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All the watch news, reviews, videos you want, brought to you from fellow collectors
Blancpain has introduced its most complex chiming timepiece, the Grande Double Sonnerie. Instead of the classic two-tone chiming format, the Grande Double Sonnerie chimes four notes shaped into melodies, making it one of the rare grand complications timepieces. One of the melodies it plays is the familiar Westminster sequence, while the other is an original melody written specifically for this watch by musician Eric Singer, drummer of the hard rock band KISS and a close friend of Marc A. Hayek. The compositions shift instantly to the other via a pusher on the case.
The music comes from the four hammers tuned to E, G, F, and B, working in harmony with an acoustic membrane subtly built into the bezel. A magnetic governor controls the rhythm of the chimes, and five safety systems monitor interactions between striking and time-setting functions, protecting the movement from accidental misuse. This mechanical dance is visible on the dial side. The perpetual calendar is read on 5N gold displays with sunray-finished, black-rhodium-treated indexes for the day, month, and retrograde date. Leaf-shaped hands in blackened gold show the hours and minutes, with baton-style hands for the subsidiary indications.
All of this is housed inside a 47 mm red or white gold case, with a lug-to-lug of 54.6 mm and a thickness of 14.5 mm, protected by sapphire crystals on both sides. Despite the mechanical complexity, the watch is water-resistant up to 1 bar or approx. 10 metres.
Beating the notes of this timepiece is Blancpain’s new calibre 15GSQ, composed of 1,053 in-house-developed components and 21 patents. The movement drives the grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, minute repeater, a 4 Hz flying tourbillon with a silicon balance spring, and a fully integrated retrograde perpetual calendar, with a robust power reserve of 96 hours and a separate 12-hour reserve dedicated to the chiming mechanism when the grande sonnerie is engaged. Aesthetically, the movement is also a masterpiece - the mainplate and 26 bridges are all crafted from 18K gold, bevelled and polished; other decorations include anglage, straight graining, perlage, mirror finishing, diamond milling, and even décor on hidden surfaces.
The watch is offered on an alligator leather strap in the buyer’s choice of colour, closed by a gold folding clasp. Each piece is delivered in a presentation case made from the wood of the Risoud forest, whose spruce has long been coveted by luthiers for its natural resonance. True to that heritage, the box acts as a soundboard for the chimes.
The Blancpain Grande Double Sonnerie is limited to just two pieces per year, and each timepiece can be customised for its buyer, including the case material, finishings, and even the melody.
Blancpain has introduced its most complex chiming timepiece, the Grande Double Sonnerie. Instead of the classic two-tone chiming format, the Grande Double Sonnerie chimes four notes shaped into melodies, making it one of the rare grand complications timepieces. One of the melodies it plays is the familiar Westminster sequence, while the other is an original melody written specifically for this watch by musician Eric Singer, drummer of the hard rock band KISS and a close friend of Marc A. Hayek. The compositions shift instantly to the other via a pusher on the case.
The music comes from the four hammers tuned to E, G, F, and B, working in harmony with an acoustic membrane subtly built into the bezel. A magnetic governor controls the rhythm of the chimes, and five safety systems monitor interactions between striking and time-setting functions, protecting the movement from accidental misuse. This mechanical dance is visible on the dial side. The perpetual calendar is read on 5N gold displays with sunray-finished, black-rhodium-treated indexes for the day, month, and retrograde date. Leaf-shaped hands in blackened gold show the hours and minutes, with baton-style hands for the subsidiary indications.
All of this is housed inside a 47 mm red or white gold case, with a lug-to-lug of 54.6 mm and a thickness of 14.5 mm, protected by sapphire crystals on both sides. Despite the mechanical complexity, the watch is water-resistant up to 1 bar or approx. 10 metres.
Beating the notes of this timepiece is Blancpain’s new calibre 15GSQ, composed of 1,053 in-house-developed components and 21 patents. The movement drives the grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, minute repeater, a 4 Hz flying tourbillon with a silicon balance spring, and a fully integrated retrograde perpetual calendar, with a robust power reserve of 96 hours and a separate 12-hour reserve dedicated to the chiming mechanism when the grande sonnerie is engaged. Aesthetically, the movement is also a masterpiece - the mainplate and 26 bridges are all crafted from 18K gold, bevelled and polished; other decorations include anglage, straight graining, perlage, mirror finishing, diamond milling, and even décor on hidden surfaces.
The watch is offered on an alligator leather strap in the buyer’s choice of colour, closed by a gold folding clasp. Each piece is delivered in a presentation case made from the wood of the Risoud forest, whose spruce has long been coveted by luthiers for its natural resonance. True to that heritage, the box acts as a soundboard for the chimes.
The Blancpain Grande Double Sonnerie is limited to just two pieces per year, and each timepiece can be customised for its buyer, including the case material, finishings, and even the melody.
