Brand of the week Blancpain

[willy]

This brand existed from 1735 until 1932 then it ceased to exist until 1982 when Jean Claude Biver revieved the brand . His ambition was to put Blancpain into the same sphere as Patek VC etc etc . He did not completly succeed , but he put them near the top of high end watchmaking . He then moved on to Hublot and did the same,quite a guy . Blancpain watches are of undisputible quality and they make some of the most complicated watches you can buy . Their most famous model is the Fifty Fathoms Diver that has achieved cult status . Today they have Vincent Calebrese a great watchmaker working with them and producing one great movement after another . They have been criticised in the past for their lousy after sales service indeed many dealers in USA dropped them because of this . I do not know if their service has improved today but i hope so . This brand is known as the nearly made it brand . Biver did not put them at the top of the tree but he came very close and who knows what they will achieve in the future . My opinion is that the fifty fathoms is one of the most beautiful dive watches ever made . And Blancpain is a very underated high end watch brand who deserve a little more recognition for their many achievments in watchmaking . Willy