PEAKLIFE

With its launch coinciding with the gaieties of the Ganesh Festival in India, the latest offering from the echelons of Blancpain is grandeur rendered into fine watchmaking.

Since the year 1735, Swiss watchmaker Blancpain has been actively involved in the development of mechanical watchmaking. And it has forever striven to do so while conserving the traditional skills of its founder.

The pioneering brand’s award winning in-house Métiers d’Art studio is celebrated worldwide for its dexterity in employing a wide range of artistic techniques, including fine engraving, enamelling in multiple forms such as painting, champlevé and cloisonné, along with damascening and shakudō, amidst others.

And the latest creation from the ramparts of Blancpain bears testimony to this.

This stellar timepiece is indeed one-of-its-kind and bears the image of the Indian god of good beginnings, Lord Ganesh. The black patina of the dial is created using the shakudō technique. Blancpain’s artisans skilfully treat the surface several times in order to achieve the final subtle black shades that mark this art form.

The dial base depicts another art form, damascening, which is at present being applied in watchmaking exclusively by Blancpain. The fine designs are hand-carved into the surface of the dial, following which gold is hammered into the resulting grooves. Part of Blancpain’s Villeret Collection, the watch’s 45 mm red gold case features Blancpain’s signature double-stepped bezel with hand-wound in-house Caliber 15B. The transparent case-back showcases finely hand-applied Côtes de Genève, along with bevelling and circular graining, to create a spectacular pièce de résistance.