Introducing: The Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate (Now In 38mm)
What We Know Today, Blancpain has downsized its ultra-thin Villeret Ultraplate dress watch, with new options in 38mm for greater wearability. The previous 40mm options of the 'Golden Hour' series, which I covered last October, remain, but the 38mm options are going to be much more appealing all around as proper dress watches. The case still remains incredibly thin, especially for a self-winding watch, at 8.35mm, but the 38mm downsizing now offers a short 43.35mm lug-to-lug measurement for small wrists and those who prefer the more traditional proportion of how a dress watch should look on the wrist. Here, four options are presented within these new measurements: three with stainless steel cases, and one in 18K red gold. The dial design continues the visual update introduced last October in the Villeret series, with simplified Roman numerals, the applied "JB" logo at 12 o'clock (standing for Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, who the brand credits as the founder), slim but still lumed leaf hands, and a skeletonized rotor. In stainless steel, there are three dial colors available. Salmon is a first for the Villeret collection, with a copper-hued dial paired with anthracite-coated 18K gold numerals. My favorite of the lineup, the Villeret Ultraplate featuring a warm champagne-hued dial with 18K yellow gold numerals set within a steel case with a green nubuck strap, will be offered as a boutique exclusive. More classic pairings of white gold numerals in a steel case and red gold numeral...
Time+Tide
