Blancpain - Exactly Right

Exactly Right

Steve, you nailed it on the position of the tourbillon. I spent a day with Vincent Calabrese talking about his creation of the Blancpain tourbillon (and for that matter his work on the Blancpain Carrousel). The convention had been to place tourbillons at 6 o'clock. He did not want to do that because, as you rightly pointed out, when a winding rotor was added, it would naturally come to rest at 6 as well, cluttering the view in the dial port hole. So he put the tourbillon at 12, as he was already planning an automatic version.

Speaking of the winding rotor, I would guess by now you noticed Blancpain's little finishing detail on the rotor. of course it is hand carved on the side you see when looking through the case back. I would guess all winding rotors are finished on that always visible side. But Blancpain finishes the OTHER side of the rotor--since that side becomes visible from the dial port hole every time the rotor passes behind the tourbillon. I did not notice that when I firset got my tourbillon, then one say as the rotor wizzed by i saw the carving and could not believe it was there. Neat touch.

As for who was first to have an automatic tourbillon, Blancpain vs. AP I will research that. I know of the first AP torubillon, it was that strange looking TV screen on edge piece. What most people don't know was that it was ETA that did the watch for AP. Anyway i will check the facts on that.

Jeff

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Is Yellow Gold Still OK?

By: jkingston : August 10th, 2009-07:35

I sure hope the answer is yes. In truth I guess I am not given to a single color--rose, white. Yes to both. Even though you have to search these days to find yellow, it looks just as good to me now as it used to. And so does this one, my first tourbillon,...

Excellent pic, Jeff, very lustrous! But...

By: Ornatus-Mundi : August 10th, 2009-08:18

what happened to your power reserve indicator? Is that displaying 'death' now ;-)? BTW, Blancpain was the first brand to offer an automatic flying tourbillon, or the first brand to offer an automatic tourbillon with a winding rotor . Small qualification, ...

I believe they placed the tourbillon at 12 rather than 6

By: SteveH : August 10th, 2009-09:05

because the auto rotor is more likely to spend most of its time at the bottom. as Magnus said, the first automatic tourbillon wristwatch was AP.

... and thus...

By: Ornatus-Mundi : August 10th, 2009-09:11

its back side with the beautiful engraving is more visible as it can be admired through the tourbillon porthole. However, this applies not to the wearer as he/she is going to admire the watch with the tourbillon on top, so the rotor is hidden then. Best, ...

Exactly Right

By: jkingston : August 10th, 2009-23:51

I believe......

By: SuitbertW : August 12th, 2009-03:08

Hello, Jeff, I believe there's no question AP's autmatic tourbillon presented in 1986 was the first automatic wrist watch tourbillon. And, all matters of tastes aside, I'd say is a remarkable example as well - titanium tourbillon cage (this tourbilllon ev...

I'm curious, too, Jeff . . .

By: Dr No : August 12th, 2009-09:38

. . . as the movement in the AP automatic tourbillon introduced in '86 doesn't seem like the sort of project ETA would normally get involved with. A movement with an 18 kt plate that doubles as the bottom of the case, no shock absorption, a pendulum rathe...

Art, ETA indeed has a Haute Horlogerie atelier...

By: Ornatus-Mundi : August 12th, 2009-12:47

where many complicated and innovative pieces are developed . Of course, those are not the usual products ETA is known for - mass produced, reliable workhorses. But ETA certainly has a huge body of knowledge and experience in horology, particularly in prec...

Thanks, Magnus .....

By: SuitbertW : August 13th, 2009-03:25

....interesting info, as allways! I know only little about those specialized parts of the ETA group - just gathered a bit here and there.... I'm a little bit familiar with the Omega central Tourbillon and the developement thoug - and also the part ETA pla...

Jeff, you're mistaken if you think ETA made the watch for AP...

By: Sig551 : August 16th, 2009-05:46

Kingston, I've never seen anything as proposterous as this! No way that ETA made the watch for Audemars. You are 100 % wrong and really should stop spreading this misinformation. Its obvious that you're confused about the idea that yes, ETA did come out w...

I found the statement Jeff made to be troubling as well, but . . .

By: Dr No : August 16th, 2009-13:19

. . . as he specified 'watch' and not 'movement', he has left himself some wiggle room to explain himself; he might have been referring specifically to the double-duty use of the bottom of the case as the plate of the movement, which, as Magnus stipulates...

Nothing wrong with yellow gold for me...

By: Jacky : August 10th, 2009-12:35

Hi there, A fantastic watch you have and to me it look best in yellow. I do believe some watches looks best in yellow, esp alot of Breguets and Blancpains, the classic ones of course. Then again, its very personal I do not have preference over which gold ...

What a piece and picture!

By: marcelo : August 10th, 2009-12:41

That’s an absolute beauty!!! Congratulations!!! And it has a power reserve of 8 Days?!?! I thought the IWC Portuguese 7 Day was the automatic with the longest power reserve. Just amazing!!! Marcelo

Long Power Reserves

By: jkingston : August 11th, 2009-01:57

You're right, the Blancpain tourbillons, with the exception of the Grande Date models, have 8 day power reserves. Because the large date takes a little more power, its power reserve is 7 days. But in answer to your other comment about long power reserve a...

That’s simply outstanding, Jeff!

By: marcelo : August 11th, 2009-07:17

Thank you for the detailed info on this impressive horological novelty! I took the opportunity of visiting Blancpain’s website, following your reply, to ask for the most recent Blancpain catalogue. Best regards! Marcelo

A wild guess...

By: patrick_y : August 12th, 2009-12:22

First of all, beautiful watch. My guess is that Vincent Calabrese designed the automatic rotor to be skeletonized so the rotor wouldn't cover up the flying tourbillon portion of the watch? Wild guess, don't hold it against me. Enjoy this beautiful rare wa...

Doing more research on the dates

By: jkingston : August 12th, 2009-23:54

Well this discussion has really gotten interesting. The current debate is over which was the first automatic winding tourbillon. In fact there was quite a delay between the time when Blancpain finished the development of its automatic winding tourbillon (...

According to Blancpain's website...

By: Ornatus-Mundi : August 13th, 2009-01:43

the automatic tourbillon was presented in 1989 ( "the first and only thinnest self-winding Tourbillon watch with date and one-week power reserve" ). That seems to be consistent with your information that 'the construction was done in the 80s' . And the de...