162 Blancpain A very elegant and rare, Villeret Minute Repeater, manual wristwatch in platinum, with Gay-Frères platinum bracelet.
Estimate: € 50.000 – 100.000
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- Model Villeret Minute Repeater
- Year Circa 1990s
- Reference 33
- Case Material Platinum
- Case Number N°22
- Bracelet Material Platinum bracelet and 18K white gold Gay Freres clasp
- Movement Manual, cal. 33, jewelled
- Movement Number N°22
- Dimension 34mm Diameter
- Signed Case, dial and movement
The present reference 0033 forms part of the legendary Six Masterpieces collection introduced in the 1980s under the leadership of Jean-Claude Biver and Jacques Piguet, who acquired Blancpain in 1981 for the symbolic sum of CHF 21,500. At a time when the quartz revolution dominated the industry, their philosophy was radically different: to restore prestige to traditional mechanical watchmaking by producing complicated, hand-finished movements of the highest quality.
The visionary Six Masterpieces series comprised six classical complications: complete calendar with moon phases, ultra-thin automatic, perpetual calendar, minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph, and flying tourbillon. Each model was housed in a traditionally proportioned 34 mm round case.
Introduced in 1988, the reference 0033 minute repeater was among the thinnest of its kind at the time, its movement measuring only approximately 3.3 mm thick,an impressive technical feat that reflected Blancpain’s determination to demonstrate mechanical mastery. The case was manufactured by the celebrated casemaker Jean-Pierre Hagmann, renowned for supplying cases to elite maisons including Patek Philippe, and admired for his exceptional finishing and construction standards.
The present example is rendered in platinum, a metal seldom encountered in early Six Masterpieces production. It is further distinguished by its superb platinum bracelet manufactured by Gay Frères, long regarded as one of the finest bracelet makers in Swiss horology. Combining extreme rarity, technical sophistication, and historical importance, this reference 0033 stands as a quintessential expression of Blancpain’s mechanical renaissance and of the revival of traditional haute horlogerie at the end of the 20th century.
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