Horological Meandering

Ornatus-Mundi
[Zenith]
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The Hidden Gems at Basel 2011 – Oliver and Magnus sing a swan song on a collector's brand

Dear All:

This is a continuation of our previous post on Breitling (click here), and will focus on a brand for which we both have reserved a special place in our hearts: Blancpain.

Blancpain always was one of the most anticipated dates of our annual ‘must see’ lists. A brand with a clear philosophy and a set of collections to match. Each year, a different collection stood in the center, and most times a new complication, often bringing distinctive practical advantages for the owners, was presented. Think about the new persevering movements, the unique correctors under the lugs, or the magnificent GMT Alarm movement.

Furthermore, Blancpain presented itself as ‘collector’s brand’. Enthusiasts were always welcome at the booth, which resembles the ‘ferme’, as the Blancpain watchmakers affectionately call the atelier in Le Brassus. The bar on the second floor was a meeting point for connoisseurs, retailers and watchmakers alike, and it was easy to be drawn into enriching conversations.

Blancpain also was a pioneer of collectors’ events. Starting as intimate and informal rendezvous with CEO Marc A. Hayek, key watchmakers, aficionados and friends. Several of us fondly remember the early meetings, the local beer brewed in the Vallée de Joux, or Rochat’s foie gras…



Times have changed. Presentations are professionalised, read powerpoints, videos and choreographed speeches. Just like many top brands like to offer. Before collector’s receptions were cancelled altogether, the audience was more strongly selected for possible ‘impact’ in terms of publicity and sales. So friends went out, ‘opinion leaders’ in. And there went the personal and private atmosphere of the manufacturer, for us it turned into a more anonymous brand.

Events for the watch passionate are now replaced by Blancpain-Lambos and pit babes, even historic achievements had to make room for them…



(Blancpain also concluded a new partnership with National Geographic – can you spot that on the pic, or a-n-y-w-h-e-r-e else????)

We can’t blame Blancpain as sole culprit for the development. Instead we tend to assume that this is mostly a reaction to an ever-changing industry landscape. The competition woke up and organises such events as well. Battles for recognition have evolved recently, and we are sure that some event dates deliberately coincide.

Also at Swatch Group and Blancpain specifically circumstances have changed. Particularly with the much-lamented demise of Swatch founder Nicolas G. Hayek, affectionately called ‘The Senior’, tasks needed to be reassigned. As a consequence, Marc A. Hayek is now at the helm of Blancpain, Breguet, Jaquet-Droz, Frédéric Piguet (now Manufacture Blancpain) and the German dial maker Deutsche Zifferblatt Manufaktur GmbH. An immense responsibility!

The above explains to large extent why time devoted for end-consumer contact had to be reduced in favour of sales meetings (that’s the main objective of Baselworld anyway) etc. A pity for us devotees who are left in grief over the loss of a few special moments. But does this explain all?

The fact that none of the novelties have been shown in the showcases and only a few through Blancpain’s PR (even on the official press stick there are only a few of the novelties) is a telltale sign how the focus shifted. Is it because of some erotic watches were presented...? Most likely not, because those kind of watches are not new to Blancpain and have been a big success in the past.



Just for your information we even had severe difficulties to get a chance to see the novelties at all. We visited the booth on a Wednesday (second week!) where there was almost no visitor traffic, and rooms and collections were available – in principle that is.

It was apparent that only the will that was in the way…  and merely because someone (thank you, you know whom we are talking about ;-)) finally made the effort to show them to us we are now in a position to present them here - critically.

We'll post separate posts for each collection as answers to these opening remarks. We will also offer separate conclusions for each collection, and we made sure - to the extent possible - that both of us had wrist shots allowing for a comparison of a watch's appearance with different wrist dimensions.

Ok, now let’s have a look!

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