THE HISTORY OF BLANCPAIN

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Gwenaëlle during the plaster stage that
will enable her to appraise the final volume.
This stage serves to evaluate the difficulties
that may arise during the engraving process.
THE ART OF MANUAL ENGRAVING CONSTITUTES THE NOBLEST
AND PUREST EXPRESSION OF THE BLANCPAIN PHILOSOPHY.
Happiness in Fine Watchmaking
After such selective training, one might
imagine that our engravers would pursue
careers at the most illustrious goldsmith’s or
jeweller’s workshops, or at the very least, at
the Paris mint, the establishment that strikes
the French Republic’s euros using ancestral
methods for the basic moulds.
Not necessarily. Industry is also eager to
snatch up these “Boullists.” Before finding
happiness in fine watchmaking, Marie-Laure
spent approximately ten years at a factory
specializing in thermoforming, making
moulds for perfume packaging. “I was bored
and I didn’t really realise it,” she confides. “It
was only when I came to Le Brassus and
picked up a burin1 again to make a model,
that I rediscovered the spirit of Ecole Boulle,
ancient work methods and true engraving.”
Her two colleagues add that “in France, in a
factory, no one makes the distinction between
one beautiful engraving and another. Speed is
all that matters. It’s the complete opposite at
the La Ferme workshop. We are recognised
for our worth and we have ample time to
express our talents on watches that are
already works of art in themselves. It’s the
ultimate, you know!”
Yes, indeed, there is nothing better than
delicately engraving on the oscillating
weights of grand complications, for example.
When one of the trio places her hand on
one of our pieces, it automatically goes
down in the book of unique objects. And
that’s exactly what Blancpain wants.
1 Small engraver’s tool generally custom made according to the morphology of the hand. Its cutting blade
is sharpened into various shapes: flat, round and pointed, according to the relief motif to be engraved.