Two new vivid dials show off the traditional Japanese metalworking craft.
At Baselworld this year, we saw two really remarkable unique pieces from Blancpain’s Métiers d’Art workshops. These red gold cases Blancpain Métiers D’Art Shakudō copy watches were made to show off the Japanese craft of working with an alloy known as shakudō, which is a mixture of gold and copper that traditionally was used for sword fittings, such as the tsuba (handguard) and menuki (a decorative element found on the grip). Shakudō was generally used only on smaller metal objects, due to the cost of the gold in the alloy, and it can be combined with a compound known as rokusho, which includes copper acetates, chlorides, and sulfates, to produce a wide range of decorative patinas.
I’ve read that one of the virtues associated traditionally with the Rooster is punctuality (the whole crowing at dawn thing) which seems especially appropriate for a watch; this particular rooster certainly seems to be glaring at you as if to dare you to be late. There’s a real sense of animal vigor in the metalwork – often, engraved dials or dials with designs in metal relief can seem a bit static but this guy looks ready to jump right out at you, and he certainly has the general air of you-talkin’-to-me one associates with the rooster.
Everything is very naturally rendered, including the feathers, and there’s a wonderful quality of immediacy and realism.
The movements in both unique replica watches online are the same: the Blancpain caliber 13R3A, which is an eight day, hand-wound movement, with an indication for the power reserve built into the movement plate.
The second of the two dark brown alligator straps Blancpain fake watches sales has a motif I would bet fifty thousand Nivarox balance springs you’ve never heard of (well, I hadn’t anyway). This particular dial is an homage to Swiss culture and depicts something called “The Battle Of The Queen Cows,” which takes place every year in the Val d’Hérens, in the canton of Valais. Valais has extremely mountainous terrain (the Matterhorn’s there) and the cows shown have short legs, great endurance, powerful physiques, and a combative, territorial streak. Once a year they get to blow off steam in the village of Aproz, before ascending 3,000 meters to their summer pastures.
The “Battle Of The Queen Cows” is not a bullfight – the cows don’t attempt to gore each other with their horns and a fight, when it occurs, is for dominance in the herd rather than to inflict injury. Generally the way it works, apparently, is that a couple of potential rivals are allowed to give each other the stink-eye until they decide they dislike the cut of each other’s jib enough to mix it up. Despite their impressive armament, the actual fight is relatively sedate – the two cows put their foreheads together and engage in a shoving match until one or the other decides the game is not worth the candle, and wanders off. Herdsmen watch the animals carefully and if it looks like someone might get hurt, the cows are disengaged (these are valuable animals after all, and what’s wanted is good clean fun, not personal injury).
