Blancpain

I have been waiting for a week for this Blancpain. I purchased the watch from a guy that has owned the watch since 1969 and he purchased the watch from the Hamilton Watch Co. He was a stockholder and he went to one of the Stockholders meeting and on occasion they open the Company vault and Ira Ficus who was the watch maker for Hamilton watch would sell off watches they have bought and studied to make improvements on there watches. He ended up purchasing 3 vintage submariners and one Gold President for gold weight. He wore the watch for a couple years and stored the watch for many more. He sent his watch off to the Blancpain dealer in NY in the late '70s and they ended up sending the watch to Switzerland. It took over a year and when he got the watch back it came with a new case. The dealer would not reveal the reason for the case change.

As you can see the case is a beautiful original replacement case with a light bronze patina(similar to the US Navy).

The dial has a slight tropic finish and is a charm to wear.

I will post better photo in a couple days when i get my good camera back. Brian

What a superb example of a 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 dial!

I love a lot the patina and the look of your dial, a bit grainy.

Now, as you can guess, I would like to hear how and why the case back was changed!

Best, and enjoy your beautiful baby.

Nicolas

That is going to be a mystery. The owner never had a problem with the case(leaks). But when he got the watch back from year long service the service was Free! So he really does not understand why the replacement happen. Normally i would be concerned with a replacement case but this case looks perfect and 100% correct i had no hesitation on buying the watch. I will try to capture the bronze patina in a couple days. Brian

..Brian, that is a true stunning watch

On the new case back... maybe they misplaced the watch case back while at service, and maybe that is why it took so long and was free of charge... just thinking of what happens sometimes in my old company on warranty/repairs... houssh..

Cheers

Hans

Hans i really thought the same thing. Something was lost, but will never know. Brian

This is an absolute treat to the eye! I'm looking forward to the new pictures.

Regards,

Thomas

Congrats!!

please share some pics soon

and wear it well

Helmut

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Hi,

 

very nice for sure.  It looks like the hands have been changed at the same time as the case which is a usual thing.  I always find it a shame though when the hands don't show the same patina that the dial, I have this on some vintages as well.

Matt

congratulations to this new catch !

best regards Stephan

   hey brian;  bob.  great watch!  what kind of strap/bracelet are you putting on it?  best regards from baltimore.

I would use either a nato strap or a Apollo tropic band. Either way they look great! Brian