Blancpain

I have my Air Command for about 18 years now. It is my daily beater and it is rocked. I love it, but in comparison to my vintage Fifty it is to far from the original. So I decided to customise it.



Firdt step some years ago was to coat the luenette black.


Second step some years later was to get it closer to the original with a Bakeliteluenette



Some testing with different inlays







Finally I ask a friend Stefan Obst from VDB watches in Germany a famous craftsman to build my inlay. Here some working steps.....



















I love the new old design . First time I got the new old luenette, it brought a three day constant smile in my face. What do you think about it? It is a little bit like tuning a Porsche. Best regards Stephan

No message body

... although I personally prefer the original bezel on the Trilogy Air Command.

By the way, what's this little snake on the last shot?

Best wishes

Alkiro

No message body

I have a second original bezel to change, so I have the choice to change to original status.

The snake is a brass plastic of a cerastes cerastes adder.

Best regards Stephan

Cordovan shell Natostrap

No message body

No message body

I think BP should make a FF time only and chrono in this size.

Well done.

John

Is about 40 mm

The insert appears to be convex on the top side. He wonder if he had a cad program to engrave the numbers and dashes? Thanks for posting.

Yes top side is a little bit curved. The Numbers are similar to the original vintage FFs.
I do not know if he uses a CAD program to engrave the numbers. There is still a lot of handwork.
Stephan

What bezel inserts do you have that are able to fit inside the stock bezel? It looks like the one is potentially a Rolex? I'd love to try changing the bezel insert on my GMT

at the Rolex site.
Mine is a Blancpain.
Rolex Inlays, the old ones, are easiely to change

Seriously, your watch looks fantastic. Cannot believe I was missing this beauty until now. Totally, undervalued in the market. About the bezel insert, those bezel inserts developed for Rolex fit this model? Thank you.

I think that the Rolex bezel inserts do not fit the Blancpain.
If you are interested, where to get probably an aftermarket replacement, send me a pm.
Best regards Stephan

I had this piece and also was not very fond of the metal raised number dial.I like the enamel bezel.

Much better design than the original bezel which was way too heavy for the dial. I had this custom detail on my Air command ....