Blanchet is an historic watch brand stated in Switzerland in 1819 by Jean Blanchet. The current owner of Blanchet is the D Group, which relaunched the brand in 2010.

History

Jean Blanchet was a Swiss watchmaker who grew up in France (Lyon) where his father Pierre Blanchet owned a small watch dial factory. Since youth, Jean Blanchet was fascinated by the French and Swiss watches tradition. He launch his own watch manufacturing in 1789. From the first steps his company had a cross-border success all over the old continent. In 1828 Jean Blanchet married Laura Wilson, the daughter of an English ambassador. One year later she gave birth to their son Yves Blanchet. In the age of 20 he decided to go to the Royal School of watchmaking (Ecole Royale de l'Horlogerie de

Cluses Cluses (; frp, Clluses) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. Citizens are known as ''Clusiens''. The commune is situated in the Arve Valley, on the river which bears the same n ...

). Yves took over the company in 1852, when Jean died during an accident. Four years later he moved close to the Lake of Geneva, in Coppet, to perfection his watchmaking technique and start his own business "Manufacture d'Horologerie Blanchet & Cie". Jean Blanchet owned some vineyards in

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is ...

near

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. He usually used to say "...designing and create a watch is similar to cultivate a vineyard..."

Notable owners

Among the admirers of Blanchet watches there were some important historical figures.

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

commissioned some models as present for French Army officers.

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

showed his Blanchet timepiece to

Camillo Benso Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (, 10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as Cavour ( , ), was an Italian politician, businessman, economist and noble, and a leading figure in the movement towa ...

, count of Cavour, the leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification.

References

* Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the World, G.H. Baillie, Nag Press, Vol. 1 (1951).

External links

*{{official website, http://www.blanchetwatches.com/ Watch brands Luxury brands Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland