Blancpain Retro Watch

In 1735, Jehan-Jacques Blancpain opened a modest workshop on the second floor of his farmhouse in the Jura village of Villeret in Switzerland. These humble beginnings would form the foundation of what is now the world’s oldest existing watchmaker and one of the premier brands within the category of Swiss watchmaking.

Like most horologists at the time, Blancpain’s business was, at the beginning, a family affair: Jehan-Jacques’s son and siblings joined in the work at hand. After all, between the honing, polishing, design and assembly, the making of an innovative watch calls for all hands on deck. Since then, even given its deep history, Blancpain has remained a forward-looking brand.

At the end of the 18th century, Jehan-Jacques’s grandson David-Louis endeavored to turn the family business into an international one, traveling to cities across Europe to proffer the family’s distinctive timepieces, which were known for their roue de rencontre, or meeting wheel, escapements. By the early 1800s, Frédéric-Louis Blancpain, Jehan-Jacques’s great-grandson, had begun work on ultra-flat movements and implemented modern means of production at the factory. Soon, Blancpain built a two-story factory that further bolstered its production capacity.

In 1926, Blancpain partnered with British watchmaker John Harwood to produce the first automatic wristwatch, an innovation that had existed only in pocket watches at that point. Then nearly 30 years later, when the race to craft modern dive watches had gained speed and Rolex was unveiling its iconic Submariner, Blancpain introduced its Fifty Fathoms, a timepiece designed initially for the French Navy to be waterproof up to a depth of 50 fathoms.

After two centuries of family management, Blancpain left the hands of its namesake family in 1932, passing between a few owners before being acquired in 1961 by SSIH, the venerable Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère, whose other subsidiaries include Omega and Tissot. SSIH would sell Blancpain to a member of another Swiss watch family, Jacques Piguet, in the early 1980s. In 2010, Piguet merged with Blancpain under the Swatch Group. Today, Blancpain maintains its painstaking attention to detail, producing fewer than 30 watches per day, each crafted by a single watchmaker.

Find a wide range of vintage Blancpain watches for sale on 1stDibs today.

Antique, new and vintage wristwatches have captured the hearts and minds of all manner of watch collectors as well as the watchmakers themselves — it's time you found your own.

Certain vintage watches for men and iconic watch designs for women are sought after not only because of their graceful proportions or innovative materials but also because of the illustrious histories of the houses that created them, histories that they stylishly embody.

Bulgari’s legendary Serpenti watch was on everyone’s list after the collection’s bold bracelet, which technically debuted after the timepiece, graced the wrist of actress Elizabeth Taylor. If anything, elaborately crafted timepieces — the unmistakably boxy silhouette of Cartier Tank watches, the elegant and minimal Calatrava designed by legendary Swiss house Patek Philippe — are even more effective than the shape we associate with traditional wristwatches.

Form watches — the all-encompassing moniker bestowed upon non-round watches — are making headlines and completing contemporary fashionable ensembles the world over. At the same time, both casual fans and careful collectors are drawn to the unbeatable charm of vintage styles, such as the icons designed by Omega that even James Bond can’t resist.

In the early days of watchmaking, watches were fragile enough that they necessitated protection from the elements. Now, wristwatches made of gold and steel can withstand the harshest climates — even 100 meters underwater, in the case of Rolex’s Submariner. Designer Gérald Genta, whose range of clients included Rolex, created for Audemars Piguet the first luxury sports timepiece to be made from stainless steel. First introduced in 1972, the Royal Oak was a perfect choice for blending the form and function that are now synonymous with sports watches.

Are you shopping for a wristwatch? It’s good to keep your needs as well as your specific personal style in mind: A smaller, subtle timepiece is a good fit for small wrists. When will you be wearing your new accessory? There’s a versatile model out there for everyday wear, while a rugged, feature-heavy watch is a safe bet if you’re prone to embarking on all-weather activities in the great outdoors.

Find antique, new and vintage wristwatches on 1stDibs.