Blancpain is another classic watch manufacturer from Switzerland. The brand is famous for manufacturing, distributing, and selling prestigious & luxury mechanical watches. Blancpain was founded by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in Villeret, Switzerland in 1735, and currently, this is the oldest surviving brand in the world. It is best known for its Fifty Fathoms diving watch introduced in 1953 and its 1735 Grande Complication wristwatch introduced in 1991. Jehan-Jacques Blancpain started making watches in 1735 in Villeret, Switzerland. He founded the Blancpain brand, setting up his first workshop on the upper floor of his house at Villeret, in the present-day Bernese Jura. After that his great-grandson Jehan-Jacques, who was head of the family business at the time, modernized production methods and transformed the traditional craft workshop into an industrial undertaking capable of serial production. By replacing the crown-wheel mechanism with a cylinder escapement, Frédéric-Louis introduced a major innovation into the watchmaking world. Blancpain is an active member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. The company never made quartz watches, and that reflects on their slogan “Blancpain has never made a quartz watch and never will.” The brand only produces around 30 pieces of watches in comparison to Rolex, which makes around 2000 watches in a day. A single watchmaker makes each watch.
- Important inventions and patents:
- In 1983, it created the world’s smallest moon- phase’s display.
- In 1987, it created the world’s thinnest self-winding chronograph and the smallest minute-repeater movement at the time.
- In 2000, it produced the world’s first self-winding tourbillon and perpetual calendar, with an eight-day power reserve.
- In 2006, patented the “rail effect” stone-setting technique.
The collection not only includes wristwatches with simple and elegant designs, but also includes watches with complications such as triple calendar, moon phase, and carousel. The brand is well known for Fifty Fathoms, produced in collaboration with the French Navy’s Nageurs de Combat (combat swimmers) led by Captain Bob Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud and worn by Jacques Cousteau. From 1958, Fifty-Fathoms was standard issue of the US Navy’s combat divers and United States Navy SEALs. The watch has a water-resistant level up to 91 meters.
