The year 2012 was a world first for Blancpain with the debut of the Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar wristwatch, which spanned from East to West with the combination of the complex Chinese Calendar with the Gregorian calendar and moon phases. This year the Manufacture begins its second 12-year cycle with a new limited edition of this grand complication that displays a Dragon engraved on its red gold oscillating weight in honor of the symbol of the lunar new year. This limited special edition is made for the first time in red gold with a green enameled dial.
Each year Blancpain offers a special limited edition commemorating the legend that the Jade Emperor summoned twelve animals to the gates of his palace. The order of arrival of these animals is commemorated in the twelve-year Zodiac cycle of the Chinese Calendar, and the official animal of the year is celebrated by a Blancpain special edition.
For the 2024 edition, the animal of the year, the Dragon, is engraved on the red gold oscillating weight of the timepiece. Made on a frosted background, the Dragon is flanked by a red ruby and the engraving in Chinese characters of the words 'Dragon' and 'Wood,' the element of 2024. To inaugurate the new 12-year cycle, Blancpain's artists also revamped the appearance of the Zodiac animal symbols.
The mysticism of the Chinese Calendaris expressed in the set of four dedicated hands, one window for the Zodiac and one for the leap month. The set indicates the Chinese hours (one hundred and twenty minutes duration), the sixty-year cycle of the elements and the Yin/Yang, the twelve-year cycle of the Zodiac, and the Chinese leap days, months and months. The Gregorian date display is indicated by a traditional serpentine hand. Moon phases appear in the classical manner in a small window at 6 o'clock.
It took a full five years to develop the movement, which comprises 464 individual components arranged in six planes. Its complexity exceeds that of the perpetual calendar and approaches that of the minute repeater. The intricate design was made in Blancpain's Le Brassus Grand Complications workshop. The calendar mechanism is powered by a Blancpain three-barrel movement, which ensures a seven-day power reserve.
The dial is enameled grand feu and its green color harmonizes beautifully with the 45 mm red gold case. To facilitate adjustment of the date display, the case is fitted with Blancpain's patented under-horn correctors, which free the flanks from pushpieces and allow adjustment by fingertip pressure. In line with Blancpain's other date displays, the Chinese Calendar is equipped with a security against the risk of damage if the adjustment is made during an automatic change,
The Chinese Traditional Calendar 2024 is limited to fifty pieces.
