The new Blancpain Chronographe Pulsomètre from the Villeret collection is welcoming a brand new automatic in-house movement this year, beating at a rate of 36,000 vph —5 Hz— and equipped with a flyback chronograph function. Moreover, for the very first time, it also displays a pulsometer function serving to check a heart rate quickly and easily, a convenient tool for doctors. This Villeret Chronographe Pulsomètre houses a new 13-ligne in-house calibre perfectly suited to the size of the case.

This new movement with its heart beating at 36,000 vph, a first at Blancpain, comprises 322 parts including a silicon balance spring. It is equipped with a vertical clutch as well as a chronograph mechanism controlled by a column wheel. It also features a flyback function enabling instant chronograph resetting and restarting simply by pressing a pusher at 4 o’clock —a device that proves extremely useful when measuring successive time periods. The sapphire case-back reveals the latest Blancpain calibre featuring its oscillating weight adorned with a honeycomb motif.

These functions are for the first time complemented by a pulsometer. In an era when taking a pulse used to involve a 60-second measurement during which the number of beats had to be exactly counted, the pulsometer was devised to enable doctors and nurses to take their patients’ pulses more rapidly. The chronograph hand in association with a specially graduated scale makes it possible to display the patient’s heart beat directly on the dial without any need for calculations. All that is required for the hand to indicate the number of heartbeats per minute on the pulsometer scale is to start the chronograph and then stop it after counting off 30 heartbeats.

In keeping with the classic aesthetic of the Villeret collection, this new model fitted with a red gold case measuring 43.6 mm in diameter is teamed with a brown alligator leather strap setting the perfect finishing touch to this model. The new Blancpain Villeret Chronographe Pulsomètre comes with a cambered white Grand Feu enamel dial, a pulsometer scale that surrounds enamel-painted Roman numerals, a 12-hour chrono register at 9, a 30-minute chrono register at 3 and a date aperture at 6 o’clock. To maintain the clean and elegant lines of its design, the watch does not have a running seconds register.

Sticker Price $31,600 USD. For more info on Blancpain click here.