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"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without." - Confucius

Ladybird by Blancpain celebrates its 60th birthday this year. It was the world’s smallest round watch at the time of its birth. She was conceived in interesting times; once World War II and the highly rational mindset of the war-years ended, a new era started in both culture and fashion.

New types of fabrics and patterns emerged and the greater availability of materials helped a new fashion era to bloom. Ladies had dedicated clothing for home, business clothes, maternity wear, evening wear for social gatherings, or (depending on their social class) work uniforms. The fashion of the fifties fashion also restructured the place of women in society. Men, returning from the front took their jobs back, therefore for a woman to become a wife and mother seemed accessible. Many ladies even left college early to marry and others were not keen to take up employment either.

During the 50s a really special woman was on the board at Blancpain, Betty Fiechter. She began to work at the company at the age of 16 and completed her training with Frédéric-Emile Blancpain. Later with her colleague André Leal, she acquired the business under the name “Rayville S.A., successeur de Blancpain”. She was a real pioneer being a female co-owner in the fine watchmaking industry.

Betty with her nephew Jean- Jacques Fiechter developed a range of calibers for jewellery models which opened new horizons for the brand. In 1956 Blancpain presented the Ladybird: with a 11.85 mm diameter case and with the crown on the reverse side of the watch. It housed a calibre with more than 40-hour power reserve that was quite extraordinary for the time, especially for women’s watches.

We saw three nice new Ladybirds at Baselworld. The first is a limited to 60 pieces “birthday-timepiece”, an Ultra-slim Ladybird with mother-of-pearl dial and set with 32 diamonds on the case and 8 on the dial. The anniversary “look” is completed with a shiny iridescent lilac Louisiana alligator leather strap.

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Ultra-slim Ladybird with mother-of-pearl dial and set with 32 diamonds on the case and 8 on the dial

The second new Ladybird has red gold case with diamonds, an opaline dial and a tiny ladybird charm set with 7 rubies and 11 diamonds. This model features a wrap-around leather strap in a powder rose-lilac colour. The other new watch plays with the white and red colour combination: a white mother-of-pearl dial bearing 4 small ruby hearts, detachable heart charm and white leather strap.


 

Métiers d’Art – The Great Wave

In 2015 Blancpain presented exceptional pieces in the Villeret collection, such as the  “les Métiers d’Art” Shakudō Ganesh.

Shakudō is a special alloy of gold and copper, which can be treated, resulting in an interesting darker colour. The traditional Japanese treatment is called Rokushō, and it was generally used to add patina to mixed metals. Similarly to the Japanese artisans who practiced shakudō and often decorated the pieces with engravings, Blancpain’s artists also handcrafted engraved motifs on the dial.

The new piece is the “The Great Wave” – after the Great Wave off Kanagawa, a Japanese woodblock print created by the artist Hokusai (painter and printmaker of the Edo period of Japan). On this creation a silver obsidian serves as a base. It is a volcanic glass with unique colour and shine. The wave appliqué is in white gold, but it goes through many different phases to achieve interesting colour reflections. As Blancpain explains, “it is first fixed to a Shakudō base before being coated with a unique patina achieved by immersing it into a bath of rokushō salts. Once the patina has been applied, the Shakudō is removed.” Some parts are a bit rough, some parts are polished to give real structural three-dimensional effect to the dial.

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Blancpain Métiers d’Art - The Great Wave

Villeret Quantième Annuel GMT in steel

This year in Basel, the Villeret collection welcomed the stainless steel Quantième Annuel GMT with applied numerals. It is equipped with the self-winding 6054F caliber. The calendar requires one date adjustment annually, between February and March. You can find the GMT function at 8 o’clock with a 24-hour indicator. The case has the brand’s exclusive patented under-lug correctors, which allows you to adjust the watch without any tools.

Just as the previous rose gold version, Blancpain dedicated three different windows to the date, day and month, at 3 o’clock, 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock respectively.

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Blancpain Villeret Quantième Annuel GMT in steel
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Blancpain Villeret Quantième Annuel GMT in steel

 

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