Blancpain

I just picked up a FF Bathyscaphe 38mm with the F. Piguet-based caliber 1150. When I hand wind it, there is no noise, no ratcheting whatsoever. Silence. Is this normal? From some reading, I understand that the Omega 8900 caliber also hand-winds with no no...  

But that size looks amazing I wish they made ceramic 38mm

But to be sure, when you say “silent,” you mean there’s no ratcheting sound or increased resistance whatsoever?

I don't have a Blancpain but if you're referring to the clicking sound when the movement is fully wound, not all automatic movement do that. Out of three dozen auto watches I own, only one does the clicking and that's my IWC 5002 Big Pilot. I suggest you ... 

Yes, most of my automatic watches don’t make the clicking sound when fully wound. Their clutches seem to slip quietly.

My 1315 doesn't wind silently, but it is very quiet and smooth. ...  

I have the FF Trilogy, cal 1151 based on the cal 1150. ...  

sounds and feels like an early Seiko 7S26 movement that has no hacking and hand-winding capability. I was taken aback when I took it home and wound it a day later.

I found it very nice, but the indexes seemed small and the date wasn’t easy to read (at least for my eyes).

having owned many divers with aesthetics representative of a tool, but I consider this Bathyscaphe a dress-diver with total diving and tool capability.