Blancpain’s New Lady B Celebrates a Lesser-Known Watchmaking Pioneer

Many of the precision dive watches we love, diminutive jewelry watches from countless historic houses, and indeed the entire Blancpain brand itself might not exist today were it not for the resolve of a low-profile horological hero.

Berthe-Marie “Betty” Fiechter began her career at Blancpain in 1912, joining the manufacture at the tender age of 16 as an apprentice while studying at Villeret’s local École de Commerce. Steadily earning the respect of her peers while assuming greater responsibility over technical and commercial affairs, Fiechter faced a sudden crisis when company head Frédéric-Émile Blancpain died in 1932. With no family successor willing to take over, Fiechter and commercial director André Léal secured loans to acquire the company in 1933. As Swiss law required a family member to be active in a namesake business, they temporarily rebranded Blancpain as “Rayville”—an anagram of Villeret.

Steering the manufacture through the Great Depression and Léal’s untimely passing in 1939, Fiechter guided Blancpain to become a premier movement supplier to houses like Hamilton, Longines, and Omega. In 1950, she brought her nephew Jean-Jacques Fiechter into the business—a name that immediately evokes the Fifty Fathoms collection in the minds of horology enthusiasts.

Today, a bronze bust of Betty Fiechter overlooks the hills of her beloved Villeret, honoring a female pioneer in a historically male-dominated industry. Seven decades after she introduced the groundbreaking Ladybird, Blancpain celebrates her enduring legacy with a vintage-inspired tribute capturing the distinct design codes of 1956.

Meet Lady B

Tracing its lineage back to the original Ladybird unveiled at the 1956 Swiss Industries Fair in Basel, the new Blancpain Lady B is a mid-century icon reborn. The historic 1956 original was powered by the legendary Caliber R550—an astonishingly compact mechanical movement measuring a mere 11.85mm by 3.7mm.

Fiechter achieved this landmark feat of miniaturization by inserting a fifth wheel into the gear train. This optimized energy transmission, allowing her team to shrink key components while integrating tiny shock protectors. Acquired by numerous maisons to power their own demure jewelry creations, the movement remains the smallest round mechanical caliber ever mass-produced.

Decades of technical refinement culminate in the Caliber 615 driving the new Lady B collection. Comprising 180 components, including Côtes de Genève-finished plates and an anti-magnetic silicon balance spring, the movement offers a 38-hour power reserve. Measuring just 15.7mm in diameter and 3.9mm in height, its petite footprint allows for a dainty 19mm case with a total volume of just 2.9 cm³.

Available in steel or 18k rose gold, the case is modeled after an archival ellipsoidal variant known as the Ladybird Bullet. It features a two-piece monobloc construction—combining polished, satin-brushed, and micro-blasted textures pressed tightly together to guarantee 30m of water resistance.

An opaline dial is framed by a mirror-polished inner flange and applied gold indices. Omitting traditional lugs, a slot machined into the caseback allows the wearer to effortlessly swap between six strap colors: burgundy, classic blue, dark beige, fuchsia purple, light beige, and white.

The stainless steel Blancpain Lady B is priced at CHF 9,500, while the rose gold edition retails for CHF 14,500.

Where many luxury houses turn to off-the-shelf quartz movements for smaller feminine timepieces, Blancpain remains resolutely faithful to Fiechter’s founding vision: keeping the manufacture 100% mechanical.

To celebrate the enduring legacy of Betty Fiechter and her game-changing Ladybird dynasty, the maison will soon embark on a global traveling exhibition, visiting Blancpain boutiques in key cultural capitals such as New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul.

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Andre Frois

Asia Editor · Haute Time

Andre Frois, previously the Editor-in-Chief of Revolution Asia, brings a wealth of experience to Haute Time. A Singaporean of Portuguese-Chinese descent, Frois has been creating compelling watch content since 2010 for prestigious publications such as Tatler, World of Watches, and The Peak. Renowned for his ability to distill the technical, historical, and financial aspects of watches into accessible narratives, he has also made a mark with investigative stories for VICE and the South China Morning Post. A graduate of NTU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with a specialization in biomedical engineering, Frois furthered his expertise with a specialist diploma in Sport Science.