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HANDS-ON: Dressy but not delicate, the Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat 6605  HANDS-ON: Dressy but not delicate, the Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat 6605 

HANDS-ON: Dressy but not delicate, the Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat 6605 

Felix Scholz

Increasingly, I’m finding myself drawn to watches that are understated, unassuming expressions of classical perfection. Which goes a long way to explaining why I was so into the Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat. 

The Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat 6605

This is an exquisitely simple watch. Two hands, no date and a manually wound movement. A pure expression of classical watchmaking if ever I saw one. It’s also very classic in its proportions – the steel (also offered in gold) case is 40mm across by a svelte 7.4mm thin — truly deserving of that extra flat name. But just because it’s pared back the essentials, that doesn’t mean that Blancpain has sacrificed style or technical know-how. The look is instantly Villeret, with applied, stylised Roman numerals, leaf-shaped hands and that double-stepped bezel. Very Blancpain. 

The mechanics are impressive too. For all that it’s slender, the manufacture 11A4B doesn’t sacrifice on performance, offering 4 days of wind off two barrels, which allow for a consistent energy pulse, resulting in greater accuracy at low power. In a nod to user-friendliness there’s also a power reserve indicator discreetly displayed on the sapphire caseback. 

The Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat 6605 doesn’t aim to raise eyebrows in terms of ‘novelty’ factor, but it does offer a distinguished, reserved and utterly refined vision of what a modern dress watch should be. 

Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat 6605 price

Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat 6605, in steel on leather, $12,700 AUD