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Blancpain's Big Watch, Sponsors 2009 Bocuse d'Or Cooking Competition

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Events


Is Blancpain going overboard with the big watch craze? This image points to yes, but this is actually part of a trophy that Blancpain gave out. If you aren't a serious foodie you might have never heard of the Bocuse d'Or, one of the world's most coveted cooking competitions and awards. The 2009 winner was Geir Skeie, a chef at the restaurant Mathuset Solvold, in Sandefjord, Norway. I can't pronounce the chef's name, the name of the restaurant, or even the city in Norway, but what I do know is that I covet the watch part of the award.

Swiss watch maker Blancpain co-sponsored the event and awarded a Blancpain Flyback Chronograph Grande Date watch to the winner of Bocuse d"Or this year. With incentives like that I might join the competition myself next year! This year's Bocuse d'Or was the 21st occurrence of the event, and unsurprisingly, was held in Lyon, France.

Watch makers and chefs have had a long positive history. Not only does cooking require careful and often overlapping timing, but chefs, like watch makers, are detail oriented and focused on perfection. Blancpain chose wisely in participating with the Bocuse d'Or, and I have to admit the styling of the Blancpain Flyback Chronograph watch fits well with the culinary theme.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Blancpain Valentine's Day 2009 Watch

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches


It's not even Christmas yet but Blanpain has already introduced their Valentine's Day watch. The Blancpain Women "Saint-Valentin 2009" is an exclusive edition of 99 Flyback Chronographs with a mother-of-pearl dial decorated with ruby heart. The 34 mm case has front and back sapphire crystals and houses Calibre F185 which drives the chronograph functions, the hours, minutes and small seconds, as well as the date display. The wintry display is finished with a white alligator leather strap.

Blancpain Donates A Watch To The Forbidden City

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches


The Carousel Volant by Blancpain has become the first wristwatch displayed in the Forbidden City. The timepiece was first displayed in the Palace Museum in Beijing's Forbidden City during a unique donation ceremony. The Palace Museum has a Watch and Clock Hall that has a collection of over 1,000 mechanical timepieces from the 18th and 19th Century but this is the first modern timepiece in the collection.

The watch which is called the Blancpain Qiankun Carousel, is done in 18K gold and the half-worked opaline dial shows the Yin and Yang symbol.The 43.5 mm case has a special design on the back with the words "The Palace Museum" and "Piece Unique." Under the sapphire crystal you can see the oscillating weight which was specifically designed for this piece. The Carousel is similar to a tourbillon and completes a full rotation in 60 seconds. Close up pics of the watch front and back showing the intricate detail are in the gallery below.

Blancpain Women Ultraplate Lotus

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches


Wow. This pair of women's watches is absolutely mouth watering. The double-beveled edge filled with round diamonds, the unique design within the face itself spilling diamonds between Arabic numerals, and the two distinct color choices are more than enough to get me to drool. It will even hug your wrist with a satin band. Feminine but not shy, these timepieces would fit into any wardrobe... so when do I get mine?!

Blancpain Tourbillon Diamants

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches


The latest creation from Blancpain is absolutely stuffed with diamonds. The Tourbillon Diamants has 480 diamonds for a total of 58 carats. The dial sparkles with a brick-like arrangement of baguette diamonds. The watch uses the Blancpain Calibre 25A movement, a mechanical self-winding movement made of 239 parts with a seven-day power reserve. The 40mm white gold case is water resistant. The white gold bracelet is set with 42 carats of diamonds.

Blancpain St. Valentin 2008 Watch

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches


Blancpain has unveiled their Saint-Valentin 2008 watch. Each year the watch company looks for a new variation on the heart theme. This year's watch plays down the heart angle, opting for a simple red heart outline which also serves as the small seconds hand. The watch features two rows of diamonds on the double-stepped bezel. It is water-resistant to 50 meters thanks to a screw-lock crown and screw-down back. The 34 mm-diameter case is stainless steel and the dial is mother of pearl. The watch uses the self-winding Calibre 6763 movement which has a 100-hour power reserve and a complete calendar with a pointer-type date display, along with day of the week, month and moon-phase indications. I has a sapphire crystal display case back and a white alligator leather strap and will be a limited edition of 99.

[via WatchLuxus]

Blancpain Women's Time Zone Watch

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches


The latest watch from the Blancpain Women's Collection is the Blancpain Women's Time Zone. The watch uses the Calibre 5L60, a selfwinding movement with a 100-hour power reserve. The 34mm case is steel with front and back sapphire crystals. The dial has the dual time zone display at 12 o'clock with the small seconds at 6 o'clock and a date window. The day/night indication is shown by a sun and a moon crescent surrounded by tiny stars. The watch come in steel with a black or champagne-colored dial or a chestnut version that has diamonds both on the central minute circle and around the white gold case.

Blancpain Sneak Peeks New Lotus Watch and Aqua Lung

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

blancpain lotus
Blancpain has given watch lovers a preview of some of the watches they will be showing off at Baselworld in April. The watch above is the Blancpain Ultra-Slim Lotus for women. The latest addition to Blancpain's Lotus line features 220 diamonds on a black dial with a sunray guilloche design. There are also two rows of diamonds on the double-stepped bezel. The 34mm white gold case is on a black satin strap. The watch uses the Blancpain Calibre 1150 movement. This mechanical self-winding movement drives the central hour, minute and
seconds hands, as well as the date appearing through a window at 6 o'clock. The watch's 188 parts can be seen moving through the sapphire crystal case-back.

Chefs Compete For Honor, Fancy Watch

Filed under: Dining, Timepieces / Watches, Events


Cooking competitions are very popular these days but the Bocuse d'Or is in a class by itself. It is part of the International Hotel Catering and Food Trade Exhibition in Lyons France taking place now through January 24 which also includes the World Pastry Cup. The contest, which is on January 23, is judged by 24 chefs and 24 chefs have the opportunity to compete on three different themes in a timed contest. In addition to the accolades of the crowd, the winner receives a Blancpain hand-engraved Léman GMT Alarm watch worth 14,000 euros. Other events include the International Cheese Competition, which has already crowned a winner, France and the cheeses of Rodolphe le Meunier.

Blancpain Havana Watch

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Like the chocolate Omega that we checked out a while back, the Blancpain Havana has a rich brown dial and strap. The Havana is the latest addition to the Le Brassus collection. The watch has a 42mm diameter platinum case and it is a perpetual calendar with a second time zone indicator. The watch is a limited edition of 150 pieces and comes with a bronze cigar cutter, a brown box bearing the design of a cigar band and another walnut box that can be used as a humidor.

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