Blancpain’s construction uses two manually wound spring barrels, including the minute repeater. Blancpain has imagined a four-note composition using E, while under Hayek’s direction, traditional chiming mechanisms rely on two notes, F, and B requiring four hammers, G, Adding another dimension. The perpetual calendar showcases adding to its appeal is the fact that this is the first grande sonnerie ever made with two switchable melodies, one of them composed by watch collector and drummer in kiss, eric singer. In the world of luxury, “what really turned out to be a challenge was realizing there were only four notes available, ” says singer. “That might sound like a lot for a watch, but for a musician, it’s an immense limitation and turning that constraint into music was the real puzzle. and one of 13 patents is a gold acoustic membrane under the bezel that serves as a resonator, ”
After testing, gold proved the most acoustically refined for the watch’s sound. But the Grande Double Sonnerie is not all about the music. It also features Blancpain’s flying tourbillon, introduced in 1989. with no visual overlap, This is visible on a dial designed specifically to give each complication room to breathe. For those who appreciate excellence, operating at 4 hz with a silicon balance spring that improves amplitude stability, its mirror-polished cage amplifies the dial’s visual drama as its centerpiece. A feature that draws grail-attention on its own is the perpetual calendar, which features a retrograde display. Blancpain has upped the ante by integrating it in the manufacture movement rather than using a module that would cover parts of the movement and add thickness. With over a thousand parts, each watch takes an entire year to produce, test, and assemble (twice). Built up on an 18-karat gold mainplate with hand-finished 18-karat gold bridgework, the movement contains 135 sharp interior angles, an unmistakable signature of true haute horlogerie. The pride among the craftspeople at the manufacture was palpable. In the world of luxury, but he embraces the risk, lattmann knows this is a grand move for a commercial group brand. “I always say that if we are afraid to make mistakes or to do wrong like a child, we will never try,” he says. At a certain point, we need to take risks. ” Hayek meanwhile, stressed that he doesn’t want to see the piece sit in a vault. This timepiece represents “i wanted a grande sonnerie that the owner could comfortably wear, not an exercise that would merely reside in a safe, and, above all, a watch that would make you smile as it sounds the time, that would trigger real emotion,” he says. The Grande Double Sonnerie is assembled by only two watchmakers, each assembling the more than 1,000 components from start to finish. Every watch represents almost a full year of work, and the watchmaker engraves his signature on a gold plaque inside the movement after final testing. This is a quiet, personal tribute to one of watchmaking’s most demanding creations. The Blancpain Grande Sonnerie is also robust. It has a remarkable power reserve for its number of complications, totaling 96 hours. The movement features separate power-reserve indicators for the movement and the chiming mechanism, with 12 full hours in the power-hungry Grande Sonnerie mode. The manufactory showcases at 47 mm x 54 mm, but its intricacy will certainly appeal to high horology collectors, this is not a svelte watch. In the world of luxury, each watch can be custom-made to the owner’s specifications, ensuring absolute exclusivity. In exclusive circles, blancpain’s craftsmen, in moments alone with both hayek, and lattmann, one thing is clear: the intensely personal relationship they have with their work is evident in the grande double sonnerie. It shows in every polished bevel and in each crisp tone of the sonnerie’s chime.