BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Believe it or not this is the first time we’re talking about Bianchet here on WristReview. It’s not surprising, perhaps, as the brand is quite young, being founded in 2017. In that time the brand has gone from strength to strength and is now debuting a new tourbillon watch which has the chops to be a practical piece for those who can afford it.
Alexander Bublik
The headline for Bianchet’s B1.618 Flying Tourbillon UltraFino watches is their UT01 calibre, which features a tourbillon capable of withstanding shocks of up to 5,000 G. Bianchet has been working on this one for a while and hasbeen field testing the UT01 calibre on the wrist of their ambassador, tennis star Alexander Bublik.
Bianchet is keen to draw attention to both the engineering achievement of making a flying tourbillon comfortably handle the thwacks of a professional tennis player, but also to the decorative touches and thoughtful elements they put into the calibre UT01’s design. Hand bevelling outlines the edges of the titanium bridges which have been shaped to form concentric circles. These circles complement the unique golden rotor which combines twelve interlaced Fibonacci spirals.
As for the science, there’s plenty of that. Bianchet does away with the traditional ratcheting system for the mainspring barrel, which allows it to be thinner, just as shock resistant and yet still provide 60 hours of power. This redesign extends to the system used when you have to wind the watch manually through the crown. The movement also apparently has lots of shock protection built in to defend not only from the initial impact but also from the motions caused by the spinning rotor after said impact, although Bianchet hasn’t specifically said what they have done there. Despite all this, the movement still has that long power reserve and is just 3.85mm thick.
The new Calibre UT01 is offered in several different cases, all of which measure 40.00mm x 47.39mm x 8.90mm and offer 50m of water resistance. The tonneau (barrel) shaped cases offer flashes of colour around their bezels, in the standard titanium offerings those colour choices are blue, red or black. If you want one of the watches made from carbon fibre, you lose the black option but gain a contrasting white one instead.
There are seven different versions of Bianchet’s B1.618 Flying Tourbillon UltraFino. The cheapest are the Titanium Dial Blue and Black watches, which feature ‘Golden Diamond’ guilloché, which Bianchet says is a re-interpretation of the classic ‘Clous-de-Paris’ pattern. These two watches retail for CHF55,500 before taxes. There are two skeletonised versions available, too, these are available with red or blue flashes on their cases and cost CHF60,500. Then there are the three carbon models which each cost CHF65,500 before taxes. All watches are delivered with a bracelet matching the material the case is made of and a colour-matched rubber strap.
One could say that all watches featuring the tonneau-shaped case are simply mimicking Richard Mille, which made the case shape so popular. These could well fall into that category, too, thanks to their innovative design, which meets high-end horology. With that said, I can’t help but think that if Richard Mille were making these watches, they’d sell them for double the price and leave us to work out why. Bravo, Bianchet, for getting their pricing sorted and making great looking watches too.
