Although having sold my Patek perpetual calendar (5035) last year, I was still keen to obtain an all-gold watch – but one that would be rather less complicated and expensive. Initially I attempted to obtain an early-eighties Ebel El Primero-powered chronograph – as per Crocket’s watch in Miami Vice, or even a later black dialed version. However, I have discovered that to get the former on it’s original “wave” bracelet (only offered for a year or two. Ed) with accompaniments, has remained stubbornly elusive. I am fond of older Ebels, so semi-substitutes ensued, such as; an early gold Sports El Primero on a strap, a later gold 1911 Modular, then an all-gold 1911 Junior (quartz and not a chronograph). The latter was a bit of an error buy, as it turned out to be a 34mm version and not the 36mm size advertised. However, with it’s black dial and “massif” gold bracelet it is a lovely looking watch – but, is more for the small-wristed so will be on the “for sale” aisle sometime. Anyway, I was still hankering for an all-gold chrono.
I first noticed the Leman on the stock website at Watches and Jewellery of Bond Street about a year ago. I thought then it was very attractive and at some £10.5k was not too dear for what you got. I was a little put off though as it had no box or original papers. As such I confined it to the “pending” tray.
In the intervening months I visited the W&J site quite a few times. They have a good selection of interesting and mostly high-end watches, plus, I have bought from them previously. Anyway, each time I looked at the site I also peeked at the Blancpain section. At the last look – maybe a month or so ago, the watch was still there, and by this time I was starting to feel quite sorry for it, as it was, well, like an unwanted orphan! The price had now reduced a bit to £10k, but I remained intrigued as to why the watch was still there? At this point I also noticed that there were in fact Blancpain service/repair papers from 2018 – something I must have missed previously. In view of all these points I decided to at least make an enquiry.
In due course I emailed my usual contact Rony at W & J – not just over the Blancpain in fact, but also a Bulgari Assioma chronograph. Now, I am not into “fashion” watches, but it was an interesting piece in gold and on a strap, plus, it had full papers etc. The Blancpain, it turned out, was actually owned by an ex-employee of W & J, so the service papers showed their Bond St address. Anyway, after dancing around some figures I decided to pass on the Bulgari (it is actually a pretty big watch), but did a deal on the Blancpain, securing for, let us just say, somewhat south of the noted price. It does help to be an existing customer!
I now have the watch and it runs very accurately and is, overall, in very good condition. The bracelet is of a decent size (something you must check on before purchase. Ed.) and in fact so much so that I had to remove two links.
So, more on the watch. This is reference 2185-1418-63A, so in fact actually refers to a yellow gold model on a strap – borne out by the service papers. However, since then, a genuine “massif” gold bracelet has been added. The logic here is not entirely apparent – bearing in mind that the last Blancpain list price for such a bracelet was some £15,000! Obviously it may have been bought as a used item, but nonetheless it still would have been pretty expensive. Anyway, that is all to my benefit so no complaints from this end!
Before moving ahead, it is probably worth just mentioning the history of the Leman – in brief. This very old but early-eighties resurrected Maison launched the Leman range in 1994. The first model was the time/date 2100 with an excellent Piguet caliber 1150 movement with a 100 hour power reserve. Trademark skeleton sword hands and a double stepped bezel were trademark features. A triple calendar (2763) was also produced. All these came in either stainless steel or gold versions. A later variant called Aqualung (see earlier article on Putin/Aqualung. Ed.) was produced, mainly with stainless steel cases, but some were in titanium. From around 1998 the reference 2185 chronograph was launched, now with the excellent automatic caliber 1185. A variety of case metals were used again – stainless steel, plus rose and yellow gold, along with white or black dials. The steel versions usually had bracelets and the gold versions straps. A little later a flyback chronograph (2185F) was produced using the same base movement, but then the pinnacle, when this also sported a perpetual calendar and moon phase as reference 2585F! Focusing mainly on the chronographs, they continued for about ten years and Leman range ceased a year or two later.
Turning to the watch I bought, this has a 38mm x 11.7 case – all highly polished. The bezel is in two stages and pretty slim and plain. To one side is a meaty knurled crown with the Blancpain logo atop, then either side complimentary-designed screw-down pushers. On the opposite side – in what I would call a recessed cartouche, is the name Blancpain – a cool if somewhat unnecessary touch in terms of any identification doubt!. On the reverse is a solid screw-in case back, with large edged fluting. A specific (low) watch number – say xxx is noted. Waterproofing is to100m.
Moving to the dial, this is in a crisp white finish, with no discernable decoration. To the outboard is a standard minute rail track along with lumed pips. Then there are gold rectangular prism type hour markers – except at 12 o’clock where a large B resides, then at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, tiny pyramids exist. There are three recessed (three stage recesses in fact) registers – at 3 o’clock the 30 minute counter, at 6 o’clock the running seconds, and lastly at 9 o’clock a 30mm counter. All have gold hands. The seconds register accommodates the not-quite-square date window (so, not the usual lazy boring square type), and this is of a decent and legible size. The main hands are gold and of an attractive and fairly unique design, being skeletonised sword shaped with lumed triangular tips. The second hand has a fine dagger end with a red tip and an arrow-head shaped counterweight. To my mind, the dial is very well thought out. It is pretty clean, classy, and not too cluttered. Protecting all this is a raised sapphire crystal.
Regarding the motive power, as noted earlier, this is via the almost in-house caliber 1185. It was originally designed in the mid-eighties by Henry Capt at Frederic Piguet, and this company provided movements to Blancpain, at their specification, for many years. The engine is a dedicated chronograph movement with a column wheel and vertical clutch, and at only 5.5mm was the most compact at the time. It has 304 components – including 37 jewels. The beat is 21,600 vph and up to 45 hours power reserve is provided. The caliber is clearly high end, and other variations have featured in watches by AP, Omega and VC (and possibly Patek too. Ed) – firstly as the hand wound caliber 1180, then the automatic version used here. It is a real shame really that there is no exhibition back to see this important movement – even on the gold versions, but I understand that some special editions did have one.
Finally that bracelet: I have to say it is quite impressive in heft, and aesthetically well designed too, with it’s contrasting brushed links with polished inserts. The double butterfly type clasp seems to work fine in terms of a secure closure, but yet still has a reasonably simple opening operation. As mentioned earlier, although I have an 18 cm wrist, I still had to remove two links (by extracting the long screw pins) in order to get a pretty good fit. Due to the case size and lug angles it is a comfy wear. It is, overall, quite a heavy watch of course, but get the bracelet fit right and that aspect recedes.
Well, that’s about it! Getting more up-to-date since I started the piece, I have now managed to obtain a used Blancpain box. It is actually the correct type that would have been supplied with this watch – a lovely wooden item with marquetry. There is a bit of degradation inside – mainly to the watch “sponge”, but it is OK. Moreover, for only £120 (from a UK jeweller) it was a snip! Additionally, a contact at a national jeweller is helping to facilitate more details on the watch from Blancpain – possibly with an archive extract. At the very least I will see if I can get the production date – which could range between 1998 to about 2008, but as mine has Luminova, and not the earlier Tritium, it is probably into the early 2000s.
In conclusion, I really like the watch. There is little if anything I would change. It is an attractive top-quality piece from a high-end Maison, and I feel I got it at a good price. As the original cost of the watch must been at least £25k (factoring in the bracelet), I think my purchase was very keen. Today, strapped versions with accompaniments seem to go for £7-8k. I cannot actually find one with a bracelet like mine, but due to my own efforts in acquiring a box (and hopefully some more paperwork), I feel a value of some£16k is not unrealistic. Money is not everything of course, but I would prefer to be ahead of the game than behind!
Rating: 4.5/5
All words and images: The Writer