Welcome to Issue 20

This issue can be seen as having twin focuses. 
The first is born from Blancpain’s aviation and dive watch history and new timepieces which trace to these roots. Our lead story is on the Air Command, a flyback chronograph. What exactly were the timing instrument needs of pilots in the cockpit? What features of a chronograph were essential to meet those needs? This is what we explore in our Air Command story, as we place this rare timepiece from Blancpain’s past and its functionality into a genuine aviation context. On the diving theme, we spotlight and honor two important chapters in the history of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. One is the connection between Blancpain and the Nageurs de Combat of the French Navy. Although many militaries around the world selected the Fifty Fathoms as a core piece of their divers’ equipment, the French were the forerunners. The second recalls the ties between Blancpain and the historically largest supplier of dive equipment in Germany, Barakuda. Our other focus celebrates women of great accomplishment, one from the past and two of the present. Marilyn Monroe is no less than an icon, an actress perhaps more famous today than during her lifetime. We are connected to her story by her watch, which was a stunning diamond-set Blancpain. Photographer Larry Schiller, who later was to win both an Oscar and Emmy Awards, covered Marilyn for the last two years of her life. He recounts events that show sides of Marilyn Monroe not well known to the general public. Today’s women are three Michelin star French chef Anne-Sophie Pic, and Gault & Millau Swiss Winemaker of the Year Marie-Thérèse Chappaz. 

Enjoy Issue 20!

Marc A. Hayek
President and CEO Blancpain