Blancpain regularly peers outside the box of tradition, seeking challenge, inventiveness and even provocativeness in the design of its watches. So it isn’t surprising that the watch brand decided to team up with another provocateur, pen maker Grayson Tighe, to produce a collection of limited edition pens. This is the origin of the Tighe Blancpain pens, starting with Series 1.
Considered by many to be the first true dive watch as we know the genre today, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, first launched in 1953, became a hit around the world with militaries and professional divers alike. Now, more than 60 years later, Blancpain has chosen to commemorate the early years of the Fifty Fathoms by releasing a tribute to a specific model from 1957/1958 called the Mil-SPEC 1.
Rare and unusual watches continue to pop up at auction this spring, and here I’d like to highlight a few that caught my eye coming up in the June 21, 2017 “Fine Watches and Wristwatches” London sale at Bonham’s.
If you’ve attended Baselworld over the last few years, you’ve likely heard tell of an “Eric Singer sighting” – catching a quick glimpse of the watch-crazy rock drummer who plays with Kiss as he hurries from booth to booth checking out the new watch offerings. I had a chance to catch up with the horophile musician after Baselworld 2017 to get his personal list of the top ten watches he saw at the fair.
Classic on the front, party in the back: that about sums up the traditional erotic timepiece. And one of the modern masters of the erotic watch is Blancpain. In this excellent video by The Watches TV, you will discover what “hot horologerie” is all about!
Léon Hatot and Blancpain met in 1929 and Hatot revealed his prototype of a revolutionary movement with automatic winding: the inside of the Rolls case included a rail on which the whole movement moved up and down on ball bearings, powered by the motion of its owner and providing the name for this unique timepiece right out of the history books.
A watch brand adding writing instruments to its repertoire is not breaking news, but it is notable when a company focuses the same amount of attention and care on its pens as it does on its watches. Such was the case when almost ten years ago now, Blancpain engaged Canadian pen designer and maker Grayson Tighe to produce its writing instruments.
I had never imagined I could be jealous of myself until after I stepped out of the Corsa yellow Lamborghini Huracan that I had just pushed beyond my experience of everyday physics during an exhilarating five laps at the historic Sebring Motor Speedway. The time behind the wheel of the Huracan changed me forever and I immediately burned to be the guy that had been in the car, not the guy now walking away from it.
The evening of Thursday, October 29, 2015 played host to the red-carpet gala evening in Geneva for the presentation of prizes in the 2015 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. We will be sharing our thoughts and insights on the winners of the big night, and why those not so lucky may have missed out. But without further ado, here are the brands and watches that went home with a well-deserved trophy.
Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. The six pre-selected finalists in the Sports category are the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillon Chronograph, Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, the Harry Winston Project Z9, Seiko’s Prospex Marinemaster Professional Diver’s 1000m Hi-Beat 36000, the Tudor Pelagos, and the Zenith El Primero Sport.