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Visiting The Blancpain Haute Horology Watch Manufacture

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:15:00 +0000

Blancpain is one of the oldest Swiss watch brands but it was on the verge of death before being taken over by Jean-Claude Biver. This was of course before Biver’s purchase of Hublot, and before Blancpain he was at Omega. Biver is said to have pretty much saved Blancpain (just as he did with Hublot) – a good thing because today, despite the brand’s literal English translation of “white bread,” very few boring things are going on inside the manufacture.

Biver sold Blancpain to the Swatch Group a few years ago. The brand’s CEO right now is Marc Hayek, one of (the late and regrettably lost) Nicolas Hayek’s sons. His rule of the brand has taken it into a series of different directions, and Blancpain has a few distinct personalities as a watch maker. Those personalities include being a classic watch maker, a complicated watch maker, and dive watch maker, a racing watch maker, and a contemporary high-end complex avant garde watch maker. They also have adopted a mechanism similar to the tourbillon called the carrousel. Why? I hear it is because they feel too many people are making tourbillon based movements and they wanted to be different. It is a small distinction, but yet another angle to the brand’s personality. Oh, and they make extremely well-made and high quality animated erotic watches. Yes, you surely should not forget those.

Most high-end brands with ties to the 18^th century are pretty serious, but Blancpain seems to have a bit of a sense of humor – or at least a sense of adventure. Making erotic watches using world-class engraver talent to carve miniature nudes copulating is just the beginning. They also do things like partner with famous chefs and of course, supercar maker Lamborghini. It is worth mentioning that viewing a 200,000 Swiss Franc erotic minute repeater watch in a small mountain town in Switzerland with their conservative inhabitants is amusing, to say the least.

On this trip Blancpain invited me inside of their highest-end manufacture to look at their items of haute horlogerie and watch making art. There is another arm to Blancpain that is the Manufacture Blancpain – once known as Frederic Piguet. This watch movement manufacture was/is supplying high-end more mass produced movements for the top brands in the Swatch Group. These include Breguet, Omega, Jaquet Droz, and Glashutte Original. According to Blancpain these manufactures are each going to be making more and more movements in-house (as they already each do make at least some movements in-house). We will see how that goes in a few years. Currently, the Blancpain name will be associated with the both the movements inside Blancpain watches and others movements that are made available to a few other Swatch Group brands.

The place I visited was a smaller facility compared to the larger Manufacture Blancpain that was down the road. At the “HH manufacture” Blancpain produces its most complicated watches and also houses artisans that engrave and otherwise decorate their watches. I was most impressed by a friendly French woman who was their top master engraver. Recently awarded by the French government for her talents, she produces work that is quite literally incredible.

Movement decoration and engraving is a big deal at Blancpain. This year they announced a new collection of limited edition pieces with city scenes engraved on the movement surface. A few watches (each totally unique) will be engraved for Blancpain boutiques around the world. I sat with Blancpain’s engravers and designers as they looked at photographs of cities for inspiration. One gentleman was looking at pictures of buildings in New York City. He uses these to create drawings of proposed scenes that might make their way on to watches. The drawings are handed to Mr. Hayek who makes the final decision on what drawings will be realized in engraved form. It is a tough decision as each engraved scene takes hundreds of hours to hand-engrave under a microscope on the movement surfaces and bridges. It is trying work and the people at Blancpain are some of the best.

It goes without saying that Blancpain offers personalized service for their wealthiest clients. Mostly coming from Asia, Blancpain works with people to engrave everything from dogs to grandmothers on movements and automatic rotors. It isn’t cheap, but for discerning clients it is worth the expense and waiting period.

Blancpain isn’t open much to the media but they do invite clients and customers to the manufacture regularly. People in Asia especially feel that it is important to buy your Swiss watch while actually in Switzerland. It also gives Blancpain a nice opportunity to show off just how long it takes for them to build their most complex creations. One such model is known as the 1735. It was the most complex wrist watch in the world for its time and only something like 30 were ever made. The model came out in the mid 1990s and only recently did Blancpain build the last piece. Only one or two people at Blancpain can assemble the million dollar watch, which can take a whole year to put together.

Using sapphire bridges, and a case made out of both gold and sapphire crystal, the Blancpain Carrousel Sapphire watch is a beautiful example of the brand’s focus on both traditional watch making and modern approaches to aesthetics and luxury. The design allows for a wonderful view of the minimalist movement. At the heart of these complex watches is art and complication. The manufacture itself contains copious amounts of wood-lined walls and scenic views through its windows. It is an ideal location to make a traditional Swiss timepiece. More so than even other similarly priced brands, effort is placed on having the watch makers themselves really feel enveloped in the brand’s theme. It is a nice effect as many manufactures are quite industrial in feel and don’t appear to be very connected to that brand’s marketing image.

Most of the time spent on these watch movements involves finishing, decoration, and testing. It is surprising to me each time I hear how a movement is completely assembled and tested… and then disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled before delivery to the customer. There is a mode the Swiss have for making timepieces that is inherently time consuming and expensive. Some call it luxury, but the Swiss simply have their protocol and national pride.

Blancpain has impressive capabilities as a traditional watchmaker and seemingly aims to compete with brands like Vacheron Constantin – Though Vacheron doesn’t have nearly as an impressive a sport watch collection. I will leave a discussion on Blancpain’s diver watches for another time. When I think of Blancpain’s haute horlogerie face I now mostly think of the dedicated individuals at the manufacture working hard to put the small movements together and decorating the watches both inside and out beautifully.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain Villeret Grande Decoration Watch

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:11:55 +0000

Just a nice large-sized thin watch from Blancpain? Not exactly. On the surface this handsome timepiece in the Villeret collection sports a rather thin manually-wound movement and minimalist looking two-hand dial in black or white enamel. The dial has just those signature Blancpain leaf-style hands in 18k gold as enameled Roman numeral hour markers. It is what is on the back of the watch that makes it the most interesting.

I love (love) the large size of the watch at 45mm wide (and just 8.3mm thick). Piaget's now highly popular Altiplano 43 Automatic is so great because of its 43mm wide size and thin case. Like that watch, the Villeret Grande Decoration is wide and flat - offered in an 18k rose gold case. It looks pretty impressive on the wrist, and not in one of those tiny, almost feminine ways. This is a MAN's tuxedo watch.

Containing a Blancpain manufacture-made caliver 15B manually wound movement, Blainpain hand-engraves each movement with some scene. Ideally, the scene is custom ordered by the customer. For Only Watch 2011, they created one with a scene from Monaco. For those that are not special ordered per se, Blancpain will select and engrave landscapes and landmarks from places such as Switzerland, France, Japan, China, and Hong Kong (gee, I wonder where Blancpain watches are being sold most). Look out for a later article with some more interesting details on this engraving process.

In my opinion it is quite cool to see the decoration and engravings right on the bridges of the movement. As if the gears and wheels were part of the scenery. The 15B movement is sufficiently simple and has large bridges (and surface area) to make all this possible. It is a very enjoyable concept, and I don't know how many other watches offer this type of customization as an engraving on the movement itself. This is especially attractive to those who not only enjoy bespoke luxury, but also those are are diehard mechanical movement fans.

Blancpain's intent is to create just one of each watch. I don't think too many will be made, with the brunt of the production taking place in 2011. If you want a special piece like this you should contact Blancpain soon. To see about ones made for your market check with a local Blancpain boutique. No Blancpain boutique near you? Consider it special order time...

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain X Fathoms Watch

admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:10:30 +0000

Blancpain just released the new X Fathoms dive watch that it has been promoting for a while now. Launched in Dubai, the new super diver contains a mechanical depth gauge as well as a few interesting features. One of those is a retrograde five minute counter on the dial that is always running. This is meant to be used for measuring decompression times. No other diving watch in the world has ever looked like this.

According to Blancpain the mechanical depth gauge (which can measure up to 90 meters of depth) is the most accurate one in the world. Other brands such as IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre have watches with mechanical depth gauges. The gauge has two hands to indicate the current depth and a maximum depth reached during that dive hand. Blancpain says one of the major innovations involves the way the depth meter works. Water enters the hex grill on the back of the watch and interacts with a flexible metal membrane. Sounds interesting. Don't miss that the dial also has the time. In one of the images here you can see a diagram of what all the items on the dial and case are and do. Another image offers you some basic instructions on how the X Fathoms watch is to be used.

The design of the case is very retro futuristic. Much of that is thanks to the neat looking strap. The very large case is 55.65mm wide and done in titanium. It is water resistant to 300 meters and has a sapphire inlaid rotating diver's bezel. Aside from it being rather busy, the dial design is cool, and there is lots of lume. The modern look of the watch feels more like a sports car than a timepiece, but the effort is appreciated.

According to Blancpain the rubber strap is the most complex rubber strap ever. It is supposed to have a number of articulating parts and "wings" that wrap around like the wings on a manta ray. Inside the watch is a Blancpain made caliber 9918B automatic that has 5 days of power reserve and the above functions. It is based on the brand's existing caliber 1315 automatic movement.

Lots of people seeing the X Fathoms watch are left scratching their heads a bit. Is this Blancpain? Is this what the brand does and where it's sports pieces are going? Is there going to be a hand-engraved option? I don't have all the "why" answers but I do know that the piece by itself is interesting. It is meant for very wealthy water enthusiasts who want a serious companion for actual dives, or something fun for the pool/club. No one is arguing that this watch is necessary or even needed. Whether or not it is an actual innovation sits by the side to the fun looks and interesting experience. Why do you think Blancpain launched it at the mall in Dubai? Price is estimated by Blancpain to be 30,000 - 40,000 Swiss Francs when it will be release in mid 2012.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain Tribute To Fifty Fathoms Aqua Lung Watch Hands-On

admin — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 08:40:49 +0000

This is the second "tribute" model in the Fifty Fathoms watch collection and to get both models straight you'll need to pay close attention to the names. This one is the Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms Aqua Lung watch, whereas last year's model is the Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms watch (note no Aqua Lung at the end).

As it is a limited edition, I am not exactly sure how many pieces will be made but this model is very attractive. Is it more so than last year's model with the "no radiation" dial? Just a different look. This Tribute to the Aqua Lung has a more mainstream feel, which I like. The case and movement are the same as you'll find in the standard Fifty Fathoms watch. That means it is in steel and 45mm wide. It also has an in-house automatic movement with several days of power reserve and I love that blue-tinted nautilus style automatic movement on the rotor.

The original Aqua Lung model that this watch is based on is from the 1950s and is, of course, a collector's item. You can view a picture of it in the post here and see how Blancpain took steps to replicate the dial while maintaining the feel of the modern watch. The resulting dial is simple and utilitarian, but made nice by the high-end features and construction of the timepiece. I am still loving this watch even though it s a few years old (the base Fifty Fathoms I mean). I enjoy the size, curved sapphire over the bezel, and the great finishing on the case.

This model also gets a textile strap with large portholes in it. Not sure if the original had those but it looks cool. I feel pretty strongly that among high-end dive watches, the Fifty Fathoms is overlooked a lot. These tribute models are a good way of helping Blancpain remind people of the brand's heritage and history. Aside from the dial and some minor details, there isn't too much new for this year. Look for the Tribute to Fifty Fathoms Aqua Lung watches soon.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain L-evolution Tourbillon Large Date Watch Hands-On

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 08:17:42 +0000

The name of this watch doesn't actually include its most thrilling feature. For 2011, this is the Blancpain L-evolution Tourbillon Large Date watch. It is true that it has a flying tourbillon and a big date indicator but turn it over and you see the power reserve indicator on the rotor. Complications on rotors seem to be really "in" this year. In 2011 alone, on automatic rotors, we have seen seconds indicators (Cartier), tourbillons (Jacob & Co.), and now a power reserve indicator on this Blancpain. Coincidence? Probably not.

As part of the larger L-evolution range this watch is actually quite cool and cohesive in design and execution. I have always looked quizzically at the two large lume coated Roman numerals on the dial - I don't know that I understand that design component but some people seem to love it. Other than that, the collection is really cool. You have a nice skeletonized dial - but one that at least still has a dial, and you have an interesting looking case design. This range is very different from most other things that Blancpain offers. I like how they really try to diversify their offerings, with classic watches, sporty watches, complex watches, and sporty complex watches.

The case is offered in either 18k rose or white gold and is 43.5mm wide. Going along with the sporty theme the watch case is satin finished - which is interesting actually. The dial has a mixture of finishes including perlage, sunburst, and Geneva stripes. There is a lot going on in the dial but I appreciate the easy to see hands and presence of lots of lume. This is a good example of decorate skeletonization where a movement is design from the ground up to be partially "open."

Inside the watch is the in-house made Blancpain caliber 4225G automatic movement. It has a pretty massive power reserve of 168 hours (7 days) and is made up of over 400 parts. The trick rotor is fascinating to see in action. The system keeps the power reserve indicator always pointing up making it fun to play with as you can see in the video. Blancpain needed to really get innovating with the gear system as well as the clutch which separates the rotor from the movement when the mainspring barrels are full. I love watches with long power reserves that are also automatics and have power reserve indicators.

Overall, a really nice item from Blancpain that feels like a satisfying composition of complications and design. It certainly isn't for everyone - not even close, but I really am happy that Blancpain keeps putting R&D into the L-evolution range. The L-evolution Tourbillon Large Date watch will be priced in the $140,000 range.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain Villeret Half-Hour Time Zone Watch

admin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:18:59 +0000

For traveling within countries that have half-hour, versus full-hour time zones, Blancpain has released their first half hour time zone watch. It also functions nicely when you are traveling within standard hour increment time zone countries. The watch is 40mm wide in 18k red gold and clearly part of their Villeret collection.

See my full article on the Blancpain Villeret Hour-Hour Time Zone watch at Haute Living here.

Blancpain watches on eBay here.

See Blancpain watches on Amazon here.

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Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain Tribute To Fifty Fathoms Watch

admin — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 08:17:33 +0000

2010 sees an interesting release from Blancpain. Given the plethora of "vintage" or "re-release" models, I wasn't at all surprised to see that Blancpain too had dug something out from their past to share with everyone. This is a model in the Fifty Fathoms collection called the "Tribute to Fifty Fathoms Watch." It is modeled after one of the original Fifty Fathoms watches from the 1950s. If you want to know more about the history, the go here.

I don't think that Blancpain has officially released anything regarding this watch yet. They often wait a long while to do so... which is frustrating. This is more or less the same Fifty Fathoms watch you know and love, but with a special "re-issue" dial. The original Fifty Fathoms watch has that interesting atomic label on there that actually meant to indicate that the watch was radiation free. Why? Well, luminant for a long time was radioactive. Radioactive waste is portrayed as glowing green and so does most luminant. Coincidence? Not exactly.When people started to realize that luminant was radioactive, they needed to find non harmful alternatives - and luminant is pretty darn important for dive watches. Thus, this timepiece back in the 1950's proudly advertised right on the dial that it had "No Radiations." The new version comes complete with the poor English. I wonder if it would have been so bad to change it simply to "No Radiation." Apologies for not having a larger image for you to inspect the text for yourself.

The case is in steel, and I believe it is the exact same as on the current Fifty Fathoms watch model. Inside the piece is a Blancpain in-house made calibre 1315 automatic movement with 5 days of power reserve. The retro dial is more minimalist (aside from the no radiation stamp), but it has the same hands as the standard Fifty Fathoms. Is it enough to call it a while new model? I don't think so. More like a different dial version of the Fifty Fathoms - so that is why it is called the "Tribute To Fifty Fathoms" (Fifty Fathoms) watch. I don't think it is a limited edition, and price is about $10,000. Available now.

Blancpain watches on eBay here.

See Blancpain watches on Amazon here.

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Blancpain Tourbillon 50 Fathoms 5025 3630 52
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Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain Carrousel Répétition Minutes Le Brassus Watch

admin — Sat, 08 May 2010 19:09:31 +0000

Classy-ish looks, gold case, Carrousel rather than tourbillon (don't worry if you don't understand what the difference is - just watch the video above about 13 times and you might figure it out), minute repeater, highly skeletonized and exposed movement, limited to 10 pieces, about $360,000. Or otherwise, just your typical daily wear timepiece from Blancpain!

See my full article on the Blancpain Carrousel Répétition Minutes Le Brassus watch here over at Haute Living.

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Blancpain Le Brassus Complete Calendar GMT 4276 3642 55B 18K Rose Gold MINT
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Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain Spécialités Tourbillon Diamants Watch

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:24:11 +0000

Diamonds for diamonds sake? Maybe not. Don't overlook the importance of ludicrously gilded timepieces in the haute joaillerie watch category. While such timepieces might wreak of excess, they are often times as complex, or more complex than the mechanical creations we so love. The process of choosing and cutting diamonds (not to mention setting them) is in credibly time consuming. All that in a white gold case with a automatic tourbillon mechanical movement - and you might just start saving up gold bars for this over $1.3 million impulse buy.

Read my article on the Blancpain Spécialités Tourbillon Diamants Watch at Haute Living here.

Blancpain watches on eBay here.

See Blancpain watches on Amazon here.

Blancpain Leman Flyback Chronograph Big Date Mens
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Blancpain Leman Flyback Chronograph 18kt Rose Gold Mens
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Original Vintage BLANCPAIN Black Leather Watch Strap Band Flat 17mm Mens New
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Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Blancpain 500 Fathoms Titanium Watch

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:42:04 +0000

Wow, I did not expect to see something so bold from Blancpain this year. This is a totally new route for their diving watches. At first I was torn about the look (didn't see to be much more than what Invicta could come up with), but then I began to appreciate the more subtle items. Retained are the sapphire crystal tops on the rotating bezel (such a nice feature by the way), and new are the hands, and the face. The hands are really designed for perfect legibility in both light and dark situations, not one or the other which is sometimes the fact. They also remind me of torpedoes. I think that is intentional. The wild looking lume on the face is also fucntion, and not just for show. Somehow, it seems to make the watch easy to read in the dark when you aren't used to simply using the hands.

Blancpain opted to go with a light weight titanium case for this large 48mm wide watch. Added to the case is a helium escape valve, which might be useful for a handful of you out there. The original watch is the Blancpain 50 Fathoms (actually not that deep). The newer watches retained the 50 Fathoms name, but Blancpain felt it was a good idea to up the values. I don't recall how deep a fathom is, but forget about it. The 500 fathoms is water resistant to 1000 meters. So don't go trying to make a value conversion from fathoms to feet now.

The movement is one of the best in the industry. It is the Blancpain Calibre 1315. There is also the GMT model with the 5215 movement. The automatic mechanical movement is specially made for sports watches. This basically means that it has lots of shock resistance. It further has a whopping 5 days (120 hours) of power reserve through three mainspring barrels! That is a lot. well over 2-3 times what you see in most similar movements. Rare for a 1000 meter water resistant watch is the sapphire movement window on the caseback. The rotor you will see is styled after a boat propeller, which is appropriate. The movement also features a fast date adjust at midnight. This basically means that the date window immediately moves to the next date at midnight, rather than slowly move over an hour or so. You can also manually adjust the date both ahead and behind. A nice touch for a luxury watch.

The strap is really cool as well. It isn't new for this watch, but Blancpain as always provided an super high quality coated canvas strap that is retr0, comfortable, and stylish all at the same time. So there you have it, a brand new, really interesting sports watch from Blancpain that furthers the reach of the "Fathoms" watch line. We have really come far from that watch developed to only be resistant to 50 fathoms under water. For me, the 50, and now the 500 Fathoms have always had a place on that short list of, "if I could only wear one watch, I would have one of these watches." Maybe you feel the same. Price will likely be over $10,000, probably shy of $15,000.

Blancpain watches on eBay here.

See Blancpain watches on Amazon here.

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Blancpain Leman Flyback Chronograph 18kt Rose Gold Mens
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Original Vintage BLANCPAIN Black Leather Watch Strap Band Flat 18mm Mens New
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Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.