The Blue Blood of horology is of course English. The band of great clock makers of all time include Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703), Thomas Tompion (1639 – 1713), George Graham (1673 – 1751), John Harrison (1693 – 1776) and Thomas Mudge (1715 – 1794), were all Englishmen. Somewhere along the way, the world headquarters of horology moved to Switzerland.There is a raging and inconclusive debate as to who is the Blue Blood of Swiss horology. There are many claimants to the crown. They include Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Longines, Cartier, IWC, Breguet and of course Blancpain. Abraham-Louis Breguet, founder of the Breguet empire is generally acknowledged to be the greatest watch maker of all time. He is credited with having either invented or patented a majority of all horological achievements. However, Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, whose name appeared on a watch in 1735, is really the bluest of blue blood.
History
Starting with 1735, Jehan-Jacques Blancpain built watches in his large farmhouse in Villaret. It was only a 100 years later that his great grandson built a small factory to make complete watches. The business passed from father to son for 13 generations. The last member of the Blancpain family Fredric-Emile, ran the empire till 1932. On his death, the company was managed by Madame Fichter, a close colleague of Fredric. In 1926, the company produced the world’s first self-winding wristwatch. In 1953, a wristwatch, water resistant to a depth of 660 feet was worn by the famous French marine biologist, Jacques Cousteau. Ladybird, the most compact watch movement ever (11.85mm) followed.Notwithstanding its history and lineage, Blancpain could not withstand the advent of Quartz watches.The company went into a coma in 1971. Like sleeping beauty, Blancpain sank into deep sleep. Twelve years later, Jean-Claude Biver, a former Managing Director of Omega and Jacques Piguet took over the company and revived Blancpain. During 1992, Blancpain was acquired by the Swatch group headed by Biver. The moving soul behind Blancpain is now Marc Hayek, the son of legendary Nicolas Hayek.
Philosophy
Blancpain’s production is extremely limited. With less than 10,000 watches a year, each watch is individually numbered and recorded in the company’s archives. Their adamant devotion to mechanical watches is unchangeable. Each watch is handled by the craftsmen like a piece of art. Attention is given to the most minute details including the leather strap. The skins for the strap are specially selected by specialists after searching for weeks. Tanning of the skin is done in shades exclusive to Blancpain. It then takes 37 minutes to hand-sew each piece of the leather strap. That makes a Blancpain leather strap unmatched in its focus on exclusivity.Deep commitment to extreme standards of workmanship and exclusivity are the two hallmarks of Blancpain’s family.Blancpain’s philosophy is captured by a statement attributed to Jean-Claude Biver. He said “There had never been such a thing as a Blancpain quartz watch. And, none will exist in the future”. Another one from one of Blancpain’s old advertisements reads: “In the First Class cabin of a transatlantic flight, there is a one in a million chance that two passengers are wearing an identical Blancpain watch”.
Models
Given the limited number of collections, it is very difficult to pin-point flagship models. LeBrassus, Leman, Villeret and Sport are four key men’s models. Ladybird continues to form the ladies automatic model. Series 2100 introduced in 1994 forms the most popular and elegant, classique Blancpain series. *21′ represents the new century and *100′ indicates its 100-hour power reserve, its 100-hour test period and its 100-meter water resistance.
The typical Blancpain customer
In one of the recent interviews Marc Hayek was asked to describe a typical Blancpain customer. In the words of Hayek, “The Blancpain lover is an individual who has achieved something in his or her life . . .this person does not need or want to buy a status symbol . . .he is generous to himself . . .it takes more, he then learns to admire a Blancpain.” Most of the 10,000 lucky buyers who end up possessing a Blancpain watch have the privilege of remembering Jehan Blancpain whose initials “JB” is proudly inscribed on the watch dial alongside 1735. If you do not have to prove that you have arrived, go in for a ‘JB 1735′.
(This was published originally in Smartbuy, a supplement in The BusinessLine of June 4, 2008)
History
Starting with 1735, Jehan-Jacques Blancpain built watches in his large farmhouse in Villaret. It was only a 100 years later that his great grandson built a small factory to make complete watches. The business passed from father to son for 13 generations. The last member of the Blancpain family Fredric-Emile, ran the empire till 1932. On his death, the company was managed by Madame Fichter, a close colleague of Fredric. In 1926, the company produced the world’s first self-winding wristwatch. In 1953, a wristwatch, water resistant to a depth of 660 feet was worn by the famous French marine biologist, Jacques Cousteau. Ladybird, the most compact watch movement ever (11.85mm) followed.Notwithstanding its history and lineage, Blancpain could not withstand the advent of Quartz watches.The company went into a coma in 1971. Like sleeping beauty, Blancpain sank into deep sleep. Twelve years later, Jean-Claude Biver, a former Managing Director of Omega and Jacques Piguet took over the company and revived Blancpain. During 1992, Blancpain was acquired by the Swatch group headed by Biver. The moving soul behind Blancpain is now Marc Hayek, the son of legendary Nicolas Hayek.
Philosophy
Blancpain’s production is extremely limited. With less than 10,000 watches a year, each watch is individually numbered and recorded in the company’s archives. Their adamant devotion to mechanical watches is unchangeable. Each watch is handled by the craftsmen like a piece of art. Attention is given to the most minute details including the leather strap. The skins for the strap are specially selected by specialists after searching for weeks. Tanning of the skin is done in shades exclusive to Blancpain. It then takes 37 minutes to hand-sew each piece of the leather strap. That makes a Blancpain leather strap unmatched in its focus on exclusivity.Deep commitment to extreme standards of workmanship and exclusivity are the two hallmarks of Blancpain’s family.Blancpain’s philosophy is captured by a statement attributed to Jean-Claude Biver. He said “There had never been such a thing as a Blancpain quartz watch. And, none will exist in the future”. Another one from one of Blancpain’s old advertisements reads: “In the First Class cabin of a transatlantic flight, there is a one in a million chance that two passengers are wearing an identical Blancpain watch”.
Models
Given the limited number of collections, it is very difficult to pin-point flagship models. LeBrassus, Leman, Villeret and Sport are four key men’s models. Ladybird continues to form the ladies automatic model. Series 2100 introduced in 1994 forms the most popular and elegant, classique Blancpain series. *21′ represents the new century and *100′ indicates its 100-hour power reserve, its 100-hour test period and its 100-meter water resistance.
The typical Blancpain customer
In one of the recent interviews Marc Hayek was asked to describe a typical Blancpain customer. In the words of Hayek, “The Blancpain lover is an individual who has achieved something in his or her life . . .this person does not need or want to buy a status symbol . . .he is generous to himself . . .it takes more, he then learns to admire a Blancpain.” Most of the 10,000 lucky buyers who end up possessing a Blancpain watch have the privilege of remembering Jehan Blancpain whose initials “JB” is proudly inscribed on the watch dial alongside 1735. If you do not have to prove that you have arrived, go in for a ‘JB 1735′.
(This was published originally in Smartbuy, a supplement in The BusinessLine of June 4, 2008)
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