Blancpain marks the beginning of the Chinese year 2022 with a new edition of the Traditional Chinese Calendar.
LOFTBlancpain celebrates the 2022 Lunar New Year by unveiling a new edition of its Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel. Crafted in platinum and limited to fifty pieces, this watch features the lunisolar calendar indications on a white grand feu enamel dial. This year's zodiac sign, the tiger, takes center stage on the caseback.
The Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel , an exclusive complication developed by Blancpain , is based on principles closely linked to Chinese tradition that have been established for millennia. In addition to the hours, minutes, and the Gregorian calendar, the dial features the main indications of the Chinese calendar: the double hours, the day, and the month, with an indication of the intercalary months, the signs of the zodiac, the five elements, and the celestial stems. The phases of the moon, which determine the months of the Chinese calendar and are part of Blancpain's complete calendars, are also represented.
To mark the transition to the Year of the Tiger 2022 (from February 1, 2022, to January 21, 2023), Blancpain is launching a new edition of this iconic timepiece: a platinum model with a white grand feu enamel dial, whose gold oscillating weight is engraved with the year's Chinese zodiac sign, the tiger.
The beautiful 45 mm double-pomme case, faithful to the aesthetics of the Villeret collection, is equipped with correctors under the lugs to facilitate function adjustment. It opens onto a display that reveals Blancpain's craftsmanship. The hour disc is composed of gold appliqués, while the other information is painted in enamel. The slightly openworked leaf hour and minute hands rub shoulders with a serpentine hand indicating the Gregorian calendar date, a shape reminiscent of 18th-century watchmaking tradition.
The Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel model is powered by the 3638 self-winding movement , whose complexity is illustrated both by its multiple indications and the irregularity of its cycles. While watchmaking history has paved the way for watchmakers in the creation of their mechanisms for over two centuries, the creation of the Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel began with a blank page. This complication is the result of an immense challenge overcome by Blancpain, after five years of research and development.
Useful and symbolic, the Traditional Chinese Calendar invites lovers of fine watchmaking to consider different conceptions of time as complementary approaches. It bears witness to the richness of this diversity.
Technical specifications
| BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL |
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REFERENCE : 00888J-3431-55B |
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FUNCTIONS : Traditional Chinese Calendar: indication of double time, zodiac sign, date and month of the Chinese calendar, indication of the five elements, the ten celestial stems and the intercalated months ∙ Gregorian calendar ∙ phases of the moon ∙ correctors under lugs ∙ movement with safety system ∙ white grand feu enamel dial ∙ oscillating weight set with a Madagascar ruby ∙ automatic |
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MOVEMENT : Automatic Caliber 3638 |
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CASE : Platinum, oscillating weight and crown set with a Madagascar ruby, 45 mm x 15 mm |
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WATER RESISTANCE : 3 bar (30 m) |
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CRYSTAL : Sapphire on dial and transparent case back |
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DISTANCE BETWEEN HANDLES : 23 mm |
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LIMITED EDITION : 50 pieces |
