Blancpain

Hi, I'm new to Blancpain watches. Was drawn into the Villeret series, purchased an Ultra-Slim hand wind last year. Was able to pick up up a titanium Bathyscaphe this weekend from a great AD in Scottsdale, AZ (drove 6 hours). I heard that the titanium vers... 

I have my doubts, though, as this was was introduced at the Basel fair, this year... Best, Nicolas

… but I could not confirm it (yet). Will keep you posted! Magnus

The ceramised titanium has been discontinued for the moment in favor of a more traditional "satin-brushed" finish, though when the new pieces begin to hit the market I couldn't tell you. I also couldn't tell you why the cermaised titanium ceased productio... 

One can only hope that they reintroduce the material in the future, as it really does have an interesting appearance. Mind you, I haven't had the opportunity to test just how scratch-resistant it is (thank god), but I can say that my watch case and strap ... 

Thank you all, I guess I lucked out getting one of these gems. Trying to get the Fifty Fathoms no radiation limited edition next...

Will the Ceramised Titanium version become a real collectors item as a result of this? Asssuming some escaped into the wild.

No. 27 reporting for duty: I'm not sure how many were sold, but the retail channel is pretty much bone dry (the NYC boutique can't source any more). So, does this mean that it has suddenly become a collectible? Doubtful, at least in the near-term. Perhaps...  

Will the change away from ceramised titanium to brushed titanium narrow the desirability gap between the two models.? I really feel the ceramised version had a unique selling point in its durability. I can definitely see one of these on my wrist in the ne... 

Hi, I heard from a swatch group representative that the model was discontinued due to a manufacturing defect. Marc Hayek himself was testing the watch and it scratched, something which should have not happened during the test. The whole production was hal... 

I guess it's super limited to 50 pcs, but it is a defect...wow. Strangely, I heard from an reputable AD through an inside rep that the cost and time for manufacture and quality control on the new treatment was underestimated and that they did not properly... 

...and the reason for this has everything to do with the difficultly of manufacture and cost of the ceramised cases, and not defects. Remember, this piece slots below the FF Sport, so having a unit cost that's higher wouldn't exactly fly with a numbers-or... 

The JLC Deepsea SS has a MSRP of $11,00. The JLC Deepsea Cermet has MSRP of $18,000. The JLC Cermet process is obviously different than Blancpain's ceramized Ti but look at how much more expenisve the JLC Cermet is than SS.