Editorial
The Villeret Reverse Chronograph does something almost no other production watch does: when you start the chronograph, the elapsed minutes count down from 30 rather than up from zero. It is a genuinely unusual complication, not a stylistic trick, and it changes how you actually use the watch. White gold, 40mm, and powered by the in-house calibre 6680.
Blancpain introduced the reverse chronograph complication in the Villeret collection as part of their broader effort to develop in-house movements with complications beyond the mainstream. The 6680B calibre drives the mechanism: a traditional column wheel chronograph with a patented retrograde-style minute counter that depletes rather than accumulates. The 40mm white gold case places it firmly in the dress-sport overlap that defines the best of the Villeret line.
Production has continued since 2015, though volumes are modest by any standard. Blancpain has never positioned this as a flagship, which has kept it under the radar of casual buyers while attracting collectors who research deeply.
The countdown display is genuinely confusing at first use; some buyers discover they strongly prefer a conventional layout only after buying. The reference is white gold only in this configuration, so buyers who want yellow or rose gold or a steel option do not have one. Pre-owned examples are scarce enough that patience is required, and sellers sometimes price them as if scarcity equals a premium over retail, which it does not reliably support in the secondary market.
The Villeret case is understated enough that non-collectors rarely recognize the complication, which matters to some buyers and not at all to others. Service access requires a Blancpain authorized center; independent watchmakers capable of working on the 6680 are not common.
