It is no wonder why Blancpain boasts a rich heritage in women's watches. The creations of feminine models were driven by Betty Fiechter, the first female CEO of a leading watchmaking company.
In the early 1930s, she took the helm after the sudden death of Frédéric-Emile Blancpain. The company was renamed Rayville-Blancpain -- Rayville being a phonetic anagram of Villeret where its watchmaking began in 1735.
Almost two centuries later in 1930, the long-established Swiss brand played a pioneering role in the history of feminine timepieces by creating the first automatic women's wristwatch, the Rolls, featuring an ingenious sliding system to wind the mechanism.
Blancpain developed mechanical watches for smaller wrists, some equipped with horological complications previously reserved for men. Fiechter believed that a woman needs the finery to be properly dressed, and she paved the way for jewellery watches which furthered the brand's international reputation.
Fifty years after her death, Blancpain's 2021 novelties include the Ladybird Colors collection, which showcases the brand's gemsetting expertise while harking back to the dainty Ladybird, launched in 1956, with the world's smallest round movement of its era.
The seven variations are presented in a red gold or white gold case with a diameter of 34.9mm. The bezel, lugs and crown are set with 59 diamonds totalling over 2 carats.
The white mother-of-pearl dial features signature hour and minute hands shaped like hollowed-out sage leaves; and slightly rounded applied gold Arabic numerals, sized to form an asymmetrical hour circle, underlined by a band of diamonds.
Before the gemsetting, artisans use scorpers to create a thin clean-cut band of precious metal on either side of the diamonds. Known as recutting, this step is important because it has a considerable influence on the brilliance by producing a mirror effect.
The diamonds are then precisely aligned one by one so that their facets reflect the light in unison. The gemsetters then push back the beads formed from the precious metal over the gems to hold them in place. They then manually work the separation between the beads with great accuracy to avoid damaging the stones.
The craftsmanship is as meticulous in decorating the slender in-house self-winding Calibre 1153 with an openworked gold oscillating weight matching the circular patterns of the watch face.
The red gold model is available with a choice of peacock green, midnight blue or satin-white alligator leather strap, while the white gold version can be paired with a lemon yellow, tangerine orange, lilac or satin-white alligator leather strap. This array of colours, which inspired the model's name, symbolise diversity, enthusiasm and joy.
