897Σ︎
Blancpain
Libertine, Unique Erotic Automata Minute Repeater
A unique and mischievous yellow gold minute repeating wristwatch with erotic automata
Full-Cataloguing
- Piece unique
- Movement by Frédéric Piguet, innovative minute repeating movement with automated mechanism
- Hand-engraved erotic automata
Blancpain played an important role in the neo vintage era in safeguarding traditional Swiss watchmaking during the Quartz Crisis. Since the acquisition of Blancpain by Jean-Claude Biver, Frédéric Piguet has become the backbone of the high-quality movements of the brand thanks to Jacques Piguet. In 1988, Blancpain introduced the ultra-slim minute repeater, a marvel of engineering. Following the year 1993, they turned heads with versions featuring automata depicting erotic scenes on the caseback, housing the manual winding cal. 332, derived from the previous minute repeating cal. 33. Groundbreaking in design, it is the world's first minute repeating movement to incorporate an automaton. Combining these moving figures with the delicate chime of a repeater is no small feat, as the automata demand significant power from the movement—a true watchmaking tour de force.
The Blancpain Libertine watches were released as piece unique timepieces in the 1990s, paying homage to the risqué pocket watches of the 17th and 18th centuries, where hidden enameled or automaton scenes delighted their owners. For the scenes on the watches, they were greatly inspired by 18th century painters François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard. The present watch is a fiery masterpiece, featuring lavishly hand-engraved characters that come to life with the chime. The making of the scene was extremely challenging. Artisans worked from original sketches, and used specific burins and graving tools to cut out elements of the automated scene from gold. These automata had at least five pieces, depending on the complexity of the scene.
This unique piece is a testament to Blancpain’s role in reviving not just complex mechanical watchmaking but also fine artistic crafts. A cheeky, charming reminder that horology can be both serious and seriously fun.
Blancpain
Swiss | 1735As the watchmaking brand with the earliest founding date, Blancpain remains close to tradition, concentrating on classical mechanical watches. Established in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, the Le Brassus manufacturer today continues to innovate with the development of high-quality calibres and is proud of their heritage, having never made quartz watches. One of the firm's greatest successes was the Fifty Fathom wristwatch introduced in 1953 — the vintage models of which are now highly coveted by collectors. The earliest dive watch available to the market, Fifty Fathom came out a year prior to Rolex's Submariner. Another key model is the Air Command from the 1960s, considered one of the most mythical collector's watches due to their extreme rarity. Today, the firm specializes in creative innovated complicated timepieces.