The current trend in watchmaking is to blur the lines between men’s and women’s watches. This shift is largely driven by the resurgence of neo-vintage pieces, typically ranging from 36 mm to 40 mm in diameter, which naturally favours ‘gender-neutral’ collections. Commercially, it’s advantageous to produce a single piece for two audiences at the same time. And sociologically, this approach aligns with the ‘gender-fluid’ movement prevalent among certain generations of younger buyers (variously labelled X, Y, Z or <choose the preferred label of the day>), who are being assiduously courted by watch brands.
Blancpain, however, is blithely ignoring these trends. The new Ladybird Colors (the collection is 25 years young) is unabashedly feminine and brimming with sensuality. Its design cues are unmistakable: the red of love, ethereal and voluptuous mother-of-pearl, a diamond-studded bezel, a diameter under 35 mm and a moon phase display adorned with long eyelashes and a coquettish beauty spot. The piece’s feminine vocabulary is writ large, yet it’s important to read between the lines to appreciate its hidden depths of inventiveness.
Take the seconds hand, for instance. Driven by an automatic movement, it moves continuously, unlike a quartz calibre that is obliged to pause briefly between each second. In this way, the Ladybird Colors expresses unceasing love!
And this is no ordinary seconds hand. It’s a Cupid’s arrow, passing through a love heart midway along its length, as befits the son of Venus and Mars. The hand is finished with a double fan of feathers on the counterweight side, with a heart along the arrow’s shaft. Its delicate balance is a testament to the technical expertise of Blancpain and its in-house supplier, Universo, though the exact construction remains intriguingly mysterious.
Subtle details are everywhere, if you know where to look. The Roman numerals are not absolutely straight, nor are they applied. They’re slightly curved, to harmonise with the circular geometry of the Ladybird Colors. Each numeral is individually hand-painted with five successive layers of brilliant red.
Equally refined are the two gem-set rings on the dial, one beneath the hours, the other above the moon. Again, these are not quite circular; they taper in thickness, like a crescent moon. This exquisite detail extends the moon motif through clever gem-setting, making the most of different sizes of diamonds. In the end, the new Ladybird Colors from Blancpain has only one flaw: it’s limited to just 14 pieces.
