Decorating movements is a very detailed work.
Each watchmaker receives a watch kit of
finished and decorated parts that can comprise
anywhere from 350 to 500 pieces
quarter-hours, and the minutes. Each watchmaker receives a watch kit of
finished and decorated parts that can comprise anywhere from 350 to 500
pieces depending on the model reference. All subsequent steps like set-up,
assembly, and regulation, are done by the same watchmaker at the same
bench, which can take up to five weeks of work.
“White Assemblage” requires the watchmaker to first build the watch over
about three weeks, after which the watchmaker has to disassemble it, clean
all the parts again, and reassemble it. A lot of the parts are custom made to
mimic landscapes or erotic scenes.
A tourbillon is extremely difficult to put together. It requires
exceptionally advanced skills and training. A tourbillon watch has
the escapement and balance wheel mounted in a rotating cage to negate
the effects of gravity when the timepiece (thus the escapement) is stuck
in a certain position. By continuously rotating the entire balance wheel/
escapement assembly at a slow rate (typically about one rotation per
minute), the tourbillon averages out positional errors.
Blancpain also makes even more complex tourbillon variations such as
the Villeret 12-Day One-Minute Flying Tourbillon watch and the Villeret
Tourbillon Volant Heure Sautante Minute Retrograde with jumping hours
and retrograde minutes. Blancpain even produces Tourbillon Carrousel
models, which is similar to the traditional tourbillon except that a carrousel
56 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | WINTER 2020
continually rotates the balance wheel and escapement to counteract the
influence of gravity and it was created to circumvent the tourbillon patent
held by Abraham-Louis Breguet.
It’s simply astonishing to witness a watchmaker putting these beautiful
and complex high-complication movements together and that experience
further accentuates my admiration and appreciation for a watchmaker’s skill,
talent, and passion.
ATELIER MÉTIERS d’ART
As impressed as I was at the work being done in the decoration and
assembly workshops, I have to admit that what I saw in the Métiers d’Art
department blew me away. “Métiers d’Art “ translates loosely to “artistic
workmanship” in English and can include traditional crafts like enameling,
guilloché, engraving, gem setting, and so on, for dial decorations. Only a
handful of top watch brands are equipped to embellish their timepieces with
this type of craftsmanship. And the work being done by Blancpain artisans is
simply unbelievable.
For instance, watching Blancpain’s award-winning Master Engraver, Marie-
Laure Tarbouriech, engrave a dial through a microscope is a sight to behold.
Or listening to the enamellers speak with such passion about their art form
is inspiring.