Press release from Blancpain:
A burglary attempt occurred yesterday on our X Fathoms exhibition at “Cité du Temps” in Geneva. It seems like some people are ready to risk their life for our timepieces!
Fortunately, nobody was hurt during the robbery and thanks to the efficient intervention of the security company (SIR) one of the four thieves was quickly arrested and most of our watches were found back. However the damages caused on several pieces gives us no choice but to close the doors of this event earlier than scheduled.
by Kyle Stults on October 25, 2011
Blancpain X Fathoms, continued. See the dial schematic below for a full breakdown on the watch. Very cool looking, very cool functionality, and looks great. Though in the real world I really wonder about that 55mm case size — overwhelming! Also, no word yet on price or volume. the Blancpain X Fathoms price will be 30,000-40,000 Swiss Francs.
Check out these additional looks…
Here it is…and the Blancpain X Fathoms looks to be quite an impressive dive watch. For now I will quickly say that it has a built-in depth gauge capable of measuring both current and maximum depth (up to 90 meters) — max depth is the the small inner hand with the squarish red tip and current depth is the yellow-tipped inner hand. At the 10 o’clock to 11 o’clock is a retrograde gauge for decompression (up to five minutes), and this gauge is activated by a lever at 10 o’clock. Back with full specs in awhile…
Update: See specs below. Seems the watch is inspired by a 1953 ancestor (of same name?), which I like. At 55mm, the case size is absolutely enormous — a bit off-putting for me, despite the technical marvel of this watch. Seriously — 55mm case? Blancpain also claims a “The most complex injected rubber strap ever conceived” featuring 14 articulated parts to ensure a perfect fit on the wrist and allow water to seep in under the watch in order to come in contact with the membrane under all circumstances. Alright, OK, good work on the new strap. This watch is really nothing more than a showpiece, but I guess that’s not such a bad thing.
Blancpain X Fathoms Dive Watch
55.65mm x 24mm satin brushed titanium case, automatic mechanical BLANCPAIN caliber 9918B (based on the Caliber 1315, used in several Fifty Fathoms models),
titanium case
The live unveiling of Blancpain’s new ‘extreme dive watch’, the “X Fathoms”, will be streamed live from Dubai starting at 10am EST…official pics, specs to follow…
Blancpain X Fathoms Dive Watch
World Premiere Launch – October 25 – Dubai…Blancpain will unveil its new “Blancpain X Fathoms” watch….and “other surprises”….stay tuned to discover the first pictures and videos…right here at Perpetuelle, first in watches!
Blancpain X Fathoms Caseback (Spy Shot )
Blancpain X Fathoms (Teaser Video)
Superb…
Continuing my ONLY Watch 2011 previews (see them all here) — here’s a first look at the Blancpain Villeret Grande Décoration for Only Watch 2011. The watch is a study in contrast — on the front, its white enamel dial with painted hour-markers and red gold hands suggests simplicity and elegance; on the back, a depiction of the Rock of Monaco and the surrounding landscape is rich in detail. The hand-decoration on this one-of-a-kind watch was performed by Blancpain’s Master Engraver Marie-Laure Tarbouriech, to whom I say that much credit is due. The watch is equipped with a Blancpain Calibre 15B, an ultra-thin hand-wound movement. By the way, this is Blancpain’s seventh ONLY Watch event — it has donated a piece to each event since it was first formed in 2001.
Blancpain Villeret Grand Decoration for ONLY WATCH 2011
Unique Piece
45mm red gold case (8.3mm thick), white grand feu enamelled dial, hand-decorated manual-wind Caliber 15B movement (40 hrs power reserve)
depiction of the Rock of Monaco and the surrounding landscape:
“Only Watch” is a biennial charity auction of one-of-a-kind watches created by many of the most renowned watch brands in Switzerland. This exceptional event is held every two years in Monaco during the Monaco Yacht Show and is under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II. All the proceeds from Only Watch go to support Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research which is why many of these watches go extraordinarily high prices.
Starting today Perpetuelle will begin its coverage of Only Watch 2011. Stay tuned in because over the next few months, you will get to see awesome “piece unique” watches from each of the participating brands for the 2011 event:
Click through to see our in-depth preview of each watch:
- Harry Winston Midnight GMT Tourbillon
- Patek Philippe Ref 3939A Minute Repeater
- Urwerk UR-103 “Phoenix”
- Romain Jerome “Rock the Rock”
- Hublot Oceanographic 4000m dive watch
- MB&F HM-4 “Flying Panda”
- TAG Heuer “Monaco Mikrograph”
- Bell & Ross Pink Gold “Casino”
- Louis Vuitton Tambour Diver Chronograph
- Blancpain Villeret Grand Decoration
- Piaget Altiplano Skeleton
- Breguet Reveil Musical Watch
- Audemars Piguet Gstaad Classic
- Jaquet Droz Petit Heure Minute
- Van Cleef & Arpel “From the Earth to the Moon” Watch
- Girard-Perregaux ww.TC
- Corum Golden Bridge Automatic Titanium
- Vulcain Anniversary Heart Watch
- Chanel J12 Marine Watch
- Franck Muller “Totally Switzerland”
- Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo
- Vacheron Constantin “Dove” Watch (M.C. Escher-inspired)
- Zenith El Primero “Destro” watches
- Montblanc Villeret 1858 Pulsograph
- Ikepod Red Hourglass by Marc Newson
- Bovet Fleurier, Celsius, Chaumet, Chopard, De Bethune, Delacour, De Witt, Frédérique Constant, Hermès, Laurent Ferrier, Maurice Lacroix, Richard Mille
Only Watch 2011 will be held September 24, 2011 and managed by watch auction house Antiquorum. But you don’t have to wait this long — because part of the excitement leading up to the September 24, 2011 event is the release of each participating brand’s special edition watch.
ONLY WATCH 2009
If you are interested in looking back, I covered the Only Watch 2009 auction extensively including blogging about several of my favorites inlcluding: Piaget Emperador Coussin, MB&F Sage Vaughn HM-2, Bovet 3-in-1 Mona Lisa Watch, Tourneau Jump Hour, Louis Vuitton Tambour, Chanel J12 Joallerie with pink sapphire, and Blancpain 500 Fathoms. You can see all 34 “Only Watch 2009″ watches here on the Perpeuelle World Watch Forum. The Only Watch 2009 auction was hosted by Patrizzi & Co.
SUPERB
Blancpain has unveiled some superb looking dress watches this year in Basel. Unlike the brand’s awful-ugly-dial L-Evolution watches, the dial work on this new Villeret “Demi-Fuseau 8 Jours” is quite nice, though there is one little thing bothering me about it as I note below. A “demi-fuseau” or “half timezone” complication serves to adjust the second timezone on the watch in 30-minute increments and thus to ensure relaxed travel to countries with half-hour time differences. The watch displays the reference time at 12 o’clock, the half-hour timezone is in the center, the day/night indication for the reference time at 9 o’clock, date window at 6 o’clock, and the date change or timezone indication at 4 o’clock. My one critique is the largely cut-off “XII” at 12 o’clock….it looks bad and in fat could be a deal killer for a persnickety buyer.
Blancpain Villeret Demi-Fuseau 8 Days
42mm white or red gold case, Manufacture Blancpain automatic Caliber 5235DF with guilloché-worked oscillating weight
domed grand feu enamelled white dial with painted hour-markers.
***
SIHH near, but Baselworld wants to play, too…
Guess Blancpain couldn’t wait until 2011 to share with us its new Villeret Half-Time-Zone watch. Officially debuting at Baselworld 2011 (March 2011), this watch is a beauty, and I must admit a nice surprise given some of the awful and tacky pieces I have seen from Blancpain in recent years (L-evolution series, anyone?). To be fair, the Fifty Fathoms collection is still going strong and regular readers here may also recall Blancpain’s much praised and equally beautiful Villeret Half-Hunter Moonphase which debuted at Baselworld 2010 (March 2010). This new watch will undoubtedly be a nice complement to it and the Villeret collection (and of course share many of the same technical and design elements of).
Blancpain Villeret Half Time Zone Watch
40mm rose gold case
So what exactly does this “half time zone” watch do? Well, the wearer can adjust the second time zone in half-hour increments — something that will come in quite handy for those who might find themselves in India or other half-hour time zone differences.
and
Earlier today, Blancpain and Lamborghini jointly announced the launch of the world-exclusive Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Blancpain Edition. This new road car, closely based on the racing model featured in the Super Trofeo competitions, is issued in a limited edition representing a major first in the history of relations between the watchmaking and automobile industries.
Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Blancpain Edition
Zero to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.4 seconds…flies past the 200 km/h (124 mph) mark only 6.8 seconds later, ultimately exceeding 320 km/h (199 mph)
The first Gallardo from the exclusive and limited Blancpain Edition production run was presented by Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, and Marc A. Hayek, President and CEO of Blancpain, at the final race weekend of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo on Sunday September 26 in the “Piero Taruffi” circuit, Vallelunga.
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