One watch, five styles

Changing the look of one’s watch in order to match a given out t is now child’s play, since this model comes in a presentation box containing a set of ve interchangeable straps in different colors and materials. The three alligator leather ones are in red, midnight blue and sky blue, the ostrich leather one is white, and the third is made of black satin. The wearer can easily remove and exchange the strap simply by pressing the functional catches.

This new women’s timepiece is a Date Moon Phases model. Topped by a bezel adorned with 48 full-cut diamonds, its stainless steel case measures 29.20mm in diameter. Its matt white dial is swept over by solid leaf-shaped hands, a pointer-type date display and a sapphire moon-phase indication. The latter is a horological complication that had almost vanished from the scene until Blancpain reintroduced it in the early 1980s. Since then, it has become a signature of the Manufacture. The depiction of the lunar cycle on the dial of this watch evokes the ancestral links between watchmaking and astronomy. The face of the moon cor- responding to the current moon phase is visible through a dial aperture. The moon-phase indicator is composed of a wheel with 59 teeth, the equivalent of two complete 29.5-day lunar cycles – which is why the moon is drawn twice on the disk driven by this wheel. This moon graced with a feminine face is an amusing nod to history, since the arti cial mole or “beauty spot” (known as a mouche for its similarity to a y) appearing at the corner of its smiling mouth was regarded in 18th century Europe as symbolizing a playfully teasing attitude. Mouches were used by ladies of the Court as a message to their suitors that differed according to where these coquettish signs were placed.

Beyond beauty, technology

The Villeret Quantième à Phase de Lune is powered by the automatic 913QL movement. The latter is equipped with a glucydur balance wheel featuring gold micrometric regulating screws as well as a balance spring in silicon. This material recently introduced within the watch industry offers several important advantages: its low density makes it lighter; it is more shock-resistant as well as being impervious to magnetic elds. Firstly, its low density makes it lighter and thus more shock-resistant. In addition, it is impervious to magnetic elds. The resulting balance spring is ideally shaped, thereby ensuring improved isochronism performance of the movement, which in turn leads to enhanced timekeeping precision. The sapphire case back reveals a yellow gold oscillating weight adorned with a snailed bevel, polished chamfers, as well as straight and circular Côtes de Genève patterns, as the Manufacture once again demonstrates its expertise through this array of delicate and sophisticated decorative techniques.