Introducing the Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate in 38mm
Blancpain has introduced a 38mm version of its Villeret Ultraplate dress watch, signaling a renewed focus on its elegant heritage. This move marks a strategic shift for the brand, which has primarily emphasized its dive watch identity in recent decades.
Why it matters
The release highlights a shift in luxury watch market strategy, balancing historical brand identity with modern consumer preferences.
We have arrived at a captivating inflection point, where the world’s oldest watch brand has chosen to enter a newly contested battleground.
Blancpain is the only surviving watch brand that can trace its unbroken lineage as far back as 1735, to an era when Swiss farmers spent harsh winter months crafting watch components as a side hustle. When Protestant reformer John Calvin banned the wearing of jewelry in Geneva in 1541, this nudged goldsmiths towards watchmaking, eventually leading to the outsourcing component production to the surrounding countryside, and giving rise to the établissage system.
Over the centuries, the manufacture was bolstered by industry vanguards and accomplished divers like Jean-Jacques Fiechter and Captain Robert “Bob” Maloubier, and sustained by the legendary workhorse movements of Frédéric Piguet.
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