00/24 WatchWorld

With the great and growing importance of the Chinese market is was only a question of time before a Swiss watch brand would present a watch with a traditional Chinese calendar. Blancpain is the first. The presentation of this world première was on September 7 in the China Garden in Zurich, where Marc A. Hayek, President and CEO of Blancpain, unveiled the Villeret Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel.

In the article “BaselWorld 2012: Blancpain” in the Dutch edition of 00/24 Horloges, issue 2 Summer 2012, are unfortunately a few mistakes. By mistake we’ve published on page 64-65 the wrong prices for the Blancpain watches.

The Total 24 Hours of Spa, the highlight of the Blancpain Endurance Series, featured last weekend (26-29 July 2012) a record field of GT3 cars rumbling through the Belgian Ardennes. Together with a lot of Blancpain fans, 00/24 WatchWorld saw live the Blancpain Reiter No. 24 Lamborghini LP600 of Marc A. Hayek (President and CEO Blancpain!) along with the Dutch duo Peter Kox and Jos Menten and Germany’s Albert von Thurn finishing on the 11th place overall in a gruelling Total 24 Hours of Spa.

Last week I travelled back in time, a journey made possible by Jaeger-LeCoultre, Bovet, Bulgari and Blancpain. These are very different watch making companies, especially if you look at the size of them. Bovet is almost a family affair, while Jaeger-LeCoultre now employs appr. 1.100 people. But the similarities are more striking than the differences.

I'm busy arranging all details for my bi-annual trip to Switzerland. At 00/24 Horloges and 00/24 WatchWorld we like to organise our own visits to watch companies instead of waiting to be invited. Doing your own research and fact finding is a normal way of acting for journalists, but since most people who are writing about watches are no trained journalists, we tend to be the exception.