Home » Baselworld - World Watch and Jewellery Show » Baselworld 2017 Review – Blancpain Villeret 8 Day Week of the Year Large Date Watch
The newest member of the Blancpain’s Villeret collection is a stunning 8 Day Week of the Year Large Date Watch that perfectly combines horological complications and refined aesthetics.
Blancpain Villeret 8 Day Week of the Year Large Date features a large twin-aperture date window, together with a week of the year indication displaying the number of the week (and therefore also the month) around the rim of its enamel dial with a blued serpentine hand. This feature might be especially appreciated by businessmen which often use the week number to plan their activities. In order to provide visual balance there is a day of the week counter located at the 9 o’clock position which is also displayed with a blued hand.
The change of the week of the year takes place with the transition from Sunday and Monday. The numbering from 1-53 serves as a reminder that some years include 53 weeks according to official calendars.
The chapter ring and manufacturer’s logo are enamel-painted. This decorative technique includes many successive firings in the kiln at very high temperatures of more than 800° Celsius.
The new Villeret 8 Day Week of the Year Large Date is housed in an elegant red gold case with a double-stepped bezel, measuring 42mm in diameter and 13.40mm in thickness. The case is tooled with the brand’s patented under-lug correctors that are completely out of view when the timepiece is on its wearer’s wrist. This system also enables the future owner of the watch to easily set the indications with a fingertip.
The day of the week can be adjusted via the corrector set at the 11 o’clock position, whilst the week of the year can be modified with the corrector placed at the 1 o’clock position. The large date is adjusted via the crown.
The new Blancpain’s timepiece is equipped with the caliber 3738G2 self-winding movement which is tooled with three mainspring barrels, thus providing amazing 8 days of power reserve. The mechanism features a titanium variable-inertia balance with gold micrometric regulation screws and a balance spring in silicon. The impeccable movement consists of 378 individual parts.
From the rear, the sapphire case back offers an unobstructed view of the nicely hand-finished caliber and the gold winding rotor with its honeycomb guilloché pattern.
Blancpain Villeret 8 Day Week of the Year Large Date (ref. 6637-3631-55) comes with a hand-stitched chocolate-colored alligator leather strap. Water resistance is assured down to 30 meters (100 feet). The recommended retail price is approximately $36,200.
