Hands-on with the Basel novelties (4): the Villeret timepieces

This is the fourth part of my hands-on report from Basel, showing the new Blancpain Villeret timepieces. 

There have been three new Villeret watches this year, all in a 40mm case, all available in either stainless steel or rose gold, all of them on either strap or a perfectly crafted Milanaise bracelet, which is entirely manufactured inhouse and assembled by hand requiring a lot of precision in order to support the slight tapering of the bracelet. And obviously all three models feature the patented under-lug correctors.

Let us start with what some of you have instantly called a winner, the new Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel in stainless steel.

Blancpain Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel

It’s been a while that Blancpain had offered a perpetual calendar in a steel case, the last one (to my knowledge) had been the Leman Flyback Perpetual Calendar, which was discontinued a few years ago.

The new PC does not go for any design experiments, you’ll find the classic Villeret optics, a beautiful white dial and heat blued hands for the calendar indications.

Here are a few pictures I took to share with you:

Blancpain Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel

Blancpain Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel

Blancpain Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel

Blancpain Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel

The second novelty is the Villeret Grande Date Jour Rétrograde. For the first time Blancpain offers a big date that is located in a decentralized position on the dial, offering space for a retrograde day indication, which again features a heat blued hand. I was very impressed with this watch, especially in the rose gold version, so most photos are taken of that one.

Blancpain Villeret Grande Date Jour Rétrograde

Blancpain Villeret Grande Date Jour Rétrograde

Blancpain Villeret Grande Date Jour Rétrograde

Blancpain Villeret Grande Date Jour Rétrograde

I must admit that I was not allocating a lot of time to the third watch, which was introduced a few weeks prior to Basel, the Villeret Quantieme Complet GMT. It is a beautiful timepiece without a doubt, it however did not capture my attention in the same way the other novelties did. Therefore I can show only one photo, I hope this does not disappoint you too much.

Blancpain Villeret Quantieme Complet GMT

Well, dear TZ Blancpain forumers, that was it with the novelties, at least when it comes to this initial report. I hope you enjoyed the photos, part five with impressions from the Blancpain booth will follow very soon, together with my personal conclusions from what I had the pleasure to see with Blancpain in Basel.

Cheers
Henrik

For further information on the timepieces please visit blancpain.com

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