The Blancpain Carrousel Minute Repeater Chronograph from the Le Brassus collection represents a triumph of technical complexity and craftsmanship. This groundbreaking timepiece, unveiled at Baselworld, is the first in Blancpain’s prestigious Le Brassus series to feature an automatic winding movement, and it delivers some of the most intricate complications available today.
Key Features & Design
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Case: The 45mm red gold case offers a substantial yet sleek presence for a minute repeater. The white enamel dial has a cutout in the center, providing a clear, unobstructed view of the movement. The complexity of this watch is immediately apparent, as the double chronograph flyback, one-minute flying carrousel, and minute repeater mechanisms are all visible and can be appreciated in action—every collector’s dream.
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Minute Repeater: The minute repeater function in this piece is one of the most advanced of its kind. Blancpain uses gong springs that wrap around the movement, ensuring perfect sound quality and volume. The minute repeater’s system is carefully integrated to maintain horizontal positioning, ensuring it produces clear, resonant tones when activated. The system also disconnects automatically when adjusting the crown to prevent potential damage while setting the time.
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Double Chronograph Flyback: With a flyback chronograph function, this watch features a dual chronograph hand that instantly resets and restarts the timing mechanism at the press of a button at 4 o’clock. This allows for uninterrupted, continuous timing without resetting between intervals—a useful function for measuring repeated events.
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Carrousel: The flying carrousel is another rare and exceptional complication. Unlike the tourbillon, which compensates for gravity by rotating on a single axis, the carrousel is a larger, slower rotating structure designed to balance the effects of gravity on the escapement. Originally invented in 1894 by Danish watchmaker Bahne Bonniksen, the carrousel’s rotation time is typically slower than a tourbillon—about 52.5 minutes per full rotation—making it a less complex but still extremely difficult complication to master. Blancpain’s flying carrousel rotates once per minute and operates with coaxial rotation around the balance wheel, mimicking the performance of a tourbillon. The fourth gear‘s design, with a two-rotation-per-minute speed, is the crucial factor that enables this mechanism to perform as it does.
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Power Reserve: Despite the complexity of the Carrousel and minute repeater, the watch achieves a 100-hour power reserve, making it one of the longest-running automatic watches with such complex features. This is an impressive achievement, as most watches with this kind of complication would not exceed a 65-hour power reserve.
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Movement: The watch is powered by Blancpain’s Caliber 2358 automatic winding movement, which contains 546 components. This movement is engineered to handle the carrousel and minute repeater complications, with a 65-hour power reserve and exceptional finishing details visible through the sapphire crystal caseback.
Additional Details
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Dial: The intricate dial showcases the hour, minute, and second functions, with emphasis on the visible mechanisms. The traditional minute repeater and chronograph subdials blend seamlessly with the flying carrousel mechanism in a harmonious design.
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Strap: The watch comes with a luxurious alligator leather strap to match its refined aesthetic.
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Limited Availability: Given the technical complexity of this timepiece, it is likely to be produced in very limited quantities, making it highly collectible.
Blancpain Carrousel Minute Repeater Chronograph
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Case: 45mm Red Gold
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Movement: Blancpain Caliber 2358 automatic winding movement with 546 parts
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Power Reserve: 65 hours
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Functions: Flying Carrousel, Minute Repeater, Flyback Chronograph
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Strap: Alligator leather strap
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Reference: 2358-3631-55B
This watch is the epitome of luxury, blending timeless elegance with cutting-edge watchmaking technology, and is sure to appeal to collectors who appreciate the highest level of horological craftsmanship.
