WatchUSeek Watch Forums banner

Blancpain Villeret...Anyone Knows The Story?

15K views 34 replies 14 participants last post by  regulateurBear 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

My very first post after a long time of lurking and being inspired by all your lovely collections! I've recently been gifted a 18k Yellow Gold Blancpain Villeret Complete Calender Moonphase. But I couldn't find any history or background information on the watch. Could the good folks of this forum please provide me with some information with regards to this particular model (see picture) and the Villeret line in general? Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap
Analog watch Watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap
Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Jewellery


I've emailed Blancpain multiple times but received no answer from them (incidentally, how is the customer service for Blancpain?). I've read a number of issues of Lettres du Brassus and pieced together bits of information but ultimately gained nothing of value from them aside from being amused at Mr Hayek making humourous expressions while unsubtly showing off the timepieces on his wrist.

Could someone please help? Thanks!
 
See less See more
3
#6 ·
I have some additional information about my watch. Its movement is a F Piguet calibre 6595. Can someone at least tell me a little about the movement? Is it a reliable movement? What is the history behind it (I heard it is one of the first movement incorporated into Blancpain watches after its revival)? I understand that this is a very old watch and information may not be readily available (unlike the new Villeret lines). But please, any information helps!
 
#8 ·
Hi everyone,

My very first post after a long time of lurking and being inspired by all your lovely collections! I've recently been gifted a 18k Yellow Gold Blancpain Villeret Complete Calender Moonphase. But I couldn't find any history or background information on the watch. Could the good folks of this forum please provide me with some information with regards to this particular model (see picture) and the Villeret line in general?

I've emailed Blancpain multiple times but received no answer from them (incidentally, how is the customer service for Blancpain?). I've read a number of issues of Lettres du Brassus and pieced together bits of information but ultimately gained nothing of value from them aside from being amused at Mr Hayek making humourous expressions while unsubtly showing off the timepieces on his wrist.

Could someone please help? Thanks!
I can give you a little more background since I happen to own the same watch. The Villeret line is what Blancpain is best known for, along with their Fifty Fathoms sport watches. Yours is reference 6263-3642-55 I believe. The only discrepancy is that the number I just gave you is for a rose gold case rather than yellow gold--perhaps there was a yellow gold version a couple years ago, but it's not in the current catalog.

The Villeret watches are Blancpain's classic dress watch collection and includes ultra-thin models, moon phase models (like yours and mine), perpetual calendars, tourbillons, etc.. Basically anything that would count as a dress watch is part of the Villeret series. The one feature they all seem to share is the stepped case. Yours has a 38mm case with a 20mm lug spacing. Blancpain has advertised it as the thinnest complete calendar, automatic, moon phase watch made, though there are enough caveats in there that I'm not certain there are any others to compare it to.

As you already know, the movement is a caliber 6763 which is based on the F. Piguet 1150/1151/1153 but with the added complication of the moon phase. The 1150 is a well known and respected movement that has been included in Blancpain watches, Breguet watches, Omega watches, and probably others. In Blancpain watches it has a 100 hour power reserve. In non-swatch group brands it typically has a higher beat rate and therefore a lower power reserve.

There is some mild controversy as to whether F. Piguet movements can be considered in-house when included in Blancpain watches. I'd say the answer is yes, they qualify as in-house movements. In the early 1980's, Blancpain was all but out of business. They were owned by SSIH/Omega/Tissot at the time and had completely stopped (or nearly stopped) manufacturing watches. The name was sold to Jacques Piguet (son of F. Piguet) and to Jean-Claude Biver and they resuscitated the brand. Swatch bought Blancpain and F. Piguet in 1992 and got rid of the Piguet brand completely in 2010. As far as I know, the F. Piguet name is no longer officially used at all.

The moon phase you see in your watch was first released by Blancpain in 1983 using a 6395 movement. This was really the beginning of Blancpain's revival after the purchase by Biver and Piguet. It was one of the first watches that tried to revive mechanical watch making from the quartz crisis by re-introducing complications rather than reducing costs. The major difference between the 6395 movement and the current 6763 was the 100 hour power reserve. Your specific model (and mine) was introduced somewhere between 2003 and 2005--don't know exactly when. It's been in production ever since. Some newer models have added larger sizes, curved and blued date hand (to make it easier to distinguish from the minute hand), and under-lug pushers. I still prefer the model you and I have because of its 38mm size and relatively clean face.

Enjoy your watch!

- Jared
 
#34 ·
There is some mild controversy as to whether F. Piguet movements can be considered in-house when included in Blancpain watches. I'd say the answer is yes, they qualify as in-house movements. In the early 1980's, Blancpain was all but out of business. They were owned by SSIH/Omega/Tissot at the time and had completely stopped (or nearly stopped) manufacturing watches. The name was sold to Jacques Piguet (son of F. Piguet) and to Jean-Claude Biver and they resuscitated the brand. Swatch bought Blancpain and F. Piguet in 1992 and got rid of the Piguet brand completely in 2010. As far as I know, the F. Piguet name is no longer officially used at all.
I would add to this that the controversy has to do with what people believe constitutes being in business. If you ask Blancpain, they'll tell you that they were still making watches as part of SSIH all through the 70s, just not under their own marque, which was a SSIH decision in the face of the quartz crisis. Conversely, if you ask JC Biver, he single-handedly rescued Blancpain from the historical scrap heap and heroically returned them to prominence, which I agree, makes for a very lovely story.

Furthermore, I would observe that SSIH became Swatch Group, so really Blancpain is back with the ownership that originally purchased it from the Blancpain family. Direct, traceable, lineage.

The part that vexes me is why so many people seem to have resentment toward Blancpain as having false heritage and no connection to the original company. By comparison, Breitling sold all of its assets to multiple companies - Sicura mostly, but this is why both Sinn and Ollech & Wajs both made/make Navitimers - yet no one complains that Breitling is just a company in name only without any real heritage. But then, these tend to be the same folks that say that F Piguet movements are "too fragile," despite being plenty good enough for use in watches made by the Trinity at various points in their histories, so take it with a grain of salt.

Regards,
Alysandir
 
#9 · (Edited)
From Toronto as well!
Congratulations on that piece!

I am not too packed on info for that piece however, I know for a fact that the complete calendar is one of Blancpain's "trademark" complications. John Biver had some insight in his "Talking Watches" episode with Hodinkee. Check that out.

It is in my book a respectable piece and in ur terms, vintage too ; )

In terms of customer service. I had to send them an email more than once to hear from them (it was harsh the kast time which is why I think they replied). The Blancpain AD in Toronto is a nightmare of watch stores and I would rather give back that watch than go to that AD again...

Best bet is to send the NYC boutique an email.
 
#11 ·
First of all, a big thank you to all of you for replying!

Tigerpac, whether it was an act of god or pure coincedence, I happen to be going to NYC next week to meet up with old friends so I will definitely try to make my way to the Blancpain boutique and inquire about my watch. Thanks for the suggestion!

Jwillson, we actually have slightly different models. I believe that your model is slightly more contemporary than mine. My Villeret is only 36mm (which actually fit quite nicely on my "delicate" wrist). Yours I believe has a display back? Mine is solid with a serial number below 100. My movement is a calibre 6595 unadjusted. There are also some minor differences on the dial. But I really appreciate all the information you have provided because you have filled the gap in history between my model and those new ones with the blue steel date hands. Thank you very much!

Abulkalb93, haha I know this Villeret really isn't old enough to be called a vintage, maybe retro at best. Thanks for the suggestion as well! I believe that you are talking about Royal de Versailles? I've heard very mixed opinions about them, especially from Blancpain owners, although they were quite professional when I brought my JLC Reverso in for servicing. You could bring your Blancpain directly to Swatch Group Canada as an alternative.

Tick Talk, maybe it's hindsight bias but I can totally see the inspiration for the watch: conservative yet beautiful. :)
 
#12 ·
Jwillson, we actually have slightly different models. I believe that your model is slightly more contemporary than mine. My Villeret is only 36mm (which actually fit quite nicely on my "delicate" wrist). Yours I believe has a display back? Mine is solid with a serial number below 100. My movement is a calibre 6595 unadjusted. There are also some minor differences on the dial. But I really appreciate all the information you have provided because you have filled the gap in history between my model and those new ones with the blue steel date hands. Thank you very much!
Ah, got it. I believe the 6595 was the predecessor to my movement, as you mentioned. Mine does in fact have the display back, but it is not one of the newer 40mm versions with the blued date hand. Mine is an intermediate model that looks the same as yours, but with a 38mm case. I believe the major change in the movement between the 6595 and the current 6763 was the inclusion of a second mainspring barrel to get the power reserve up to 100 hours.

I believe your watch was actually Blancpain's first release after Biver and Piguet bought the company from Omega--the relaunch prior to the Swatch acquisition. It's based on the F. Piguet 953 calibre with the added moon phase. Yours is an automatic, yes, not the hand wind version? It first came out around 1984 and was, as you surmised, the predecessor to mine.

I actually prefer the 36mm to 38mm cases you and I share to the current 40mm with the blued, curved date hand. Like you I have very thin wrists, and I've just never been comfortable with larger dress watches. 40mm+ is fine for a sports watch, but not for something like a gold moon phase.
 
#15 ·
I completely agree with you. I was interested in picking up a Piaget Altiplano as a dress watch. I really like their G0A29112. It only has two hands, is ultra-thin, and is 38mm in diameter (which is perfect). However, I was hoping that it had a display-back. Their G0A33112 does have a display back, but has three hands (one hand too many for a perfect dress watch), which is a slight irritation. But the biggest issue is that it is 40mm in diameter! I guess it's not easy to find the perfect dress watch in today's world where oversized watches are the norm.
 
#13 · (Edited)
As far as I know, Villeret is the name of the town in Switzerland in which Jehan-Jacques Blancpain began to make watches. The modern day Blancpain company merely chose to name one of their collections "Villeret" in order to harken back to that fact. (The Watch Quote: Blancpain History)

Also, I believe, Blancpain has never made a quartz watch, which is rather unusual for companies that exist today and that were also around during the "Quartz Revolution/Crisis." I don't know whether their not making a quartz watch, and thus not earning revenue by doing so, has anything to do with why Swatch Group acquired them.

Swatch Group acquired Frederic Piguet and assigned it as Blancpain's and Jacquet Droz's manufacture. Swatch Group did a similar thing with Lemania and Breguet. Both events please some folks and mildly irk others for by doing so, Swatch Group sent a clear signal they they will apply their capabilities, and share them among its brands as it as they see fit, figuratively "smacking in the fact" the traditional sense of "in house" fabrication.

As a result, as consumers, one needs to think of Swatch Group somewhat differently than one would an stand-alone watchmaker for Swatch's brands are literally just that, brands the company owns for they do not bear a one-to-one correspondence with a company having the same name. Technically speaking every brand Swatch Group owns carries an in-house movement, but in the traditional sense of the term, almost no Swatch Group branded watch does.

You may also find this helpful: http://www.masterhorologer.com/2009/09/blancpain-watches-brand-profilehistory.html .

All the best.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Quaze
#17 ·
Technically speaking every brand Swatch Group owns carries an in-house movement, but in the traditional sense of the term, almost no Swatch Group branded watch does.
Not precisely. We technically call a movement in-house one, when it is built (to what extent, another topic) by the brand/company itself or the company it owns, not by the company that owns the brand, Swatch in this case.

In that sense, Breguet (except those housing F.P/Blaincpain made movements), Blaincpain & Glashutte are in-house manufactures. In traditional sense, I agree with you that none of them are.

It sometimes occurs to me that it would have been more sucessful for Swatch to promote Frederic Piguet as a watch brand in early 80s, instead of Blancpain, as in-house purity is so important in modern fine watchmaking industry.
 
#21 ·
Hello everyone, a little addition to this nice Tread...

A little report about the service on a Blancpain Villeret from ca. 1995.

Tripple date + moonphase watch, handwind

Movement by: Frederic Piguet SA, Le Brassus

Calibre 64

*Movement based on Peseux 7001

Assembly of the main-movement:

Auto part Automotive engine part Automotive alternator


Auto part Automotive alternator Automotive starter motor Automotive engine part


Assembly of the calendar-mechanism:

Auto part Fashion accessory


Fashion accessory Jewellery Metal


Auto part Fashion accessory Automotive engine part


Auto part Fashion accessory Automotive engine part Metal Jewellery


Owl Fashion accessory


Mounted on the movement:

Button Material property


Finished watch:

Measuring instrument Gauge Fashion accessory Clock Metal


Regards from Switzerland,

Loris
 
#25 ·
They have at least two facilities.

Here's an older article detailing a visit to the non-f. piguet facility

Visiting The Blancpain Haute Horology Watch Manufacture | aBlogtoWatch
Now that's movement decorating that captures my imagination...far more so than Geneva stripes, even the circular ones on Piaget's watches which I like better than the straight ones most often seen on movements. <wink> I'm not nuts specifically over the Taj Mahal and elephants per se, but rather the idea of having genuine images on the movement.

All the best.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Hi everyone, I own Blancpain Villeret 6651-1127-55В with FP 1151 movement.



Anybody knows is it possible to determine the year of production by the Watch number? Here I have number 300X at the back case of my watch. Bought it in Boutique in January 2015. I believe it was made in 2012-2014 but not sure. Blancpain didn't respond to my request. People in boutique don't know.
Any ideas?
 
#31 ·
OK. Finally the boutique gave me the answer.
"Thank you for your recent visit with us at Blancpain on Fifth Avenue. My service department found out after reaching out to Switzerland that your timepiece was created in 2013. Hope this help you . Thank you."
Now I can start saving money for the next service which I believe will be in 2018. )


Отправлено из моего iPhone используя Tapatalk
 
#32 ·
OK. Finally the boutique gave me the answer.
"Thank you for your recent visit with us at Blancpain on Fifth Avenue. My service department found out after reaching out to Switzerland that your timepiece was created in 2013. Hope this help you . Thank you."
Now I can start saving money for the next service which I believe will be in 2018. )

Отправлено из моего iPhone используя Tapatalk
Aww you guys are so lucky. There is pretty much a boutique for anything you can imagine in NY. Here even our best ADs have not a clue if you ask them a slightly technical question :-d.
 
#33 ·
Hello everyone,

I have this cal. 6595 Blancpain Villeret, too:

Analog watch Watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap


I had unfortunately dropped the watch from my hand and it stopped working. I sent it a local independent watch repairman. He informed me, he needs a minute wheel to repair it but it is not possible to get it from the manufacturer because of Swatch group policy.

Here are the photos:

Fashion accessory Pattern Metal Button

Fashion accessory

Watch Pocket watch Fashion accessory Circle


I found out this cal. 9565 is quite rare and it is really hard to find that particular part. But cal. 95 and cal. 953 are very similar to this calibre. Do you think the minute wheel of those calibres may be the same with 9565?

Thank you.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top