The growing trend for ‘neo-vintage’ watches (ie those made during the 1980s, ‘90s and into the early 2000s) has shone a spotlight on Blancpain not only for its often ground-breaking movements and the quality of its products, but also for the key role it played in the renaissance of traditional Swiss watch making.
This can be seen in the special exhibition of Blancpain Villeret watches being held in London this week. Taking place at the Subdial Clubhouse in the city’s Farringdon area, ‘Subdial Curates: the Villeret’ will bring together an impressive range of Blancpain watches from the 1980s, ‘90s and 2000s which tell the story of how the brand was brought back from the dead through a determination to keep the best of Swiss watch making traditions alive – an ethos that many others subsequently imitated.
But the ongoing journey towards the current status of neo-vintage is a rocky one.
Back in 2005 the eight platinum-cased watches that comprised Blancpain’s ‘Masterpiece’ collection would have set you back £279,000. That’s the equivalent today of more than half-a-million.
For your money, you would have got a time only watch, a dual time, a moon phase, a perpetual calendar, a flyback chronograph, a tourbillon, an equation of time model and a minute repeater. Just eight sets were made, each one in an automatic winding box with individual slots for each specific piece.
Six months ago, one such set crossed the block in Mannheim, Germany at the annual autumn sale held by auction house Dr Crott – and sold for £84,000…
From Forgotten Treasure to Collector Favorite
The huge discrepancy between the original price and what the set sold for 20 years later demonstrates just how undervalued pre-owned Blancpain watches are in the collector market, and how they represent remarkable value for money. And the growing interest from collectors is already setting a change.
Jean-Claude Biver and the Rebirth of Blancpain
In what context was the Masterpiece collection created? Despite Blancpain being the oldest registered dial name in existence (founded in 1735) it was among many threatened with extinction by the exponential increase in the use of quartz movements during the early 1980s - and may well have disappeared had it not been for the intervention of watch marketing doyen Jean-Claude Biver.
During the 1970s, Blancpain’s then owner SSIH (later Swatch Group) had halted Blancpain watch production and merged the company into Omega as a movement supplier.
But when Biver learned of Blancpain’s historical importance, he and watch dynasty scion Jacques Piguet acquired the name for CHF 21,500, re-established it – and sold it back to Swatch in 1992 for a reported CHF 60 million…
Along with Breguet and Omega, Blancpain has stood as one of the jewels in the Swatch Group crown ever since.
But with little in the way of high-profile ad campaigns, celebrity endorsement or product placement, brand recognition has remained low among the larger watch buying public, many of whom know it mainly for the 50 Fathoms dive watch.
Now, however, awareness of the brand is said to be growing among a new generation of neo-vintage collectors who are attracted by the conservative size and exceptional quality of its relaunch models, which developed into the Villeret ‘classic’ line introduced in 2002.
Blancpain’s post-1980 history of innovation in creating pieces such as the first automatic minute repeating wrist watch, the first wrist watch to feature a flying tourbillon and the thinnest split-seconds chronograph of its era (1988) has also raised awareness and pre-owned values are rising.
The Villeret Exhibition Celebrating a Quiet Horological Renaissance
Watches on the show at the Subdial Clubhouse range from the Complete Calendar Moonphase of 1983 – the earliest expression of what would become the Villeret collection – to those exquisite chronographs, minute repeaters and tourbillons that prove Blancpain is a match for any other high-end maker.
Look out, too, for the first chance to see the initial piece in what may become a fresh offering of smaller, slimmer Villeret models that hark back to the original concept.
The new 38mm time only piece will be available in a choice of steel with salmon dial or red gold with an opaline dial, both inspired by that growing trend for ‘neo-vintage’.
Starting price of new 38mm Villeret in steel is CHF 9,600
Exhibition: Blancpain Villeret
Dates: 22 – 23 May 2026
Location: Subdial Clubhouse, Farringdon, London EC1
Opening Hours: From 11:00 to 19:00
Admission is free. Subdial.com
