Swiss Pre-Owned Blancpain Self-Winding Automatic Diamond White Gold Ladies Watch
View Similar Items
Swiss Pre-Owned Blancpain Self-Winding Automatic Diamond White Gold Ladies Watch
About the Item
- Creator:
- Case Material:
- Stone:
- Stone Cut:
- Case Shape:Round
- Movement:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2000
- Condition:Replacements made: The leather strap was replaced. Wear consistent with age and use. The condition of this watch is near mint, with NO SCRATCHES on the sapphire crystal and only very fine brush marks on the band and the bezel from some light use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU167728376112
Blancpain
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.
More From This Seller
View AllEarly 2000s Modern Clip-on Earrings
Diamond, Pearl, Black Diamond, Turquoise, White Gold, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Beaded Necklaces
Diamond, Pearl, Black Pearl, 18k Gold, White Gold
1990s American Engagement Rings
Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
Vintage 1980s Engagement Rings
Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
Early 2000s Italian Modern Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
Early 2000s Engagement Rings
Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
You May Also Like
Vintage 1960s American Modern Wrist Watches
14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s Swiss Modern Wrist Watches
Diamond, 14k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
Diamond, Onyx, 18k Gold, White Gold
20th Century Wrist Watches
Diamond, White Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
Early 2000s Swiss Wrist Watches
Gold, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Wrist Watches
Diamond, White Gold
