Key takeaways
• The Blancpain Ladybird Colors Diamond Bloom represents the pinnacle of the collection, featuring an intricate snow-setting technique with 919 diamonds totaling 4.794 carats.
• The timepiece features a unique nacre perlée (mother-of-pearl) dial, a rare material representing less than 2% of usable shell, offering distinctive green and pink reflections.
• Driven by the automatic caliber 1163L, the watch includes a 100-hour power reserve and a signature feminine moon phase with a delicately drawn face.
Key Takeaways:
- With Diamond Bloom, Ladybird Colors explores a new jewelry dimension
- Two exceptional creations at the summit of the collection
- Snow-setting on the dial and case, creating a continuous surface of light
- 919 diamonds totaling 4.794 carats distributed across the entire timepiece
- Crown set with a rose-cut diamond
- Case size: 34.90 mm diameter / 10.43 mm thickness
- Nacre perlée dial with green and pink reflections, a Ladybird Colors signature
- Blancpain’s iconic moon phase (closed eyes, made-up eyelashes, beauty mark)
- Automatic caliber 1163L movement with 100-hour power reserve
- Produced in very limited quantities
A Pebble of Diamonds
In this interpretation, the Ladybird Colors move closer to the language of High Jewelry. The entire watch is treated as a single surface where light flows uninterrupted: a pebble of diamonds with soft, rounded volumes that appear to rest naturally on the wrist.
Each creation features 919 diamonds totaling 4.794 carats spread across the case, bezel, dial, and buckle. The crown is adorned with a rose-cut diamond — an antique cut characterized by a flat base and a dome composed of triangular facets.
Light in Motion
At the heart of this composition, snow-setting plays a critical role. This technique, among the most demanding in jewelry making, involves selecting hundreds of diamonds of varying sizes and arranging them with apparent spontaneity. In reality, every stone is positioned with extreme precision to eliminate any visible metal surface.
The desired effect evokes sunlight reflecting on snow: a diffused, vibrant brilliance that is never uniform.
Unique Dial
At the center of the timepiece, the mother-of-pearl dial reveals subtle richness. Its reflections evolve with the light, displaying shades of green and pink, a signature of the Ladybird Colors collection. Of exceptional quality, this special mother-of-pearl is distinguished by its finely grained surface that is naturally formed over time.
Nacre perlée is found only in very limited quantities. It is meticulously extracted from specific cultured shells, each of which can produce only one or at most two dials. Sourced from the shell’s most curved central section, nacre perlée only exceptionally yields discs exceeding 28 mm in diameter. It represents less than 2% of all usable mother-of-pearl extracted from a shell, while the remainder is destined for less selective uses.
Each dial is unique by the very nature of the material.
The setting of 222 diamonds at the center, following the apparent spontaneity of snow-setting, integrates naturally into this living surface, while delicately painted Roman numerals in coordinated shades, blue for the white-gold version, violet for the red-gold version, bring structure to the composition of the piece without disturbing its balance.
On these two creations featuring gem-setting at the center of the dial, a delicate Blancpain logo transfer has been applied directly to the sapphire crystal, appearing to float in suspension to preserve the integrity of the setting. The openworked, sage-leaf-shaped hands — a signature Blancpain aesthetic — indicate the hours and minutes.
Feminine Moon
A signature Blancpain complication, the moon phase is part of a long tradition. Since the 1980s, the Maison has made it part of its stylistic language. In its feminine version, it reveals a delicately drawn face — closed eyes, mascaraed lashes, and a discreet beauty mark — moving across a sky scattered with stars.
The Watchmaking Heart
The ensemble retains a slim 34.9 mm diameter, emphasizing the balance between sophistication and wearability. Equipped with the automatic caliber 1163L with a 4-day power reserve, it incorporates a moon phase and a discreet small seconds display at 6 o’clock — technical hallmarks of the line.
Visible through a sapphire caseback, the movement is decorated with Geneva stripes, in keeping with Blancpain’s uncompromising finishing standards.
Each model comes with two interchangeable alligator leather straps:
- Glacier blue and Midnight blue for the white-gold version
- White and Royal purple for the red-gold version
This interplay of contrasts extends the piece’s chromatic identity and subtly changes its appearance on the wrist.
A Feminine Watchmaking Heritage for Nearly a Century
Blancpain has a long history in the world of women’s watches. Betty Fiechter, who took the helm of the Maison in 1933 and remained in charge until 1967, became the first woman to own and lead a Swiss watch brand. Under her leadership, Blancpain revolutionized the 1930s by continuing the development of the ‘Rolls’, the first automatic wristwatch for women.
The Ladybird was born in 1956 and marked a turning point: it incorporated the smallest round mechanical movement of the time (the R-52 movement, measuring 11.85 mm) into a minimalist case, with the winding crown discreetly positioned on the back. In an era when women’s watches were often conceived primarily as pieces of jewelry, the Ladybird distinguished itself by placing genuine horological innovation at the heart of feminine design. The Ladybird continued its evolution over the decades, notably with the introduction of the ultra-thin automatic caliber 615 in 1995 — a movement that laid the foundation for today’s Ladybird Ultraplate models. This expertise, combining miniaturization, design, and performance, embodies the DNA of the Ladybird Colors collection.
Technical Specifications
Ladybird Colors Diamond Bloom, Ref. 3662A 9696 99A and 3662 9496 99A
Movement: Blancpain Manufacture Caliber 1163L
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, moon phase
Winding: Automatic winding
Power Reserve: 100 hours (~4 days)
Dimensions: 26.20 mm ×4.58 mm
Frequency: 3 Hz (21,600 vibrations per hour)
Jewels: 30
Components: 243
Case: 18K red or white gold, snow-setting
Crystal and Caseback: Sapphire crystal
Water Resistance: 3 bar (30 meters)
Diameter: 34.90 mm
Thickness: 10.43 mm
Lug to Lug: 18.00 mm
Dial: Nacre perlée, snow-setting
Hands: Signature sage leaf-shaped hands
Indexes: Royal purple or Glacier blue Roman numerals (in two shades)
Strap: Interchangeable alligator leather with pin buckle
Limited Edition: No
Price: CHF 107,000
