“We will never produce quartz watches. In the past 271 years, Blancpain has never made a quartz watch, only a mechanical watch, and only a round watch.” February 8, Wangfujing, Beijing At the Oriental Plaza in the business district, Blancpain held a simple opening ceremony for the first store in mainland China that opened there. Blancpain's vice president of sales, Andre Meier, stood at the counter and looked like a most patient salesperson. He took out the pen and pointed his fingers at Blancpain's functional specifications.

In addition to a few business representatives, Blancpain invited the biggest "care" is Wangke chairman Wang Shi. This "older" mountaineering enthusiast is about to go to Mount Ararat in Turkey in March - where the biblical legend of Noah's Ark is anchored. Andre Meier gave Wang Shi a sporty watch worth 100,000. Wang Shi said that he would take the auction and use the money he made to do charity. Andre Meier immediately stated that he would join forces with Wang Shi to do charity in China.

Swiss watchmaking specimens

Blancpain is a specimen of the Swiss watchmaking process. In 1735, Jehan Jacques Blanc-pain founded a watchmaking workshop in the quiet Jura Mountains in western Switzerland. This workshop is the origin of Blancpain's watch. Its birth means that the world's first watch brand has appeared, and the Swiss watch industry has also entered the “Brand Age” from the “artisan era”.

The masters on the workbench of Blancpain's factory are all excellent watchmakers. The watchmaking process in Switzerland for hundreds of years was passed down from generation to generation by the masters.

It is said that the development of the "1735" takes a full six years, and the master watchmaker takes a year and a half to complete one. In only 14 millimetres of the case, 740 parts are placed, which is a great feat for the altar. When Hong Kong's famous watch collector and connoisseur Zhong Qilin was asked which of his favorite tables was, he answered without hesitation: "Next. If there must be a goal, it might be Blancpain 1735. Functionally, it It has reached its peak."

In Blancpain's La Brassus factory, there is no large-scale production line. There is only a separate worktable for each watchmaker. Every Blancpain watch is completed by a master from start to finish, just as it was two hundred years ago. The key parts, bridges, dials, and gears need to be completed by extremely laborious manual labor. "This has not changed in the past three centuries." Andre Meier said.

The Qianlong Emperor who liked to play with Western clocks did not play the Blancpain Watch, but in Europe, Blancpain had provided special watches for nobles such as Napoleon.

Only 1.71 mm thick

However, today's Blancpain has not belonged to its founder, the Blancpain family. During the expansion of luxury goods groups in the 20th century, many Swiss watch factories became targets of their acquisition. The Blancpain watch factory is no exception. It is already a brand of Swatch Group. The current president is Marc Hayek, the grandson of Swatch Chairman NGHayek. Andre Meier is most relished by Blancpain's popular movement models, the 1151 Automatic Movement, the 1185 Chronograph Movement, and the F185 Flyback. Chronograph movements, eccentric tourbillon movements, etc., represent the highest level of Swiss mechanical watches.

The watches displayed in Blancpain's boutiques have an entry-level product of 670,000 yuan and a top luxury item priced at more than one million yuan. “All steel pointer scales and automatic bottoms are made of precious metals such as gold or platinum. 70% of Blancpain watches have 100 hours of power reserve, and everyone can hardly see the power reserve indicator on the dial. , 40% of Blancpain watches also have a 100-meter pressure waterproof function."

In Andre Meier's view, Blancpain's luxury is a classic low-key luxury.