A heart pierced by an arrow-shaped seconds hand.

While Breguet is using their Reine de Naples collection that pays tribute to the first ladies' wristwatch as the canvas for their Valentine's Day model, Blancpain is presenting a romantic version of their Ladybird watch from the collection that continues the tradition of the world's smallest round ladies' watch.

This model was created in 1956 under the guidance of Blancpain's CEO at the time, Betty Fiechter, and is believed to be the watch that laid the foundation for further development of the Maison's line for ladies. A ladies' watch with a complicated caliber won't draw any gasps of surprise today, but Blancpain blazed a trail by creating the first self-winding wristwatch for women.

That being the case, Ladybird Valentine's Day 2024 is a traditional time-only watch, except for the fact that the central seconds hand has been transformed into Cupid's arrow, carrying a translucent miniature crimson heart. The counterweight has morphed into the fletching, or feathered end of the arrow.

The rotor of the refined caliber 1153 is also heart-shaped. It measures a mere 3.25 mm in height. This is one of the company's automatic base movements, which runs at a frequency of 3 Hz, and has an impressive power reserve of 100 hours. Then again, this watch doesn't boast a date display, and isn't equipped with a silicon balance spring.

The novelty dedicated to February 14 has been welcomed into the Ladybird Colors line, which Blancpain launched with full flying colors last spring. This collection stands out for its colored Roman numerals, which are perfectly matched with the tone of the leather strap. This tradition continues in the Ladybird for Valentine's Day 2024.

The bright color used as the highlight here is of course red. Another highlight on all Ladybird Colors is the gold ring at 6 o'clock, which has morphed into a diamond-studded heart for the Valentine's edition. Availability of the watch is limited to 99 pieces in a white-gold case measuring 34.9 mm in diameter.

The bezel and lugs are encrusted with hand-set diamonds. When you add these diamonds to the ones used for the inner circle and heart on the dial, as well as the ones on the buckle, the total weight of all these diamonds amounts to over 2 carats.