BLANCPAIN

In 1735, Jehan-Jacques Blancpain established himself as a watchmaker in Villeret, Switzerland. In the present-day Bernese Jura, he developed the Blancpain brand, establishing his first factory on the second floor of his home in Villeret.

Frédéric-Louis Blancpain, the family's head of company at the time, updated manufacturing processes and converted the traditional craft workshop into an industrial endeavor capable of serial production in 1815. Frédéric-Louis revolutionized the watchmaking industry by replacing the crown-wheel mechanism with a cylinder escapement.

As industrialisation gained root in the second half of the nineteenth century, watchmaker product prices fell, and many workshops were forced to close. To compete with American manufacturers, Blancpain erected a two-story facility along the Suze River in 1865, using water power to produce the energy needed for its manufacturing operations. Blancpain became one of the few watchmaking enterprises to survive in Villeret by upgrading its procedures and focusing on top-of-the-line goods.

In 1926, the Manufacture formed a relationship with John Harwood and began selling the world's first automated wristwatch. The family's control of the enterprise, which had lasted over two centuries, came to an end in 1932. Berthe-Nellie Blancpain, Frédéric-Emile Blancpain's only daughter, did not want to pursue a career in watchmaking after her father's death. Betty Fiechter and André Léal, two members of the team who had been closest to Frédéric-Emile, acquired the company the next year. Because there was no longer any member of the Blancpain family in charge of the company, the two colleagues were required by law to alter the name, as it was at the time. Rayville S.A., succ. de Blancpain would be the firm's name, with "Rayville" being a phonetic anagram of Villeret. Despite the name change, the Manufacture's identity was kept, and the brand's attributes were preserved.