VINTAGE ARTDECO TANQ BRUNVIL BY E. BLANCPAIN GENTS WRISTWATCH

BRAND/JENAMA: BRUNVIL

MADE IN/BUATAN: SWISS BY BRUNVIL - E. BLANCPAIN & Fils Villeret

CIRCA/TAHUN: 1920's

MODEL: ARTDECO

CRYSTAL/CERMIN: ACRYLIC 

MOVEMENT/ENJIN: BRUNVIL 15 JEWELS MANUAL MOVEMENT Cal.23

DIAL COLOR: CREAM

FUNCTION/FUNGSI: HOUR, MINUTE AND SUB SECOND AT 6:00

HANDS/JARUM: BREGUET HANDS 

MARKERS/TANDA WAKTU: MILITARY ARABIC 

CASING : SOLID STAINLESS STEEL

LUGS: 17mm 

MEASUREMENT/UKURAN: 26mm DIAMETER EXCLUDING CROWN and 36mm LUG TO LUG

DITANDA/ENGARVED BACK CASING:

CROWN: ORIGINAL

STRAP/TALI: BROWN LEATHER BAND 

SIZE STRAP/SAIZ TALI: 8.5"

EXCELLENT CONDITION, WORKING, KEEPING TIME, DISCONTINUED MODEL & VERY RARE AND VERY HARD TO FIND

PRICE/HARGA: RM1,500 (NEGOTIABLE)

BLANCPAIN - A TRADITION OF INNOVATION SINCE 1735

Use the words "tradition" and "innovation" to describe Blancpain's philosophy is not an oxymoron. Quite the contrary, both are closely related to the heart of the history of the brand. 

True to an ancient tradition, Blancpain celebrates and perpetuates the proven traditional methods of mechanical watchmaking. Far from the production lines, each Blancpain watch is assembled from start to finish by the same watchmaker. 

HISTORY OF BLANCPAIN AND BRUNVIL WATCHES BY E. BLANCPAIN & FILS VILLERET

This story begins in the heart of the Swiss Jura mountains, in the valley of St. Imier. The valley lies between the Chasseral Mountains and those that form the border to France. We are in the year 1650. Imérion Beynon, known as "Blancpan", the ancestor of the Blancpain watch dynasty is born in the village of Villeret. Villeret already is no longer a simple farm village. The Suze River which winds along the valley before it throws itself into the gorges of the Taubenloch (pigeon hole), produces enough energy to power flour mills, sawmills and mechanical workshops.

In the 17^th century, when the name “Blancpain” makes its first appearance in the person of d’Imer Blancpain, most of the trades present in the valley of Saint-Imier are represented in the village. Villeret has blacksmith farriers, nail makers and locksmiths. Imer Blancpain becomes ashopkeeper and lawyer.

In 1692, the lock- and gunsmith Daniel Jean Richard, son of a blacksmith, establishes himself in the city of Locle as a master watchmaker. Other excellent watchmakers are already present in La Neuveville (ancient name for Neuchâtel), on the borders of Lake Biel, where political conditions are particularly favorable for this trade.Their reputation rapidly reaches Villeret and as of the beginning of the 18^th century, families send their most apt sons to learn this craft in La Neuveville.

Under the impetus of the two watchmakers, the farmers start to install workshops in their farmhouses and produce or finish watch parts during the long winter months, when the valley is cut off from the rest of the world. This complementary activity rapidly takes hold when the farmers realize that it is far more lucrative than another activity they engage in: iron smelting in their domestic forges.

The Blancpain family chronicles inform us that Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, baptized on March 11, 1693, great-great grandson of Imer Blancpain, is the first Blancpain to become a watchmaker. He establishes himself officially in 1735 but probably was already working in this profession previously. It is even possible that he was one of the two watchmakers mentioned in the 1725 census. In 1760, the son of the other watchmaker, Adam Bourquin, opens the first watch shop in Villeret called “Chez le Secrétaire” (At the Secretary's Place).

Despite the difficult times, Blancpain continues to manufacture and sell watches throughout Europe. In 1815, due to the excellent state of the business, a fundamental change is made: Frédéric-Louis Blancpain, a former officer of the Emperor’s army and one of the five sons of David-Louis Blancpain, transforms the purely artisan watch production into the first small scale industrial production of watches in a factory that bears the Blancpain name. By then Blancpain is making its own raw movements and is thus an integrated “manufacture”. Over the years, more and better machine tools enable Blancpain to develop its production and steadily improve product quality.

The year 1815 is considered the founding year of the Blancpain Watch Company. Over the years the name of the Company changes several times:

• 1830 Emile Blancpain
• 1857 E. Blancpain et fils
• 1889 E. Blancpain fils
• 1928 Blancpain, Fabrique d’horlogerie à Villeret.

The trademarks registered by Blancpain with the Office fédéral de la propriété intellectuelle (Swiss Patent Office) are numerous and diverse. However, the name Blancpain itself only is to be found on a small proportion of the watches the Company actually produces.

On February 24, 1888, Blancpain registers its brand with the courts in Leipzig.

Often the watches produced by Blancpain only carry the name of the retailer or one of the many other trademarks registered by the firm, hereafter some examples:

Date of registration	Brand	Specialization
August 16, 1889	Leonine
April 8, 1890	Lion’s Watch
February 10, 1893	Lion’s (Standard)	Pocket Watches
October 1, 1894	La Précieuse	Pocket Watches (Watch cases, cuvette (bassin), movements, dials, boxes)
January 24, 1896	Lux	Pocket Watches
January 14, 1897	EBFW
June 14, 1899	Masel	Pocket Watches
March 24, 1900	Truena	Pocket Watches
June 30, 1902	L’Etoile d’Or	Pocket Watches
June 30, 1902	L’Etoile Rouge	Pocket Watches
August 11, 1903	Cabane’s Watch	Pocket Watches
March 17, 1916	Lux	Watches
Mai 16, 1922	Blancpain	Watches of all sorts and sizes
October 14, 1926	Bonvil	Watches of all sorts
Idem	Blanvil	“
Idem	Brunvil	“
Idem	Dixvil	“
September 2, 1926	Jar Proof	Watches of all sorts and sizes

They finally decide on the Vallée de Joux, in the Jura mountain range of western Switzerland, a center for fine watchmaking since the mid-1700s, and still today the birthplace of 90% of all high-end complicated mechanical movements.

Here, in the village of Le Brassus, stands a fine old Piguet family house, "haunted" by the very soul of watchmaking... Just the place for Blancpain’s new home. It will now turn out watches made in the most genuinely traditional manner, similar in spirit to those that Jehan-Jacques Blancpain and his descendants fashioned more than two centuries ago only 100 kilometres away.