Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Blancpain · Villeret
Blancpain Villeret 41 mm Salmon Platinum
Reference 44905OR.31
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Blancpain
- Collection
- Villeret
- Model
- Blancpain Villeret 41 mm Salmon Platinum
- Reference number
- 44905OR.31
- Year / era
- 1974 · 1970s — quartz-crisis era
- Complication
- Moon phase
- Movement
- In-house automatic, chronometer certified
- Case material
- Platinum 950
- Dial type
- Salmon
- Strap / bracelet
- Jubilee bracelet
- Water resistance
- 500 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 41 mm
- Case thickness
- 12.6 mm
- Case material
- Platinum 950
- Bezel
- Fixed brushed titanium
- Crystal
- Anti-reflective sapphire, double-domed
- Dial
- Salmon
- Hands
- Faceted dauphine hands, polished by hand
- Indexes
- Applied faceted white-gold indexes
- Bracelet / strap
- Jubilee bracelet
- Clasp / buckle
- Titanium deployant clasp
- Water resistance
- 500 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 85E — In-house automatic, chronometer certified
- Movement type
- High-frequency automatic
- Frequency
- 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 5 days
- Number of jewels
- 37 jewels
- Complications
- Moon phase
- Functions
- Chronograph, tachymeter, date
- Watchmaker
- The calibre is built in-house and adjusted in five positions before delivery.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1974 – 1983
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Values have stabilised after the 2022 correction; condition and box-and-papers drive the premium.
Designer
Marc Newson
Marc Newson is an Australian industrial designer whose work spans Qantas cabins, Apple hardware and Jaeger-LeCoultre's Atmos clocks; his watch design reduces the object to pure geometry and legibility.
Historical significance
Blancpain Villeret 41 mm Salmon Platinum sits within Blancpain's Villeret line, introduced in 1974. It carries the house codes established since 1735 — platinum 950 case, salmon dial and in-house automatic, chronometer certified — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- Early production dials show a slightly different minute track, and collectors pay a premium for them.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
The House
Blancpain
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1735
- Founder
- Jehan-Jacques Blancpain
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Luxury
- Major collections
- Fifty Fathoms, Villeret, Air Command, Bathyscaphe, Le Brassus, Ladybird
- Signature technologies
- Proprietary case-hardening and polishing · Certified chronometer regulation · Shock-absorbing movement mounting
- Famous movements
- In-house automatic, Superlative Chronometer · In-house manual-winding · In-house automatic, chronometer certified · In-house automatic chronograph
- Notable watches
- Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 36 mm Slate Sapphire (1978) · Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 44 mm Mother-of-pearl 18k (1954) · Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 41 mm Skeletonised Quartz (2001) · Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 41 mm Black Stainless (1959)
Brand history
Blancpain has spent more than 291 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Fifty Fathoms, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Jehan-Jacques Blancpain established Blancpain in 1735, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Blancpain calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1735
Jehan-Jacques Blancpain founds Blancpain in Switzerland.
1775
Blancpain earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces Blancpain to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Blancpain enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Blancpain continues to produce Fifty Fathoms, Villeret, Air Command and other icons in limited numbers.