Bianchet UltraFino Tonneau Ceramic

Bianchet shapes its UltraFino Tonneau in ceramic. Two new interpretations in Deep Blue and White, featuring a distinctive integrated tonneau construction in ceramic, bring new expressions of colour, light and contrast to Bianchet’s ultra-thin automatic flying tourbillon.

Bianchet introduces two new ceramic interpretations of its UltraFino Tonneau, pairing the sculptural architecture of the collection with one of contemporary watchmaking’s most technically demanding materials.

Presented for the first time at the Geneva Watch Days in Deep Blue ceramic with black accents, and White ceramic with cobalt blue details, the two new models explore contrasting expressions of the same design. The Deep Blue edition plays on subtle transitions between blue, black and metallic tones, creating a refined sense of depth across the case, dial and movement. The White Ceramic edition takes a more luminous and graphic approach, setting the intensity of cobalt blue against the purity of white ceramic.

At their heart remains Bianchet’s UT01 calibre, the Maison’s ultra-thin automatic flying tourbillon movement, developed, hand-finished, and assembled in-house in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

Ceramic as an architectural material

While ceramic has become an established material in contemporary watchmaking, its use in a tonneau-shaped case with a fully integrated ceramic bracelet remains uncommon. For the UltraFino Tonneau, this combination is particularly significant as the material follows both the flowing curves and sharper geometrical volumes that define Bianchet’s design language from case to bracelet, creating a continuous sculptural architecture around the wrist.

The introduction of ceramic to the UltraFino Tonneau is a natural extension of Bianchet’s approach to watchmaking, in which material, geometry and movement are conceived as parts of a single architecture.

Valued in contemporary watchmaking for its remarkable scratch resistance, hardness and distinctive tactile qualities, high-tech ceramic presents an altogether different challenge from traditional case metals. Once sintered, its extreme hardness makes machining and finishing particularly unforgivable. It can only be machined, cut, or polished using diamond-tipped tools, through slow processes that require specific skills to achieve precise edges and refined surfaces.

For Bianchet, this technical constraint became a design opportunity. The complex geometry of the UltraFino Tonneau case is emphasised through an interplay of satin-brushed surfaces, polished bevels, and sand-blasted details. Broad satin-finished planes absorb and soften the light, while the polished edges trace the contours of the case with sharper reflections. As the watch moves on the wrist, these alternating finishes reveal the volumes and transitions of a design whose proportions are guided by the Golden Ratio.

The result is ceramic with an unexpectedly architectural character. Not treated as a uniform surface, but as a material shaped by light.

Contemporary colour contrasts

The two ceramic versions were conceived as complementary interpretations of colour, contrast and mechanical architecture.

The Deep Blue Ceramic model brings together several closely balanced tones and textures. The satin-brushed blue ceramic provides the dominant colour, while its polished bevels react differently to the light, accentuating the geometry of the case. Against it, the black rubber joint and black PVD-treated UT01 calibre introduce refined contrasts, while the exposed metallic components and ruby bearings add further points of light and colour.

The White Ceramic version takes the opposite approach. Its luminous ceramic exterior frames a UT01 calibre treated in cobalt blue PVD, creating a vivid dialogue between white, blue and the exposed metallic components of the skeletonised movement. Cobalt blue details around the openworked dial reinforce this relationship, visually connecting movement and case.

In both versions, colour is therefore an integral part of the architecture. It defines layers, emphasises volumes and guides the eye from the sculpted exterior towards the skeletonised calibre and, ultimately, the flying tourbillon.

Calibre UT01: ultra-thin, lightweight and resilient

Visible through the entirely openworked dial, featuring a gold rotor shaped by the Golden Ratio, the UT01 automatic flying tourbillon remains central to the identity of the UltraFino Tonneau.

At just 3.85 mm thick, the calibre was developed in Grade 5 titanium, combining low mass with the structural rigidity required for an ultra-thin automatic tourbillon. A suspended barrel contributes to the slim construction, alongside the non-magnetic titanium cage of the flying tourbillon measuring only 2.66 mm in height. Thanks to an advanced shock-protection system, the central rotor provides efficient automatic winding without compromising the movement’s slender proportions. Bianchet also developed a bespoke winding and time-setting architecture that reduces friction, enhances tactile quality, and improves energy transfer in the winding mechanism.

The UT01 offers a 60-hour power reserve and has been engineered to withstand shocks of up to 5,000 G, reflecting Bianchet’s objective of creating a contemporary tourbillon conceived not only for visual and mechanical refinement, but for an active life on the wrist.

The movement’s skeletonised bridges are individually finished with hand-bevelling, bringing light to the edges of the titanium architecture. In the two ceramic editions, the contrasting PVD treatments introduce an additional dimension in black for the Deep Blue model and cobalt blue for the White model.

This dialogue between an advanced ceramic exterior and traditional hand-finishing at the heart of a titanium movement reflects Bianchet's vision that contemporary materials and Haute Horlogerie craftsmanship don’t need to belong to separate worlds.

Form Above All

Measuring just 8.9 mm in thickness, the UltraFino Tonneau in ceramic was conceived according to Bianchet’s Form Above All philosophy, with its proportions and curves developed using the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci-derived geometry that have shaped the Maison’s design language since its beginnings.

The integrated bracelet continues the flowing lines of the tonneau case rather than interrupting them, creating a continuous silhouette around the wrist. In ceramic, that continuity becomes particularly striking. The case and bracelet form a single sculptural composition, while the alternation between satin-brushed and polished surfaces brings definition to the architecture.

The material also lends the watches a distinctive tactile presence. Smooth against the skin and highly resistant to everyday surface wear, ceramic allows the carefully defined exterior finishes to retain their visual character over time.

Each model is delivered with an additional rubber strap with quick release, introducing another expression of its distinctive colour palette: black for the Deep Blue Ceramic and cobalt blue for the White Ceramic. The contrast of rubber against the ceramic case brings a more dynamic character to the watch while preserving the chromatic identity of each version.

With these two new creations, Bianchet's vision of developing the art of modern tourbillon brings together advanced materials shaped by timeless geometry, with hand craftsmanship and mechanical resilience.