Blancpain Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar Malaysians know that according to the Chinese Zodiac, January 25, 2020 is the beginning of the Year of the Rat. It is said that hard-working and hard-working animals herald a year of luck and prosperity, alertness and cleverness, and hard work will bring rich returns. To commemorate this moment, Blancpain has released a limited-edition Villeret traditional Chinese calendar featuring rats.

Blancpain’s traditional Chinese calendar mechanically combines two different time interpretations: the Chinese traditional Yin and Yang calendar and the date of the solar calendar. Of course, because the basic units of these two time-division systems are different, this obviously adds more complexity to an already complex system. Blancpain believes that this feat requires five years of research and development to achieve.

The solar calendar is based on the solar day, while the Chinese lunar calendar follows the lunar cycle, which is 29.53059 days. This means that the year of the 12 lunar months is about 11 days shorter than a solar year. To keep pace with the seasonal cycle, months of the year are added to the Chinese calendar every two to three years.

But the complexity is not limited to this, because the Chinese calendar uses a system of subdividing a day into 12 double hours, instead of the 24 hours each of the 60 minutes in the Gregorian calendar. Each of these twelve hours is named after one of the twelve earthly branches and is represented by an animal in the zodiac.

Surprisingly, Blancpain has managed to put all this information on the white enamel enamel dial of its traditional Chinese calendar timepiece. The mouse appears in the window at 12 o’clock above the double-hour counter and is displayed with numbers and symbols. Three o’clock shows ten celestial pillars and five elements, while two hands at nine o’clock indicate the month and date. There is also an aperture dedicated to the moon.

The moon phase used to determine the Chinese calendar month is highlighted in a window at six o’clock. Finally, the Gregorian calendar date associated with these indications was read from the flange by a blued serpentine pointer.

These instructions are powered by an equally complex (or even more) automatic movement. It is characterized by the use of three spring barrels with high-performance springs, which can achieve a power reserve of 7 days. Prevents accidental operation and is equipped with a silicon hairspring.

Serious collectors will no doubt compete for the platinum version of this superb timepiece. It is engraved with a white gold oscillating weight Rat and embossed with a round-cut ruby. Each watch was manually assembled and adjusted by a master watchmaker at Blancpain’s Grand Complications Workshop in Br Brassus. The timepiece also offers unlimited red gold versions and guilloche-like guilloches.

Blancpain’s traditional Chinese calendar is not only beautiful, but also an indispensable tool for those who use the Yin and Yang calendars in their daily lives. In fact, when will you see other products designed, developed and manufactured by this legendary Manufacture, which makes it even more special.