We spend an inordinate amount of time with watches here at BH. Call it an occupational hazard, but the majority of my week now is spent either writing about watches, heading out to meet with ADs to get hands-on with the latest watches, or simply scouring the market, adding more and more references to my ever-growing wishlist.
So there’s something rather satisfying about highlighting the most recent release from the world’s oldest watch brand for the inaugural edition of our new horological editorial series, Watch of the Week.
Founded in 1735 in the Jura village that gives the Villeret collection its name, Blancpain is generally credited as the oldest registered watch brand still standing. Now, for many, you hear the name Blancpain and immediately think about the Swiss luxury watch brand’s enduring dive watch, the Fifty Fathoms – largely considered one of the first true dive watches, and still the brand's tool-watch flagship collection.
But where the Fifty Fathoms represents the brand’s more utilitarian, tool watch range, the Villeret – a contemporary dress watch that leans on Blancpain’s history – is the more delicate, more considered side of that coin. It’s perhaps the brand’s least flashy reference in all its collections, which is precisely why an update, however small, is worth exploring.
Blancpain’s Villeret Ultraplate (ref. 6224N 1135 55B) is the brand’s entry-level reference, and an update to the existing Villeret redesign – rolled out quietly across the collection last autumn – finally landing in a smaller case size.
For years the range sat at 40mm; having seen all three from the new collection in the metal this month, dropping to 38mm gives the 2026 entry-level Villeret a noticeably tidier profile on the wrist, and it's consistent with the market trends we've seen through the first half of the year. As someone who usually defaults to a larger frame, it was certainly enough to give me pause.
But where this reference (quite literally) stands out is across the dial: the Villeret's first-ever sunburst salmon dial, which carries different hues of rose, copper, and gold depending on the light throughout the day, paired with gold Roman numerals in a new black finish and the "JB" monogram – Jehan-Jacques Blancpain's own initials – standing in at 12. Features first seen during the 2025 rollout, but I’m glad to see the modern refresh carry across to 2026.
On the reverse, the sapphire caseback reveals an open-worked oscillating weight in gold, sitting over the Calibre 1150: Frédéric Piguet's twin mainspring barrel system that somehow manages to deliver a 100-hour power reserve out of a movement 3.25mm thick. It’s a powerhouse of a movement, and shows that the Villeret is so much more than just a pretty face.
Priced at $17,500, the salmon Ultraplate joins three other Villerets released for 2026, each some variation on an 18ct gold-toned opaline and stainless steel combination. But in a horological world usually terrified of adding any colour to its most popular collections, the Villeret is the one I keep returning to.
It’s refined, memorable, and finished to compete with the world’s finest dress watches. A worthy winner of our inaugural Watch of the Week.