In haute horlogerie, sound is the most unforgiving medium. You can hide visual complexity beneath a dial, but a chime reveals everything—precision, balance, intention. With the Grande Double Sonnerie, Blancpain ventures into this rare territory and reshapes it entirely.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!This is not simply another grand complication. It is a statement about what time can feel like when mechanics, music, and restraint converge.
Time, Written in Two Melodies
At the heart of the Grande Double Sonnerie lies a world-first achievement: a wristwatch grande sonnerie with two selectable melodies.
The watch speaks time using four carefully chosen notes—E, G, F, and B—struck by four individual hammers and gongs, each tuned to deliver clarity rather than volume. The owner can choose between:
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the historic Westminster chime, deeply rooted in European horological tradition, or
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an original Blancpain melody, composed through a creative collaboration with Eric Singer.
Working within the strict limitation of four notes, the challenge was not complexity—but expression. The result is a chime that feels deliberate, balanced, and emotionally engaging rather than theatrical.
The Discipline Behind the Poetry
While the sound is refined, the engineering behind it is monumental. The Grande Double Sonnerie is the product of eight years of uninterrupted development, during which Blancpain chose not to compromise or outsource.
The scale of this effort is best understood through numbers:
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1,200 technical drawings, mapping interactions invisible to the eye
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1,053 components, finished and assembled by hand
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21 patents, with 13 actively shaping the final watch
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Every stage—design, construction, decoration, and assembly—executed fully in-house
This is not evolution built on past calibres. It is a movement conceived from the ground up, designed to make sound a first-class function rather than an afterthought.
The Most Complex Watch Blancpain Has Ever Created
The Grande Double Sonnerie represents the technical summit of Blancpain’s modern history. Beyond its dual-melody chiming system, it integrates an extraordinary collection of complications into a single, coherent architecture:
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Grande sonnerie
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Petite sonnerie
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Minute repeater
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Fully integrated retrograde perpetual calendar
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Flying tourbillon
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A fully secured movement designed to protect the chiming mechanism during daily use
What makes this achievement exceptional is not the list itself, but how seamlessly these elements coexist—without visual overload or acoustic compromise.
Precious Metals, Purpose-Built Movements
The Grande Double Sonnerie has so far been produced in red gold and white gold, with each case paired to a movement construction and finishing philosophy that complements its metal. This is not aesthetic coincidence, but intentional harmony—where case material, movement architecture, and acoustic behavior are considered as a whole.
Despite its complexity and presence, the watch is designed to be worn. Safety systems manage power, chiming modes, and user interaction, ensuring the experience remains intuitive rather than intimidating.
Listening to Time
As Marc A. Hayek, CEO & President of Blancpain, describes it:
“Listening to a sonnerie is like tasting a grand wine. It is not merely a question of volume, but of clarity, resonance, persistence, and richness.”
That philosophy defines the Grande Double Sonnerie. It is not a watch that demands attention—it rewards listening.
More Than a Complication
The Blancpain Grande Double Sonnerie is not about excess. It is about restraint, balance, and intention—about proving that even the most complex watchmaking can remain human, emotional, and wearable.
Here, time is not announced.
It unfolds—note by note.
