Blancpain watches

Blancpain dates its founding to 1735, when Jehan-Jacques Blancpain established the business in Villeret, Switzerland.

In the early 1980s SSIH sold the Blancpain name to Jacques Piguet and Jean-Claude Biver, who relaunched it as a maker of mechanical watches. In 1992 the company was acquired by the group that became the Swatch Group, of which it remains a subsidiary. It is based in Le Brassus and Paudex.

The Fifty Fathoms dive watch dates from the 1950s and was developed in collaboration with French combat divers. The Villeret collection, named after the company's place of origin, is its classical line.