Blancpain Villeret

Details

When then-CEO Jean-Claude Biver famously proclaimed that Blancpain would never make a quartz watch, the watchmaking world was experiencing a very tumultuous time. The Villeret, however, signified the brand's determination to stick to traditional watchmaking principles and style. Offered in both steel and precious metal, the Villeret is at its core very much a dress watch. Its lasting significance shows that Biver's strategy in the end paid off, leaving Blancpain as one of the very few watchmakers that indeed never turned to quartz, even during the industry's darkest days.

This Blancpain is in excellent condition, with only light marks as expected from a lightly handled solid gold watch. It comes on a an aftermarket suede strap with the original solid gold buckle.

Comes with its original Blancpain inner box which has some wear to the interior, booklets, service papers from Blancpain from 2019 and 2021, the original guarantee paper is signed and dated.

BLANCPAIN

Blancpain traces its history back to the 1735, which makes it amongst the oldest watch brands currently in operation. It has a rich history, but by the early 1990s had fallen on tough times as a result of SSIH (the Swatch Group's predecessor) focusing more on quartz, rather than mechanical watches. The company was sold to F. Piguet, whose leadership at the time included Jean-Claude Biver.

Biver then did something completely unexpected - he dug his heels into Blancpain's experience as a mechanical watchmaker, boldly proclaiming that the brand had never made a quartz watch and would never do so. This contrarian approach, rather than condemning the brand to the history books, actually worked in favour of Blancpain and led to a resurgence in the company's popularity. Since then, Blancpain has been producing high-quality mechanical wristwatches, and true to Biver's word, has yet to release a quartz timepiece.