BY NIKHIL KURMALA
Valentine’s Day, the happily attached amongst us have lots to look forward to: from the romantic dinner dates to the thoughtful gifts every man plans to get for his girl. As for Blancpain however, in keeping with tradition, they introduce a new women’s timepiece that is both pure and timeless and this year is no different. The Swiss luxury watch brand has picked its women’s Villeret Quantième Phases De Lune timepiece for the redesign.
Blancpain reinterprets its Villeret Women Quantième Phases de Lune watch, delicately blending the collection’s signature characteristics with the universal emblems of love. Stemming from a tradition initiated by the brand in 2001, this 19th limited series intended to celebrate lovers is issued in a 99-piece edition.
The all-new Quantième Phases de Lune is easily one of the most female watches I have ever seen from Blancpain. Translated in English as the women’s Date Moon Phase watch, the timepiece is a blend of top-quality craftsmanship and materials, with pretty incredible versatility and pricing. The watch is part of the brand’s much-loved Villeret Collection, which is named for the famous watchmaking town in Switzerland where Jehan-Jacques Blancpain started making watches in 1735 in a quaint workshop on the top floor of his home. The collection is designed to not only recall the traditions and DNA of the brand, but also to demonstrate its current-day visionary abilities.
The special “Valentine’s Day 2019” timepiece appears with a gorgeous pure white mother-of-pearl dial, of which the iridescent sheen and cotton-candy shades evoke a heavenly backdrop. Eight brilliant-cut diamonds serve as hour-markers are carefully set and secured to the mother-of-pearl. The complexity of such a process should be noted as its no easy feat to add precious gems into a mother of pearl dial. Swept over by slender matching cut-out sage leaf-type hands, the chapter ring is complemented by applied red gold numerals marking 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock. In theme with valentine’s day, the seconds are pointed to by a central hand shaped like a Cupid’s arrow, while a fourth hand tipped with a red-lacquered heart indicates the date. The moon phase appears at 6 o’clock, through an aperture with rounded edges and a golden rim.
The timepiece is powered by the self-winding movement 913QL.P which is housed within the beautifully sized 33mm red gold case that has been with 64 brilliant-cut diamonds. Endowed with a silicon balance-spring and a 40-hour power reserve, this self-winding movement features flat bridges ensuring a more generous case-back opening and incorporating a broader oscillating weight.
The Blancpain Villeret Women Quantième Phases de Lune: Valentine’s Day 2019 Edition is paired with two interchangeable alligator leather straps. Its lucky owners will thus be able to switch from flaming red to pristine white simply by pressing the functional catches located beneath the straps. Visit Blancpain here.
