Blancpain ranking

Where does Blancpain rank? Is it in the same league as Vacheron or Audemars?

I love them. they make some of the most classic designs available nowadays. Personally, I would put them on par with JLC and Breguet and the like. Maybe a notch below the big three but that's just me.

Originally Posted by Don Goldstein

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Where does Blancpain rank? Is it in the same league as Vacheron or Audemars?

Affirmative. Isn't their motto, "We'll never make an automatic watch?" (or a quartz watch? something along those lines).

Blancpain makes beautiful watches. They don't have the history of a PP or AP but I wouldn't complain about owning one.

Originally Posted by dave

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I love them. they make some of the most classic designs available nowadays. Personally, I would put them on par with JLC and Breguet and the like. Maybe a notch below the big three but that's just me.

They, like Breguet, were revived during the 80s as a "luxury watch" company. They make extensive use of F.Piguet movements in their chronographs, as does Breguet in the XX and XXI, and rank below JLC with regards to innovation. Designs are classic and favor a dressier aesthetic. I like the Villeret series though I prefer the older 37mm sized pieces for proper proportions.

Definitely a step below the Big Three (and A.Lange & Sohne).

In the old days, Blancpain was considered a decidely mid-tier brand, nothing very special.

It didn't have the technical cachet of Omega nor the gravitas of the Big Three--Patek, Vacheron, Audemars--or the luxury of some minor makers like C.H.Meylan, Haas Neveux.

No, not considered a peer of Patek, Audemars and Vacheron.

Probably in the next rank, although IMO not really quite equal to JLC or perhaps Breguet (Breguet and Blancpain are owned by the same , and I think Breguet is positioned in their marketing strategy a bit higher than Blancpain, though whether this translates into quality or marketplace perception is a different thing.) Certainly, Blancpains do not retain their value when compared to Patek or Lange, for example. They do, however, have some very elegant, simple designs.

Their motto is somthing like "We've never made a quartz watch, and we never will." Truth be told, this is because Blancpain was essentially a dormant brand during the rise of quartz watches and was revived in order to lend credibility to a line of mechanical watches during the '80's. It was probably the first really successful example of this strategy. Nowdays, there are all sorts of brands that attempt to trade on the name of a historical watchmaking company.

Personally, I'm a big fan of BP, but they aren't Patek, Lange, VC or AP; although, to be fair, Lange is a complete revival brand, but luckily they have been able to pull it off better than anyone else. They are about the same level as, JLC (as mentioned, they are less innovative, because of their interrupted history and lack of long term technical development).

I think of BP as a wildcard, something akin to GP and Breguet: very old names that have really been given a push in the late 90's in order to revive the brand to its former glory, regardless if that glory is justified or merely nostalgia.

Jon.

Originally Posted by faust

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Affirmative. Isn't their motto, "We'll never make an automatic watch?" (or a quartz watch? something along those lines).

Well, they do make an automatic watch: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2734

Is Lange considered a revival brand?

Originally Posted by Don Goldstein

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Is Lange considered a revival brand?

It is a revival brand, how many vintage Lange watches are there from the 50's or 60's?

Jon.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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It is a revival brand, how many vintage Lange watches are there from the 50’s or 60’s?
Of course I would never want to debate watch topics with you Jon but the above is a bit of an over-simplification since Lange was merged with other Glashutte watchmakers into VEB GUB during the denazification process in East Germany. VEB GUB produced watches through the cold war in the Lange factory (some pretty crappy watches for sure...). After the fall of the wall in '89, VEB GUB split back into the original brands, including Lange & S. (bought by Richemont) and Glashutte Original (baught by Swatch).

I think that's (somewhat) historically correct...

So there are no Lange from the 50s and 60s because at that time it was consolidated into GUB - a little bit of a different story from the many watchmakers who failed and disappeared during the quartz revolution, to then re-appear when some investor acquires the defunct brand to revive it.

Originally Posted by gdl203

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Of course I would never want to debate watch topics with you Jon but the above is a bit of an over-simplification since Lange was merged with other Glashutte watchmakers into GUB during the denazification process in East Germany. GUB produced watches through the cold war in the Lange factory (some pretty crappy watches for sure...). After the fall of the wall in '89, GUB split back into the original brands, including Lange & S. (bought by Richemont) and Glashutte Original (baught by Swatch).

I think that's (somewhat) historically correct...

So there are no Lange from the 50s and 60s because at that time it was consolidated into GUB - a little bit of a different story from the many watchmakers who failed and disappeared during the quartz revolution, to then re-appear when some investor acquired the defunct brand to revive it.

In other words: There were no Lange watches, as we know them, in its entirety (In other words as a competitor to Patek) during the 50’s or 60’s. Thanks for agreeing.

Jon.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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In other words: There were no Lange watches, as we know them, in its entirety (In other words as a competitor to Patek) during the 50’s or 60’s. Thanks for agreeing.
You're welcome. I do agree - they were not sold under the Lange brand. I also wanted to add some color as it's not your typical "revival" story

Originally Posted by gdl203

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You're welcome. I do agree. I also wanted to add some color as it's not your typical "revival" story

Poor BP...

Jon.