Blancpain

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Blancpain SA

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1735
Seat Le Brassus , Switzerland
Website www.blancpain.com

Blancpain wristwatch

Blancpain is a Swiss watch manufacturer in Paudex in the canton of Vaud . Blancpain is now owned by the Swatch Group . Marc Hayek , grandson of Nicolas Hayek , runs the company.

history

Blancpain was founded in Villeret in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain . Under his great-grandson Frédéric-Louis Blancpain, the first measures for series production were initiated from 1815 . In 1926, Blancpain brought together with John Harwood , the first wristwatch with automatic lift to the market, parallel to Harwood's cooperation with Fortis . After the death of Frédéric-Emile Blancpain, the company was sold to the employees Betty Fiechter and André Léal in 1932. The company was founded in Rayville SA, succ. de Blancpain , with a phonetic anagram of the production facility as the name. In 1950, Betty Fiechter's nephew Jean-Jacques Fiechter took over management of the company.

In its advertising slogan , the company emphasizes that it has never made quartz watches and will not do so in the future. Blancpain's watch production was suspended until 1983 during the quartz crisis .

In 1953, on behalf of the French military, Blancpain developed a mechanical diver's watch with a one-way adjustable bezel for the combat swimmer unit Les Nageurs de combat , with which the diving time could be displayed. This automatic watch got its name due to its water pressure resistance up to a depth of 50 English threads (1 Fathom = 1,829 m): The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms . Over time, it developed into one of the most reliable and most widely used diving watches. Among other things, was Jacques-Yves Cousteau in his underwater film "Le Monde du Silence" with this watch to see. To date, it is not exactly clear whether the Fifty Fathoms or the legendary Rolex Submariner was the first watch with an adjustable bezel designed for underwater use. In 1956, Blancpain launched the Ladybird, the smallest round automatic movement at the time.

In 1970, Blancpain was taken over by SSIH . Blancpain ceased production during the quartz crisis. The naming rights were bought on January 9, 1983 by Jean-Claude Biver and Jacques Piguet , the director of the watch manufacturer Frédéric Piguet SA , for 22,000 CHF. The production facility was then relocated to Le Brassus .

When the company was sold back to the Swatch Group (then SSIH ) for 60 million Swiss francs in 1992 , annual sales were 50 million CHF. Jean-Claude Biver remained CEO of Blancpain until 2003. In July 2010, the watch manufacturer was Frédéric Piguet SA , also a subsidiary of the Swatch Group , together with the production plant in Le Sentier in the company Blancpain SA incorporated.

Blancpain is known as the manufacturer of one of the most complex wristwatches, the “Blancpain 1735” , which features , among other things, an automatic winding mechanism, a tourbillon , minute repeater , a perpetual calendar and a chronograph with split second. The watch is manufactured in a limited edition of 30 pieces, with an annual production of only one piece. In 2008, Blancpain launched the first wristwatch with a carousel, a variant of the tourbillon.

Series and current collection

  • Le Brassus
  • Villeret
  • Léman
  • Fifty Fathoms
  • L evolution
  • Women
  • Métiers d'Art

Engagement in motorsport

Blancpain Endurance Series logo

Blancpain sponsors numerous motorsport events and teams, especially in GT racing . Blancpain sponsored the FIA GT1 World Championship and the ADAC GT Masters . The company has been the title sponsor of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo since 2009 and the Blancpain Endurance Series since 2011 . Blancpain was also the official timekeeper in the GT1 World Championship. In addition, Blancpain sponsored several teams in GT racing, such as Reiter Engineering .

Blancpain and Lamborghini work closely together in racing. Lamborghini brought out the special model Gallardo LP 570-4 Blancpain Edition of its Gallardo . Blancpain is the main sponsor of Lamborghini's 50th anniversary.

In 2013, Blancpain had its own GT racing team called Blancpain Racing . The Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FLII was driven by Marc Hayek, CEO of Blancpain, and Peter Kox .

literature

Web links

Commons : Blancpain  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. The Harwood Pioneer Automatic Wristwatch ( Memento from July 20, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
  2. Blancpain History ( Memento of December 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Blancpain Forum (English)
  3. The Watch Quote: Blancpain History In: thewatchquote.com , accessed February 8, 2018.