THE HISTORY OF BLANCPAIN

IN TIME
watchmaker, registering that profession on
the village rolls. This is indeed fortunate
since it is unlikely that he would be celebrated
more than 270 years later had his cattle
monopolised his fancy. Later, Jehan-Jacques
would add a fourth profession to his resume,
serving as mayor of the commune.
There is somewhat of a confession to be
made at this point. Since the early 1980s
Blancpain has frequently honored its founding
by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain as of 1735,
as indeed it should, because that well establishes
that Blancpain is the oldest watch
company in the world. However, in celebrating
its pedigree and paying homage to
Jehan-Jacques, a portrait of a distinguishedlooking
bearded gentlemen has been held
out as his. Indeed that portrait is of a Blancpain
family member, just not Jehan-Jacques;
it is of Frédéric-Emile Blancpain who lived
fully a century and half later. There is some
relief in the discovery of this error, because,
without the correction, the subject of the
painting would have been one of history’s
most avant-garde dressers, wearing clothes
not destined to appear until more than 100
years later.
The 1735 date merits examination as well.
It is almost certainly the case that Jehan-
Jacques began watchmaking before 1735.
The citation to the 1735 date is grounded
upon Jehan-Jacques recordation of his occupation
as “horloger” on an official property
registry for the Villeret commune that year.
VILLERET CIRCA 1850.
To identify himself as a watchmaker as of
that date, he must have been practising the
craft for some period before.
Blancpain fairly lays claim to being the oldest
watch company in the world, because
although Jehan-Jacques was not the first
watchmaker in the world, for that one must
go back hundreds of years earlier, the brand
he pioneered has been continuously active
since at least 1735 through to today.
Although our history has a long distance to
traverse before reaching the 1980s, it is well
at this juncture to correct the record a second
time. In the 1980s, several story variants
were floated – that Blancpain had gone out
of existence, that Blancpain had been in
bankruptcy, that Blancpain had ceased operations
– to embellish a portrayal of rebirth
during that decade. In fact, none of these
stories was true. As our tale unfolds we will
see continuity in one form or another from
the official recording of Jehan-Jacques
Blancpain as a watchmaker in 1735 through
to the present day. Jehan-Jacques, thus, was
the founder of what is now the world’s oldest
watch company.
We can safely surmise that Jehan-Jacques
Blancpain approached his craft in similar
fashion as his compatriots in the Villeret
commune, that is to say as a family enterprise.
It was the custom of the time for both
husbands and wives to work together to
produce watches. Generally the men devoted
themselves to cutting and forming the
plates and bridges, fashioning
the wheels and pinions, regulation
of the time-keeping
and encasement of the
movements. Women were
the finishing specialists –
polishing and decorating
components.
The Blancpain watchmaking
family circle soon
came to include many.
Jehan-Jacques’ son, Isaac,
followed in his father’s
footsteps both as a watchmaker
and a school teacher,
joining with uncles and aunts,
also watchmakers.
The Blancpains adhered to Villeret
custom which considered labelling
watches with a name to be both vain and
unbecomingly commercial, preferring instead
to sell their wares absent a trademark.
This discretion in their method of selling
deprives us of virtually all evidence of their
early work. The sole remaining trace of the
Blancpain family’s pre-1800 efforts which
has been located is a Louis XVI inner watch
back signed “Blancpain et fils”. Notwithstanding
this absence today of signed pieces
from this epoch, it is known that David-Louis
Blancpain (1765-1816), grandson of Jehan-
Jacques, cast his sights beyond the borders
of Switzerland, travelling to European commercial
centres selling Blancpain family