Blancpain - Villeret Répétition Minutes 40 mm

In 2018 Blancpain redesigned its Villeret Minute Repeater, now housed in a 40 mm case. Blancpain’s minute repeater is one one of the smallest movement of this type ever made.

Among several other novelties, in 2018 Blancpain redesigned its Villeret Minute Repeater, now housed in a 40 mm case.

The opaline dial with Roman numerals and leaf shaped skeletonized hour and minute hands is framed by a slender double stepped case of timeless elegance, the distinctive trait of the Villeret collection.

A complex mechanism in this exclusive timepiece makes it possible to tell the time by listening instead of looking. Actuated by a repeating slide, this complication announces the time musically, using three different sounds. A low note is struck for each hour, then two notes, one high and one low, for each quarter-hour, and lastly a single high note for each minute elapsed since the last quarter-hour struck. The heart of this mechanism consists of two Cathedral gongs struck by hammers and a complex mechanical memory.

Only meticulous selection of metals and precise adjustments can produce a striking mechanism with the purity and sweetness of tone that lend the minute repeater its charm.

Blancpain’s minute repeater is one of the smallest movement of this type ever made. Thanks to its height of just 4.85 mm, Blancpain was able to limit the total thickness of the watch to 9.9 mm. Visible through the sapphire crystal case back, the self-winding Calibre 35 offers 40 hours of power reserve when fully wound.

The new Blancpain Villeret Répétition Minutes is available in rose gold (ref. 6632-3642-55B) or white gold (ref. 6632-1542-55B). blancpain.com