Blancpain Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar "Year of the Fire Horse"

A combination of Gregorian and Chinese calendar features, complemented by an unexpected and visually striking salmon-hued enamel dial, heralds the Year of the Horse.

Blancpain

In 2012, Blancpain introduced its Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar, an exceptionally intricate timepiece that integrates the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar, aspects of the Gregorian calendar, and a moon phase indicator. Blancpain's masterpiece, a world first, coincided with the Chinese Year of the Dragon. In 2026, Blancpain will release a limited edition of 50 pieces in platinum, commemorating the Year of the Fire Horse, featuring an unusual and unexpected shade for the Grand Feu enamel dial.

The opulent 45.2mm platinum double-stepped case, designed in a traditional Villeret form, is meticulously polished and has Blancpain’s unique correctors (5) for subtle function adjustments concealed beneath the lugs. Similar to Blancpain's other Chinese calendar models, the zodiac animal is subtly depicted, appearing in a small aperture on the dial at noon and engraved on the rotor.

The 2026 innovation features an appealing salmon-hued Grand Feu enamel dial. The warm and beautiful salmon Grand Feu enamel is resistant to fading, offering a vibrant contrasting backdrop. Despite the abundance of information presented, the dial remains remarkably organised due to the symmetrical configuration of the indicators. The date is displayed on the edge in Arabic numerals and indicated by a blue serpentine pointer hand, while the moon phase aperture, featuring a distinctive Blancpain smiling moon face, is located in the lower half of the dial. The utilised white gold Roman numerals for the hours and the openworked sage-leaf hour and minute hands finalise the Western calendar presentations.

Blancpain

The Chinese calendar is condensed into three sub-dials. At noon, below the opening depicting a horse, there exists a diminutive sub-dial for the Chinese double hours. The counter positioned horizontally at 9 o’clock is designated for the lunar months and days, with the small circular aperture illuminating red when the year includes a 13th intercalary month. The sub-dial at 3 o’clock, featuring a yin and yang symbol at its core, denotes the five elements – wood, earth, fire, water, and metal – as well as the 10 heavenly stems. Given that this is the Year of the Fire Horse, the blued hand ought to indicate the element of fire.

After five years of development and significantly more complex than a perpetual calendar, Blancpain's automatic calibre 3638 integrates two fundamentally distinct methodologies for measuring time. Consisting of 464 components and providing an impressive 7-day power reserve due to three series-coupled barrels, the automatic movement operates at 4Hz and features a silicon balancing spring. The embellishments are conventional, featuring Côtes de Genève ornamentation on the bridges. The frosted white gold rotor showcases a relief etching of a galloping horse stepping on a soaring bird, symbolising the horse's swiftness. A natural ruby and the Chinese characters for "horse" and "fire" border the focal depiction of the animal.

The Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar Year of the Fire Horse features a brown leather strap with a white gold pin buckle. It is restricted to 50 units and is priced at CHF 81,000. Additional details can be found at blancpain.com.