Breguet has its Types XX, XXI, XXII, and Blancpain has the Air Command, a watch that, like the Breguet pilot’s watch, was a response to a French Ministry of Defence commission for a flyback chronograph. It was also offered to the United States Air Force, but it is likely that no official orders ensued, and…
The Villeret Grande Date Jour Rétrograde by Blancpain was presented at Baselworld in 2018. It presents an interesting combination of features. In addition to the usual time indications, the watch has a retrograde day display, a big date, and both are adjusted by the brand’s patented under-lug correctors. This allows the case to be kept…
Blancpain gives the diving watch a genteel luxury look with the new Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date 70s, which looks back to a 1970s version of the Bathyscaphe which had a graduated grey dial and a cushion-shaped case. The new version updates the dial colour, into a warm grey that harmonises well with the aged-look…
At 38 millimetres in diameter and 10.77 millimetres thickness, the new Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe by Blancpain is an example of what seems to be a new trend, small, slim diving watches. Its colour, named “abyss blue” by the brand, is also on-trend. In 2013, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, the Bathyscaphe was given…
The distinctive feature of the Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC diving watch is the water-tightness indicator that appears on the dial. It may seem like an act of courage on the part of Blancpain – after all, surely the point of a diving watch is that you can safely take it underwater knowing that…
Women’s preferences as regards watches are a debated question. The main dichotomy is between quartz and mechanical. Brands such as Glashütte Original use quartz for their Pavonina watches and say that women prefer quartz because the watch is always running and so doesn’t need fiddly adjustment on a small crown. But, talking to a woman…
The latest watch in Blancpain‘s Valentine’s Day series, this watch features the classic heart motif in buff-top rubies on the dial, and a Cupid’s arrow seconds hand, enhanced by the mother-of-pearl dial and diamond-set bezel and lugs. But the watch is much more than just hearts, diamonds and arrows. Inside the case is the new…
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback Ocean Commitment II is a watch celebrating the brand’s efforts in the area of ocean environmental protection and research. It first appeared as a limited edition watch in 2014. It introduced a new concept of limited edition watches, providing purchasers not only with a rare piece, but making…
Blancpain has presented its 16th Valentine’s day watch, a small, elegant and romantic piece, whose highlight is a removable charm in the shape of a white gold arrow with ruby heart. It can be attached at 12 or 6 o’clock as desired. Blancpain’s charms first appeared at Baselworld 2015, though to be honest they are…
If you’re looking for the perfect gift for your better half, and you have a budget of around £1.4 million, Blancpain has just the thing, available at Harrods in December. The Tourbillon Diamonds is powered by Blancpain’s Calibre 25A, a self-winding mechanical movement with 239 parts, providing a 7-day power reserve. The tourbillon can be…
This complex and beautiful piece by Blancpain combines a lavish amount of bling with intricate mother-of-pearl crafting and an unusual mechanical movement featuring two retrograde functions, for hours and seconds, and a day-night indicator. It’s a combination that would seem to suit the variegated tastes of women for watches, and it mirrors what other brands…
This watch by Blancpain, part of the Fifty Fathoms Collection, is a limited edition diving watch and the first of a series in the Blancpain Ocean Commitment programme. For each piece sold, €1,000 will be donated to scientific expeditions. Owners become members of the Blancpain Ocean Commitment Circle, giving them special benefits such as opportunities to meet…
This piece by Blancpain is a complication watch, not for the hand-wound calibre 15B movement that provides just hours and minutes, but for the subject matter on the dial. The more you look at the image the more you find. The Hindu god Ganesh has a trunk winding artfully around the central pivot, and is…
The Villeret Collection by Blancpain comprises the brand’s most classical watches, and this year, for the first time, it includes a watch with big date display, with two windows for optimum legibility. The self-winding calibre 6950, with 285 components, was designed specifically to maintain the watch’s slim profile, and to allow a date change exactly and…
The Blancpain Quantième Perpétuel 8 Jours, a perpetual calendar watch that keeps track of everything from seconds through to leap years, was presented in 2014, and it is now available in Blancpain boutiques. It has the exceptional power reserve of 192 hours, the eight days of its name, and it has another user-friendly characteristic: the…
Captain Robert Maloubier’s champion handlebar moustache made him immediately recognizable. He was also pivotal in creating another face you wouldn’t forget: the diver’s watch. In the early 1950s he worked with Blancpain on a watch suitable for divers, and the result was the Fifty Fathoms. Other watches for use underwater had been made previous to…
This piece was presented at SIHH in 2014, and it is now available in boutiques in its red gold version. The Blancpain Villeret One Minute Flying Tourbillon 12 Days is a good example of Blancpain’s combination of traditional watchmaking and contemporary technology, with the anti-magnetic characteristics offered by the silicon balance spring and pallet fork…
Company profile: Jehan-Jacques Blancpain set up his first workshop on the upper floor of his house at Villeret in 1735, and this date makes the company the world’s oldest watchmaking brand. His business was successful and he was followed by his heirs. His great-grandson Frédéric-Louis Blancpain transformed the traditional crafts workshop into an industrial concern.…
L-Evolution is the name that Blancpain gives to its most advanced models, with modular case construction and some unusual movement features. The Tourbillon Carrousel, with its calibre 2322V2 movement, has a modern and sporty look, but it’s not as glacial and frosty as it looks from the press-release renderings. When you have it on the wrist,…
What is the difference between men’s watches and women’s watches? Once could be that men want a combination of style and engineering on their wrist, while women want a combination of style and jewellery. Watches for women that combine, style, jewellery and engineering are more rare, and an example is provided by its San-Valentin 2015…