaf-shaped hands. In addition to the date display at 3 o’clock, as well as a central seconds hand. The sapphire crystal caseback provides a glimpse of the decorative effects on the Calibre 1335, including Côtes de Genève on the bridges and a honeycomb pattern on the oscillating weight. This mechanical self-winding movement, produced in-house by Blancpain, boasts an 8-day power reserve – thus its name, 8 Jours (French for eight days). It is completed by a chocolate-toned alligator leather strap. Reference 6630-3631-55B.
Photo credit: Haute Time.
