Blancpain Leman Tourbillon Automatic Watch: A One of a Kind Luxury Timepiece

A genuine luxury watch is not flashy or bold. Its appearance may be deceptively simple. True elegance is not ostentation. Glancing at the exterior of a Blancpain luxury timepiece, the casual observer would never guess that it is worth well over one hundred thousand dollars. But to those in the know, the simple elegance of the exterior hides a sophisticated mechanism developed over two and a half centuries.

The distinctive yet understated styling of the Blancpain line of watches is only one of the assets of these unusual timepieces. They need not ever be wound and require no battery. The ordinary motion of the body while wearing the Blancpain Leman Tourbillon timepieces keeps them in top operating condition. They still function perfectly fifty-thousand fathoms under the sea. They do not lose track of time and are entirely unaffected by the earth's gravitational pull. Form and function are perfectly in tune in these unique timepieces.

The Blancpain line of fine watchmaking was founded in 1735. Thirteen generations of watchmakers passed their skills from father to son, bringing the art of watchmaking to the peak of perfection. For more than two hundred and fifty years the name Blancpain has stood for precision timepieces and aesthetic excellence.

Blancpain produces fewer than ten thousand watches a year. A single watchmaker is responsible for each individual watch's manufacture. With such attention to detail and personal responsibility undertaken by each artisan, the watches are guaranteed not to fail. If there ever is a failure, it will be at once clear which watchmaker is to blame. For this reason, that sort of dishonor is avoided by the highly professional watchmakers at Blancpain.

Blancpain is famous for the most complicated mechanical watch ever made, the Blancpain 1735, featuring tourbillon, minute repeater, perpetual calendar, and split chrono. It was issued in a limited edition of thirty pieces only, with each one produced during the space of a year.

Blancpain is likewise known for its Fifty-Fathoms watch, used by the United States Navy and endorsed by Jacques Cousteau in an award-winning film.

Tourbillon is a French word meaning "whirlwind". In horology, the science of fine watchmaking, a tourbillon is a rotating cage that counters the effects of gravity by having the escapement and balance wheel  mounted on it. The tourbillon rotates every time the watch is rotated, countering the effects of gravity on the timepiece.

Today, only the most exclusive mechanical timepieces feature the tourbillon technology, and the rotating cage is made visible on the face of the watch so that we can observe it in operation. To the uninitiated, the gyrating tourbillon signifies nothing, but to those familiar with fine timepieces, it signals genuine watchmaking virtuosity.

The Blancpain Men's Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon Rose Gold Watch is the top of the line, the creme de la creme of all watches, worthy only of a great connoisseur. Constructed with an antimagnetic 18-karat-rose-gold case, a unidirectional black-and-rose-gold bezel, and a black canvas wristband secured with an adjustable buckle clasp, this magnificent timepiece has it all.  The glass is scratch-resistant-sapphire and shields the black dial. Beneath the 12 o'clock position a small window beautifully shows off the tourbillon in motion. This timepiece is water resistant to 984 feet (300 M). The Blancpain Men's Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon Rose Gold Watch  arrives in a padded burlwood watch case. Take it with you when you go diving, or feel free to wear it openly on the subway. Nobody but you will know its true value.

A more economical version of the Fifty Fathom watch, the Blancpain Men's 5015.3630.52 Fifty Fathoms Gold Watch is like something out of Jules Verne. You need not wind it up yourself, as it is powered by automatic movement, almost like a perpetual motion machine, but not quite! Actually, it's your own movements that power it. The watch is water resistant to 984 feet (300 M). It is presented in a padded burlwood watch case, just like the more expensive model. The only thing that it is missing is the tourbillon.

The Villeret Chronograph Watch by Blancpain is another more moderately priced choice with a distinctively slim yet durable design. Featuring subtle indexes with gold Roman numerals, opulent gold hands and a gracefully sweeping seconds hand, the Villeret has two convenient chronograph sub-dials with dual side button controls. Like the Fifty-fahom model featured above, the Villeret is powered by reliable Swiss automatic mechanical movement, but though this watch comes with  a scratch-resistant sapphire dial window,  it is water resistant only up to 99 feet  So, don't dive too deep!

Blancpain Men's 2041-1130M-53B Leman GMT Alarm Watch is another very fine choice, and better for divers than the Villeret. If features Swiss Automatic movement; a scratch-resistant-sapphire crystal, a date function, and is water-resistant to 330 feet (100 M). That's a really good choice for deep sea diving!

Some people ask: can any watch be so good as to actually be worth six figures? Well, it depends on your values. Are you an exacting person, punctilious and punctual? Then you cannot afford to have your watch fail you at the most inopportune moment. Yes, you could buy a very fine, modern electronic watch. But... who knows when the battery will fail! You could even end up out in the bush or away from civilization, where modern conveniences are not available, and the battery cannot be replaced. Perhaps the markets will all crash, and your bank account will be depleted, your stocks worthless, your family uprooted, but the Blancpain watch you invested in will keep on ticking. Isn't it good to know that some things can be depended on?

Over a lifetime, people tend to replace their inexpensive watches many, many times. If you added up all those purchases, then there would be quite an expenditure. But if you invest in a Blancpain today, not only will it serve you throughout your own lifetime, it will keeping on ticking generations into the future.

A Blancpain luxury timepiece is an heirloom that stands the test of time. Can you afford not to invest in the future? Some things never lose their value. Blancpain is a name to depend on.

Copyright 2010 Medora Trevilian