Blancpain Women Camélia

A first for the brand and a treat for its feminine devotees  

While Blancpain has been a pioneer in the history of mechanical ladies’watches, the latest launches from  the Manufacture in Le Brassus focus more specifically on finesse and elegance. Conceived, devised and  developed in a resolutely feminine spirit,the new BLANCPAIN WOMEN collection unveils new timepieces  dedicated to beauty,subtlety and grace.  

Ever since 1930, Blancpain has been firmly convinced that women are well able to appreciate the know-how and  the magic of mechanical horology. The Blancpain tradition of feminine Haute Horlogerie timepieces is thus no  recent development, but instead boasts a rich and diverse history. Over the past 75 years, Blancpain’s numerous  achievements in this field have included the first ladies’self-winding wristwatch, the smallest round movement  and more recently the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar. For the past few years, Blancpain has also regularly  made its mark on lovers’calendars by designing exclusive limited edition Valentine’s Day timepieces. From an  initial role as a purely functional object, the wristwatch has become a piece of jewellery or an accessory  accompanying a particular clothing style. This graceful transformation has proved fundamental to contemporary  watchmaking. And it is obviously not by chance that many women’s hearts have for decades been beating to the  gentle rhythms of mechanical Blancpain movements.  

While the Blancpain ladies’models created in the past can lay claim to many world firsts, the Manufacture had  never yet dedicated an entire collection to women. For the very first time and coinciding with the arrival of spring,  Blancpain is revealing how it has imagined and developed its approach to feminine mechanical timepieces. Far  from being mere reductions or adaptations of existing men’s watches, the three first models making up this  collection were specifically developed to meet the expectations and desires of contemporary women. The hours  of the BLANCPAIN WOMEN collection are exclusively feminine. Remaining steadfastly faithful to its roots in  the Vallée de Joux, Blancpain has endowed each of its women’s watches with a meticulously hand-finished and  decorated mechanical self-winding movement. Nonetheless, the Manufacture is now exploring an entirely new  path by creating a collection that is completely innovative in terms of its aesthetics.  

Meeting a broad range of aspirations  

Entirely certain of women’s deep-felt attachment to these marvels of mechanical miniaturisation, Blancpain has  expended a good deal of energy in developing this new collection. While undeniably unique, BLANCPAIN  WOMEN seeks to capture the diversity of modern women’s daily lives through the variety of its expressions. In  defining this array of different spirits and characters, Blancpain almost instinctively looked to nature for  inspiration. The wondrous perfection and diversity of the floral universe fired its imagination and determined the  themes for the collection dedicated to femininity. Several flowers thus became the expression of a symbolic design  within the collection. Convinced that women will appreciate the hand-crafted finishing and fine decoration that  Blancpain lavishes upon its movements, Blancpain has outfitted all models in the BLANCPAIN WOMEN  collection with a sapphire crystal case-back. As on all Blancpain movements, decorative operations such as “Côtes  de Genève” circular graining, bevelling, polishing and engraving are all performed entirely by hand, in keeping  with the noblest traditions of horological excellence. 

For a woman who desires a timepiece to express a more informal and dynamic lifestyle, Blancpain offers three  bold and exuberant flyback chronographs. The fact that the chronograph is one of the most attractive mechanical  complications owes less to the use one actually makes of it than to the sheer pleasure it procures. Measuring time,  pretending to stop it and playing with the passing seconds bring an immediate sense of satisfaction! Since time is  such a rare commodity these days, one might as well enjoy taming it in style and mastering it in entertaining ways.  Heralding spring and the bursting of new life, the camellia breathes a heady fragrance through this chronograph.  Broad and robust, its sheer magnificence expresses the vigorous side of this collection. While these timepieces  incorporate traditional Blancpain styling cues and accents, the chronographs in the collection deliberately steer  away from their masculine counterparts by adopting new stylised Arabic numerals and elegant hollowed hands.  Displaying round, generous forms enhanced by its classic characteristic double stepped motif, the steel case  measuring 34 mm in diameter is water-resistant to 100 metres. This same motif, replicated around the counters at  3, 6 and 9 o’clock, highlights the overall effect. A fine circular pattern decorates both the counters and the rim of  the dial. Subtly highlighting the femininity of these flyback chronographs, the hand-sewn crocodile leather strap  is cut at right angles so that the principle line of the scales flows along the length, rather than across the band. Like  the camellia, a symbol of excellence and longevity that is reputed for its perfect shapes, the new “Camélia”  Flyback Chronograph houses a precious heart. Women who love the great outdoors will also appreciate the fine  hand finishing of the calibre F185 movement which offers them the smooth chronograph pusher feel which only  a column wheel system, bearing the exclusive stamp of Haute Horlogerie chronographs, can procure. In addition  to displaying the chronograph functions and indications, this complex mechanism also shows the hours, minutes,  small seconds and a date window at 6 o’clock.  

The entire BLANCPAIN WOMEN collection is equipped with the brand-new folding clasp system for the straps.  Built with double folding arms engraved with the decorative Blancpain logo, each side is guided into place by a  cleverly integrated spring, making the clasp look exactly like a classic pin buckle.  To further integrate these fine timepieces into the lifestyle of today’s women, Blancpain has re-invented the  presentation box that accompanies each watch. Fashioned out of marbled maple wood, this elegant showcase also  provides storage space for other fine jewellery creations.