Blancpain, one of the oldest Swiss Manufactures, has just revealed some info regarding its 2011 Villeret Demi-Fuseau Horaire GMT (Ref. 6665-3642-55B) model that is going to be officially revealed at the Baselworld 2011 trade show. As usual for this kind of classic-styled, vintage-inspired dress watches, this one is offered in a compact body of only 40 millimeters in diameter. Thanks to its relatively thin automatic movement, it is also quite slender for such a feature-packed model.
According to the Swiss company, the Demi-Fuseau Horaire GMT will feature a not so co common variation on the GMT complication that will let you set time in the second time zone in half-hour increments.
The function, which comes courtesy of the new BP Calibre 5254DF automatic movement, may come useful if you often travel to countries like Australia, Venezuela (the country that has recently received its own special edition model from Vacheron Constantin), India, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and even Canada.
Built of 321 components, the movement stores enough power to keep the Demi-Fuseau Horaire GMT ticking for as long as 72 hours. Although by current standards, a power reserve of 3 days is nothing to brag about, it is still long enough for the Villeret Demi-Fuseau Horaire GMT to be a lot more practical than many other similarly styled timekeepers featuring just a tad lower (or sometimes even higher) price that are based on all kinds of ETA blank calibers.
Equipped with a rose gold winding rotor, the movement is meticulously decorated and is perfectly visible via a transparent display window, which is further protected by an engine-turned hunter case-back cover also made of rose gold.
The second time zone, which is displayed with the central hour and minute hands, is adjusted with a pusher on the crown’s tip. The button can also be used to quickly set the date, which is also useful for a GMT watch.
While the guilloched opaline dial displays a lot of information, it doesn’t look cluttered at all.
As you can see in the pictures, there is a reference time-zone indicator at 12 o’clock, a day/night indicator at 9 o’clock, a small date aperture at 6 o’clock, and even a time zone indicator at 4 o’clock.
All these displays enjoy enough breezing space so as not to distract your attention from your main focus of interest.
That’s all the info that we have at the moment regarding this rose gold beauty.
Stay tuned for more data.
See also: Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms automatic diver (Ref. 5015B-1130-52)
WWR Verdict
Originality 4.5/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Overall Legibility: 4/5
Nighttime Legibility: 1/5
Value for Money: 3.5/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Photos: Blancpain
Blancpain Villeret Demi-Fuseau Horaire GMT (ref. 6665-3642-55B) specification
Price: $29,900 (Retail)
Movement: Calibre BP 5254DF, 321 parts, in-house, Swiss Made
Movement winding: Automatic
Jewels: 28
Movement frequency: 28,800 vph
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, day/night indication, date, second time zone (GMT) indicator
Power reserve: 72 hours (3 days)
Case: 18-karat rose gold
Shape: Round
Size: 40.00 mm
Lug width: 22.00 mm
Case height: 11.23 mm
Dial: Opaline, guilloched
Numerals: Roman (main chapter ring) and Arabic (“Home” time zone)
Hands: Gold, open-worked, polished
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Brown leather with folding clasp in 18-karat rose gold
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Back: Sapphire with hunter case-back cover