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    In Photos: Blancpain's New "Chinese Calendar" Wristwatch

    Just a few months after debuting its limited edition “Chinese Dragon” Caruso timepiece to commemorate the Year of the Dragon, this week Blancpain unveiled its newest localized design aimed at tapping China's seemingly insatiable appetite for luxury watches.
    Localization is often appreciated, but not always a "must"
    Jing DailyAuthor
      Published   in Finance

    Watch Available In Limited Edition Platinum Or Red Gold Editions#

    Jing Daily

    Just a few months after debuting its limited edition “Chinese Dragon” Caruso timepiece to commemorate the Year of the Dragon, this week the 277-year-old Swiss watchmaker Blancpain unveiled its newest design aimed at tapping China's seemingly insatiable appetite for luxury watches. One of the most unique attempts by a European watchmaker to marry east and west, Blancpain's new "Chinese Calendar" timepiece, a modified version of its Villeret model, is perhaps the first to combine the traditional Chinese and Gregorian calendars.

    On the wristwatch, the Gregorian dial, hours and minutes sit alongside traditional Chinese calendar features such as double-hour markers, months and days, zodiac signs, and the five elements and 10 celestial stems. According to a company release, the combination of the zodiac and celestial stems follows the 60-year cycle that's central to Chinese history and culture. Moon phases, which Blancpain regularly includes in its watches, work particularly well in this timepiece, with the moon's centrality in the traditional Chinese Lunar calendar.

    The "Chinese Calendar" wristwatch will be available in two versions: a limited-edition platinum timepiece with a special "dragon" rotor, and a non-limited edition red gold edition.

    Jing Daily
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