Used as a filter through which all manner of contemporary trends can be passed, it adds a sparkle and a polish that’s instantly decodable to the onlooker. And who is Old Hollywood’s high priestess?
Few legends continue to shape contemporary aesthetics quite like Marilyn Monroe. On the centennial of the actress’s birth – and precisely 10 years on from the rediscovery of a unique hidden treasure – Blancpain has chosen to celebrate her enduring allure with a remarkable capsule collection of high-jewellery watches inspired by a deeply personal object: Monroe’s own Blancpain timepiece.
Named the Ladybird Tribute, the new collection consists of seven unique pieces, each corresponding to one letter of the name ‘MARILYN’. Far more than just a nostalgic exercise, the project reconnects the Manufacture with a hitherto forgotten chapter of its history while highlighting the enduring dialogue between fame, femininity and fine watchmaking.
The original watch resurfaced in 2016 during a Julien’s Auctions sale in Los Angeles linked to the estate of Lee Strasberg, the legendary Actors Studio director who preserved a portion of Monroe’s personal belongings. While the screen siren may have name-dropped Tiffancy & Co., Cartier and Harry Winston in Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, her own timepiece had its roots in Blancpain’s home of Villeret, rather than New York or Paris. Acquired by the Maison and later revealed publicly during the Timeless Elegance exhibition in New York in 2019, the piece holds a unique allure for collectors and Marilyn fanatics alike.
Its design belongs unmistakably to the golden age of American art deco. Likely produced between the late 1940s and early 1950s, the watch featured an elongated rectangular platinum case with vertical architecture echoing the skyline silhouettes of the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center. Set with diamonds and fitted with an opaline dial bearing stretched Blancpain typography, it represented the refined glamour of post-war cocktail watches. Inside beat a miniature FHF 59 movement signed both Blancpain and Rayville Watch Co., a reminder of the era when the Manufacture operated under Betty Fiechter, the first woman to lead a major Swiss watchmaking house – a detail that links one of Hollywood’s most iconic women with one of Swiss watchmaking’s pioneering female executives.
The new Ladybird Tribute faithfully preserves the aesthetic language of the original while successfully translating it into a contemporary haute horlogerie creation. Housed in a slim 35mm by 16mm 18 carat white gold case, each watch is fully set with 85 diamonds totalling 1.360 carats. The elongated silhouette, opaline dial, yellow gold applied markers and conical hands all reference Monroe’s original timepiece.
Powering the collection is Blancpain’s in-house manual-winding Caliber 510. Measuring only 2.60 mm thick, the movement delivers a 52-hour power reserve while remaining discreet enough to preserve the elegant proportions of the case. An exhibition sapphire caseback offers a view of the finely finished calibre, underscoring the technical legitimacy behind the jewellery-driven exterior – and providing a point of high drama where, usually on a woman’s cocktail watch, a disappointingly plain caseback would tend to sit.
Blancpain further personalises the collection through seven exclusive double-tour calfskin straps developed in collaboration with Pantone. Shades range from the bold Hollywood-inspired High Risk Red to the understated Peach Bud and satin-finished Dynasty Pink, each evoking a different facet of Monroe’s visual universe.
Limited to just seven pieces and priced at CHF41,000, the Ladybird Tribute isn’t a conventional reissue. Instead, Blancpain has crafted an intimate homage to a woman whose enigmatic image became myth, yet whose personal possessions continue to reveal traces of authenticity and private emotion. It’s revival of a fragment of cinematic history that’s more tangible and rooted than the usual tropes. And as Old Hollywood goes, the sense of elegance and timelessness couldn’t be stronger – much like the legacy of the irreplaceable Marilyn Monroe herself.
