Welcome to Issue 16

For the past several years, we have been chronicling the progression of new in-house movements that we have been steadily debuting at Blancpain. We call it the “Parade of New Movements” and a parade it has been, with 34 new calibers introduced since 2006. Hopefully, our faithful readers of Lettres du Brassus through these pages have been able to get a sense of the dedication and effort that we have poured into our movement development. But in parallel we have devoted ourselves to another important aspect of watchmaking, métiers d’art. These are the fine handcrafts and artistic works which can be bestowed upon a fine timepiece like a Blancpain. As with our movements, Blancpain’s practice of métiers d’art takes place within our walls in our Le Brassus workshop. In this issue, we spotlight our special shakudō dials, an ancient Japanese art that only we at Blancpain have succeeded in bringing to horology. Although the story focuses on these dramatic pieces, the message is much larger. It gives us the chance to speak about the broad range of art forms—hand carving and engraving; enameling using multiple techniques including painting, cloisonné, and champlevé; shakudō; damascening; and more—that we now carry out in our workshops.

On our cover and our lead story is the L-evolution C Tourbillon Carrousel which debuts an entirely new aesthetic for Blancpain.

In addition, we report on some of the successes of the Blancpain Ocean Commitment with stories by Laurent Ballesta and Dr. Enric Sala.

Enjoy Issue 16!

Marc A. Hayek
President and CEO Blancpain