It is a common belief that God is omnipresent, but as the physical identity of God is still a mystery, we humans connect with the Almighty by practicing different religions in different parts of the world. And every religion offers a representation of God which can be used as an object of worship and symbolism. Why am I rambling on about a topic like religion, and how exactly does it relate to horology? I would like to introduce to you the Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh watch.
The Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh watch, as the name indicates, is a tribute to the Hindu Lord Ganesha, and it is a new offering from Blancpain’s Villeret line of watches. Lord Ganesha, also known as Vinayaka (Knowlegeable) and Vighneshwara (Lord of obstacles) is one of the most worshipped deities in the Hindu religion. Another interesting fact about Lord Ganesha is that he is known as the patron of arts, and Blancpain launching the stunningly artistic Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh watch around Lord Ganesha’s birthday couldn’t be a better birthday present for him.
At first, Blancpain has hardly touched the basic design in the 30-odd years since its introduction. The stepped case design is a staple by today (and here’s hoping Blancpain never changes that). It’s seriously one of my favorite things about this watch. However, small things, like the position of the date and month, and the size of the moon, have changed. However, the biggest change has been the slow but continuous size growth of the case (in both diameter and height). The Complete Calendar simply is not as lean as its once was. In reality, it’s certainly not ultra-thin, but more on this later.Blancpain informs us that the opinion received its first upgrade in the early 1990s, when Blancpain switched to the F. Piguet Caliber 1150 as a new foundation, with two brand new plates (numbers 65 and 67). The first switched the order of the day and month exhibits, while the second shifted the moon’s place on the dial, thus enabling the moments to be signaled in six o’clock co-axially with the moon screen. The new calibers (6553 and 6763( respectively) were slightly larger in diameter (32mm vs. 27mm) but they were thinner than their record-breaking predecessor (by .08mm), indicating Blancpain’s desire to pursue dimension because a member of its selling points.The latest Blancpain Watch Restoration Replica nonetheless, goes the opposite direction. On the dial, the biggest update is that the movement of the minutes hand into the center, along with the return of a broad moonphase at six o’clock. The benefit there is that you receive a bigger moonphase and a much better perspective of its discernibly joyous face. It’s a complication with a few serious charm.
The Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh is a product of Blancpain’s award-winning Métiers D’Art studio located in Vallée de Joux. The Métiers D’Art studio is renowned for a wide range of artistic crafts including fine engraving, enameling, damascening, shakudō, and more. Having won the Artistic Crafts prize for the Blancpain Villeret Shakudo Ganesh watch in 2015, Métiers d’Art studio is back with another unique interpretation of the Ganesh theme in the Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh watch. The beautiful portrait of Lord Ganesha on the dial of the Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh is a result of combining fine engraving, damascening, and shakudō, and is testimony to the skills and craftsmanship of Blancpain’s artisans.
The black patina on the dial of the Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh is achieved with the help of shakudō, which is an alloy of gold and copper. Unpatinated shakudō resembles bronze, and Blancpain’s artisans delicately treat the surface multiple times to achieve the final subtle black shades that mark this art form which was originally developed for the decoration of swords and jewellery. Another art form which adorns this dial, and whose application in watchmaking is limited to Blancpain, is damascening. Damascening is the art of inlaying different metals into one another, and it is utilized to hand-carve fine designs on the dial of the Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh watch, following which gold is hammered into the resulting troughs.
Continuing the golden theme on the intricately finished dial of the Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh, this watch is equipped with a 45mm-wide red gold case with Blancpain’s signature double-stepped bezel, adding to the overall warmth of the design. At the helm of this watch is the ultra slim manually wound in-house caliber 15B, offering a power reserve of 40 hours. The movement has been moderately decorated with finely hand-applied Côtes de Genève along with beveling and circular graining, and can be viewed from the transparent case back.
The Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh is literally a one-of-a-kind watch, as only one is being produced. It is targeted towards devotees of Lord Ganesha who want to maintain a divine connection with him every single second of the day by having his picture on the dial of their watch. The Blancpain Villeret Métiers D’Art Ganesh comes on a brown alligator strap with a price of £111,550. blancpain.com