Hue The World

Blancpain’s new vibrantly coloured collection with mechanical sass

Alvin Wong

Although Blancpain has been making bigger waves of late with its Fifty Fathoms dive watches, a category that it practically pioneered in 1953, the brand's epochal work on women’s watches appears to have been rather understated.

Did you know, for instance, that Blancpain debuted the first self-winding wristwatch made exclusively for women, called the Rolls, in 1930? Or that the brand was once helmed by Betty Fiechter, who was the first female to head a watchmaking company in 1933? It was a rare occurrence for the male-dominated trade, and an appointment that undoubtedly lent Blancpain a different perspective on the creation of women’s watches.

And last, but certainly not least, mechanical watch aficionados would be familiar with the Calibre R550 from 1956. The world’s smallest round movement at that time, measuring just 11.85mm in diameter, the historic Calibre R550 was created exclusively for women and was featured in the Ladybird, the world’s smallest round-cased watch at that time.