When the Horse Arrives: Blancpain’s 2026 Edition of the Villeret Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel
When civilizations seek to understand time, they look to the heavens. Few cultures have pursued this relationship with greater nuance than China, whose traditional calendar binds solar rhythm, lunar cycles, and cosmological symbolism into a single, living system. Translating such a conception of time into mechanical form is not merely a technical challenge, it is an intellectual one. With the arrival of the Fire Horse in 2026, Blancpain once again turns to one
of watchmaking’s most demanding disciplines, one mastered by only a few, marking the Manufacture’s fifteenth interpretation of the Chinese calendar and reaffirming its place at the very summit of calendar horology.
The Villeret Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel – Year of the Horse 2026, is a powerful demonstration of Blancpain’s savoirfaire. Back in 2012, Blancpain’s movement designers devoted five full years to develop the movement which comprises 469 components. Its complexity far exceeds that of a perpetual calendar and approaches that of a minute repeater. This intricate construction is carried out in Blancpain’s Le Brassus grand complication workshop. It represents Blancpain’s mastery of calendar complications.
The calendar mechanism is powered by Blancpain’s calibre 3638 which achieves seven-day power reserve with three barrels. Nested in a 45.2 mm platinum case, paired with a salmon-rose Grand Feu enamel dial and white gold applied numerals, it is equipped with a silicon balance spring.
Created to mark the arrival of the Fire Horse on February 17th, 2026, this limited edition of 50 pieces introduces a new visual expression – a salmon-rose Grand Feu enamel dial, the first of its kind at Blancpain.
The Villeret Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel thoroughly respects the classic signature elements defining the Villeret collection’s understated aesthetics: a round double-stepped case; a grand feu enamel dial with its chapter ring composed of gold appliques, and painted enamel indications transferred before the firing process; as well as the main hands shaped like slightly hollowed leaves. In addition, with the blued steel Gregorian date hand appearing in the traditional serpentine form, Blancpain recalls 18th century watchmaking tradition.