The Thinnest Argument
The most persuasive dress watches are the ones you forget you are wearing.
Now in 38 mm – alongside the emblematic 40mm - the Villeret Ultraplate offers its quiet proportion to more wrists than ever: the right size, the one that disappears once worn. It arrives with a first for the collection, a sunburst salmon dial paired with an anthracite nubuck strap, and a boutique-only study in contrast: steel, yellow gold, and an olive-green nubuck strap.
For more than forty years, Villeret has stood for the same values: proportion, substance, consistency. In 38 mm, it expresses them with even greater confidence and understatement.
A new 38 mm case
A first for Villeret
A boutique-exclusive
Two Villeret Phases de Lune
Automatic manufacture calibre 1150
for the Villeret Ultraplate added alongside the emblematic 40mm, in stainless steel or 18 ct red gold.
a sunburst salmon dial in a stainless steel case, with black-treated 18 ct gold numerals and an anthracite nubuck strap.
two-tone reference, stainless steel case, solid 18 ct yellow-gold numerals, gold-toned opaline dial, olive-green nubuck strap.
in 29.2 mm, carrying Blancpain's signature moon phase, with diamond-set bezel and indexes.
with silicon hairspring, Haute Horlogerie finishing, tool-free interchangeable straps and buckles, 5-year warranty.
“The Villeret has always expressed its character through restraint rather than display.”
Marc A. Hayek, President and CEO of Blancpain
The Right Size
The most convincing argument is rarely the loudest. The Villeret Ultraplate has always made its case through restraint: an ultra-thin automatic movement, a case that asks for no attention, a presence measured. Today that restraint is offered in a new 38 mm, alongside the 40 mm that remains the heart of the collection. The right size, after all, is a personal matter: the one that suits the wrist. One is never overdressed or underdressed with a Villeret – whichever one chooses.
A First in Salmon
For the first time, Villeret wears salmon. A sunburst dial whose warmth shifts through the day between copper, rose and gold, it is set in stainless steel, restraint and warmth in the same timepiece. Its 18 ct gold numerals are treated in a new black finish and echoed by an anthracite nubuck strap. On a collection whose vocabulary runs to opaline and silvered tones, salmon is an event: not a flourish, but a new word in a familiar language. Those who prefer the quieter register will find it in the gold-toned opaline dial alongside it.
Reserved for the Boutiques
One reference makes a quieter kind of statement. Available only in Blancpain boutiques, it pairs a stainless-steel case with solid 18 ct yellow-gold numerals, a gold-toned opaline dial, and an olive-green nubuck alligator strap: saddle-cut and hand-stitched, precious and modest in the same breath. The contrast is deliberate: steel and gold, classicism and a colour Villeret has rarely worn. It is the sort of detail a collector notices first.
A Conviction, Since 1983
The right size is not a new idea to Villeret: it is the oldest one. In 1983, when much of the industry was turning to quartz, Blancpain went the other way and did so with the smallest complete calendar moon phase of its time in just 34 mm. It was a deliberate act of faith in mechanical watchmaking: proof that a watch could be an object of craft, beauty and emotion rather than a piece of electronics. That single timepiece carried the codes – the double-stepped bezel, the understatement, the moon with a face – that the collection still wears today, though it would not be given the name Villeret until 2002.
What followed, across the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, was one of the most inventive chapters in Swiss watchmaking: a succession of firsts, complications and ultra-thin constructions, made in modest, classical proportions and a spirit of discretion. A new generation of collectors has since rediscovered these early Villeret pieces – drawn, as it happens, to exactly the qualities this 38 mm chapter sets out to honour: restraint, proportion, and the conviction that the most timeless watch is the one that never raised its voice.
For more than forty years, Villeret has stood for the same values: proportion, substance, consistency. In 38 mm, it expresses them with even greater confidence and understatement.
“The Villeret embodies the very essence of Blancpain. Each of its evolutions therefore requires great attention. It is both the expression of our watchmaking tradition and the proof that timeless elegance can always be reinvented with subtlety. One is never overdressed or underdressed with a Villeret”
Marc A. Hayek, President and CEO of Blancpain
Redesigned hands
18 ct gold Roman numeral indices
At 3 o’clock
An open worked oscillating weight
Unprecedented comfort
with luminescent inserts offering both a contemporary touch and improved readability in the dark.
with satin-finished tops and polished bevels on the sides. The traditional “12” is replaced by the “JB” symbol. The overall effect is more sculpted and sharply defined.
a larger, moreharmonious date window
crafted in red or yellow gold, its beveled edges and finishes reveal the mechanical heart.
A system of interchangeable straps and clasps designed for Everyday use. Their “saddle-cut” finish, extremely supple and hand-stitched, combines comfort with artisanal tradition.