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Blancpain Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel

Marina Milojević | 09.12.12 | 01:04 AM

The year 2012 is marked by many new watch creations inspired by the Year of the Dragon, and rich Eastern tradition full of symbolism. Among many wonderful creations, the new Blancpain's Villeret Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel holds a special place. This watch, which has been recently unveiled at the renowned China Garden in Zurich, is a tribute to China and a first ever watch equipped with a traditional Chinese calendar.

The new Blancpain watch shows a lunisolar calendar - a traditional Chinese system in which the months are measured by the cycles of the moon. Just to make a comparison, the Gregorian calendar is solar, and it uses a single solar day as a base unit. The base unit in Chinese calendar is therefore equal to approximately 29.53 days.

In Chinese calendar, each month begins on the day of the new moon and its length is either 29 or 30 days but, since a year comprises of 12 lunar months, the Chinese year is about 11 days too short compared with the solar year. For this reason, a leap month is sometimes given to make up the difference. Knowing this, it is easy to understand why the Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year.

Blancpain Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel

The plenitude of indications shown by this watch are all driven by a complex new

self-winding Calibre 3638. This automatic movement offers 7 days of power reserve and it comprises of no less than 469 parts and 36 jewels. The center is reserved for hours and minutes, along with the Gregorian calendar, while the sub-dial at 12 o'clock serves as a 24-hour indicator. The counter at 3 o'clock shows the celestial stems in a 10-year cycle, while a date and leap month indicator sit at 9 o'clock. The most interesting is a small aperture on the top of the dial, which shows the zodiac sign of the current year.

Blancpain Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel case-back

Blancpain Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel is available in two basic variations, each measuring 45mm in diameter. The first one is crafted in platinum while the other one uses red gold as a case-material. The platinum version is truly exclusive, and it is limited to only 20 exemplars. Both variants are matched with  a grand feu enamel dial, white the limited edition features the oscillating weight made in white gold and adorned with handcrafted ornaments – a special dragon engraving.

Blancpain Calendrier Chinois Traditionne self-winding Calibre 3638l

Blancpain Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel Reference 00888-3431-55B: 

Platinum Case, 45.00 mm, oscillating weight and crown set with a Madgascar ruby. Limited edition of 20 pieces.

Blancpain Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel Reference 00888-3631-55B: 

Non limited version in red gold

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