l-evolution

Blancpain L-Evolution Phase de Lune 8 Jours Watch

I must attest to the fact that I have no idea what this watch design is all about. In fact, the entire concept of the Blancpain "L-Evolution" collection more or less evades my understanding. That being said, I highly appreciate the brand's willingness to experiment versus just re-hashing what worked in the past. This quite fancy version of an already fancy watch has the well-made in-house made mechanical movement visible through the dial. Though much of what you see are discs through a sort of semi-opaque treated sapphire crystal.

Still, the mechanics are fascinating. The Calibre 66R9 movement is an automatic with 192 hours of power reserve, has an annual calendar with the date, month, and day of the week, as well as a moonphase indicator. The latter doubles as a subsidiary seconds dial. The L-Evolution collection attempts to mix sport with class (I think), which might explain the large Roman numeral "3" and "9" o'clock indicators that appear comically large. The watch case itself is 43.5mm wide in 18k white gold - being matched to a black reptile strap. I am glad to know that the case is water resistant to a respectable 100 meters.

Even with all the crazy stuff going on the dial, Blancpain made sure that the watch had full, lumed hour markers. I have a feeling that this Blancpain L-Evolution Phase de Lune 8 Jours watch will be easier to read in the dark - than in the light. Price is $43,900.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 8 jours, blancpain, de lune, l-evolution, phase, watch

Blancpain L-evolution Carrousel Sapphire Watch Hands-On

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

A trend over the last few years has been to take complex tourbillon movements and make them either skeletonized or bare bones. This watch from Blancpain is a perfect example. Although Blancpain nowadays prefers the carrousel versus the tourbillon. The different? Well it is minor to say the least, but Blancpain wants to set itself apart by using this type of rotating escapement carriage versus a tourbillon. In operation they are both similar looking. If you want to know more about the difference between a tourbillon and a carrousel you can read here.

The watch movement, while highly decorated, is certainly bare bones. What you mainly see (aside from the hands) is the carrousel and the mainspring barrel. The rest of the watch seems to be the winding gear assembly and the gear train. The movement uses only sapphire crystal plates. This is what gives the movement its incredible floating looking. The sides of the 18k red gold case are also set with sapphire crystals for an additional view into the movement. Due to the shape of the case, the watch is included in Blancpain's newer L-evolution collection. This watch will likely prove to be a hard to find niche object, but will be a marquee look for the Blancpain carousel watches. Priced at around $240,000.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Blancpain Carrousel Saphire watch

Tags: blancpain, carrousel, l-evolution, saphir, sapphire, watch

Blancpain L-evolution Semanier Grande Date 8 Jours Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

I have to admit that I don't totally understand the styling philosophy behind the Blancpain L-evolution range of watches. Debuting last year, the collection is typified by really large Roman numeral hour markers at 9 and 3 o'clock, and has somewhat open dials. The pieces are always well made and unique - but I am just not sure what Blancpain is going for. This L-evolution Semanier Grande Date 8 Jours watch is interesting, high luxury, but with a style that is uniquely experimental. The calendar based watch has a big date and periphery style date, with a day of the week indicator - making this an annual calendar. It also has a power reserve indicator that is built into day of the week dial - which is suavely done.

The Calibre 37R8G is interesting and in-house made by Blancpain. It has 8 days of power reserve, but is also an automatic. The dial of the watch is highly three-dimensional, set in an a case that is either in steel (with gray dial) or 18k red gold (with a black dial). Priced between 17,550 euros to about 29,250 euros.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: blancpain, date, gold, grande, l-evolution, semanier, watch