TATLER FOCUS Blancpain’s bold commitment to creating ladies’ watches that are both beautiful and mechanically interesting has certainly won the hearts of modern women
Women’s watches occupy a unique niche in the world of timepieces, which focuses most of its energy on creating watches for men. Many women’s watches end up as an afterthought, usually smaller diamond‑studded versions of men’s watches. Not so at Blancpain, whose ladies’ watches are always created specifically to cater to the feminine gender.
The brand has been a pioneer in the creation of women’s watches since the 1930s, when it presented the world’s first self-winding watch for women. Its famous Ladybird line, created specifically for women in 1956, was also the world’s smallest round watch when it first launched. And of course, besides its technical innovations, Blancpain’s watches are always a thing of beauty.
(Related: Blancpain Ladies' Watch Appreciation Session)
Here, we highlight three exceptional pieces from their women's collection.
Women Heure Décentrée
“Since 1735, there has never been a quartz Blancpain watch. And there never will be”—so went the famous tagline decorating Blancpain’s ads following its resurrection in 1983.
This philosophy of mechanical excellence naturally extends to creating exceptional movements for all of Blancpain’s watches, including the Women Heure Décentrée. The watch houses the self-winding calibre 2663SR, which is equipped with a silicon balance spring for greater accuracy. Naturally, the movement is beautifully finished with cotes de Genève, and the oscillating weight is carved in the shape of a five-petal flower.
In terms of aesthetics, the watch is alluring and refined, with the decentralised time indications, retrograde 30sec indication, and asymmetric gold and diamond inlay adding visual interest to the mother‑of‑pearl dial. We particularly like the design of the bezel, which looks like it was formed from four overlapping diamond-studded arcs.