Only Watch 2015 – Unique Blancpain Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar with black enamel dial

For Only Watch 2015, Blancpain will come with kind of a special watch – like every of the other brands participating to this charity auction, right. Of course, the watch that Blancpain will offer is a one-of-a-kind edition, unique in its design and execution but it is also a very specific watch because of the complication it features, a chinese perpetual calendar. Here is the unique Blancpain Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar with black enamel dial.

What’s so special about this watch is not only its unique execution but rather its complication. First of all, Blancpain decided to come to Only Watch with one of its classical watch, the Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar, with several specific elements. The case is made of 18k red gold (something classical for the brand) but here combined with a black enamel dial, with indications that are painted in gold before firing. The hands and the applied Roman numerals (with Blancpain’s typical shape) also are made from red gold, to match the case. A glance through the sapphire crystal provides a view of the oscillating weight specially crafted for this occasion in a black champlevé enamel finish and bearing the Only Watch inscription. The case measures 45mm and is combined with a dark brown leather strap.

As said, this Blancpain Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar for Only Watch 2015 is not only unique because of its aesthetics but also because of the complication that is displayed on the dial. Based on a classical perpetual calendar, Blancpain here changes the Gregorian calendar to a chines calendar with many of the indications linked to this culture. Of course, the hours, minutes and date (displayed by a blued curved hand with a scale on the edge of the dial) are still linked to the Gregorian system. All the other sub-dials are on the other hands very specific: traditional double-hour indication, day, month with indication of leap months, signs of the zodiac (in a window at 12), as well as the five elements (inside the sub-dial at 3) and the 10 celestial stems (outside the sub-dial at 3). 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 are also displayed and play an important role in this Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar, given the link between the lunar cycle and traditional Chinese months.

This unique edition of the Blancpain Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar, with a black enamel dial and a 18k red gold case, will be part of the 43 unique watches to be auctioned at the Only Watch charity auction, taking place in Geneva on 7 November 2015, to assist in furthering research for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.