Earlier this year Blancpain introduced a new version of their Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel in red gold with a forest green dial aka reference 6656-3653-55B. Alongside two recent visits in Munich and Switzerland I had the opportunity to take some photos of this beauty, so here we go.

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A powerful color combination

The 40mm Villeret Quantime Perpetuel reference 6656 is in the catalogue for quite some years now, available in stainless steel, red gold and platinum.

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Now this perpetual calendar is available in the striking combination of a polished red gold case and a sunburst finish green dial.

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The dial of the Villeret 6656 is beautifully balanced in every iteration we had seen so far: the grained matte white dial of the stainless steel version, the elegant opaline dial of the red gold watch and of course the mesmerizing blue dial that comes with the limited platinum Boutique edition.

The new color, called forest green, is adding a new type of beauty to the Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel lineup. It also shows that green as a dial color is perfectly suited to stay for good and not be a short lived trend.

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Perfect shapes and strong inner values

I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about the perfectly rounded and balanced shapes of the Villeret case. With 40.3mm in diameter and 10.8mm height it is a haptic and visual delight, especially with the patented under-lug-correctors: there are no pushers spoiling the case flanks thanks to those, and setting the calendar needs no other tool than a fingertip.

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The Villeret 6656 is powered by caliber 5954.4, which is based on cal 1150 albeit trimmed to oscillate at 4Hz and equipped with the module for the calendar. It is a so-called secure movement, which means that you cannot damage the mechanism by setting the calendar during the time of it switching to the next day. With 351 components it provides 3 days of power reserve and features a silicon balance spring.

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Conclusions

The Villeret line stands for elegance in the Blancpain offerings, and it is the natural home for the complicated timepieces like Tourbillons, Minute Repeaters, Carousels or perpetual calendars.

Experimenting with new color combinations is a good way to preserve the basic design language but refresh the line at the same time. With the new 6656 in red gold and forest green dial it is a very compelling experiment, I think.

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But I have to point out that it is very difficult to do this watch justice in photos. It really needs a personal encounter to fully appreciate the charisma of the timepiece, especially in varying light conditions.

You find the Villeret Quantieme Perpetuel 6656-3653-55B here and the details on caliber 5954.4 here on the Blancpain website.

If wish to explore the stainless steel version with white dial you find it here in the blog, the limited Boutique edition in platinum with blue dial is featured here.

I hope you enjoyed this essay and the photos!

Cheers

Henrik