A Call to Adventure: Introducing Sunburst Green Dials on Four New Blancpain Villeret References

Active lifestyle and adventure are often linked to nature, which in turn is a major source of inspiration for numerous watch brands. Watchmakers catering for outdoor enthusiasts and explorers seek to emphasise the toughness, durability, and dependability of their timepieces; they often bank on design motifs inspired by nature to make their creations appealing to wearers. For instance, timepieces made for divers usually display wave motifs and blue dials. The four new additions to Blancpain’s Villeret collection ― Extraplate, Quantième Complet, Quantième Phases de Lune, and Tourbillon Carrousel ― leave no stone unturned to bring out the explorer in every wearer with their sunburst green dials.

The dials are inspired by the fir trees surrounding the Manufacture in Le Brassus, a village in Vallée de Joux in Switzerland’s Canton of Vaud. For those who enjoy the great outdoors, the scenic Vallée de Joux in the Swiss Jura is a veritable piece of heaven. This picturesque area offers indescribable natural beauty, profound cultural diversity, and remarkable traditional craftsmanship, all within an hour's drive from Geneva. The area has large meadows, deep forests, and crystal clear lakes. The largest lake in the Jura, Lac de Joux, is a popular location for swimming, windsurfing, and sailing, among other water sports. Ice skaters from all around the area come to the lake in the winter, when it turns into a massive natural ice rink.

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Extraplate

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The Extraplate (Ref. 6651-3653-55B) is a refined time-and-date model with classic Roman numerals, central hour, minute, and second hands with the inscription of ‘JB’ dedicated to Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, and a date window at 3 o'clock. It is contained in a distinctive 40 mm red gold case with short, slim lugs and a crown at 3 o’clock. The casing is only 8.7 mm thick and features sapphire crystals on the front and back, with the latter revealing the in-house automatic calibre 1151. This movement features a silicone hairspring and dual series-coupled barrels, providing a remarkable 100-hour power reserve.

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Tourbillon Carrousel

The new Villeret Tourbillon Carrousel (Ref. 2322-3653-55B) variant comes with two revolving escapements: a flying tourbillon at 12 o'clock and a flying carrousel at 6 o'clock. Blancpain first introduced this innovative concept in 2013. The tourbillon uses a single power source to move both the balance wheel and the cage, whereas the carrousel uses two power sources ― one for escapement and another to regulate the cage's rotation, with both regulators linked by a differential gear train.

This 44.6 mm 18 ct red gold timepiece has a date subdial at 3 o'clock, Blancpain engraving at 9 o’clock, and a crown at 4 o'clock. The central hour and minute hands as well as the Roman numerals are made of red gold. The caseback provides a clear glimpse into the decorated in-house manually wound calibre 2322, which has a 168-hour or 7-day power reserve, indicated on the movement side.

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Quantième Complet

The latest Villeret Quantième Complet (Ref. 6654A-3653-55B) variant retains the classic qualities of the previous 6654 models. Housed in a 40 mm double-stepped red gold case, the watch comes with Roman numerals, central hands for the hours, minutes, seconds, and date (indicated on a recessed track), apertures for the day and month above the centre, and a moonphase display at 6 o’clock. The date is indicated via a small curved hand.

This complete calendar watch is driven by the finely adorned automatic in-house calibre 6654, which has a 72-hour power reserve. To protect the complex calendar mechanism, Calibre 6654 has been secured to enable the wearers to adjust the calendar indications whenever they wish, using Blancpain's patented under-lug correctors that can be operated simply at the press of a finger. 

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Quantième Phases de Lune

The final timepiece, Quantième Phases de Lune (Ref. 6126-2953-55B), is housed in a 33.2 mm red gold case. The watch, meant for women, gets a diamond-set bezel, eight diamonds, and four Roman hour markers. The watch has the same features as the larger complete calendar piece mentioned above.

The date on this model is read via a crescent hand. The watch is driven by the automatic calibre 913QL.P, which has a 40-hour power reserve. Turning the watch over showcases the sapphire open caseback with a red gold oscillating weight.