Nobody's Rioting for Neovintage Blancpain
AP's pre-owned plans, a lesson in humility, and a market update on the Blancpain Villeret.
Good morning. I’m helping to organize an event at Huckberry Chicago this weekend with Trevor of Pare Pare Podcast, who’s visiting from L.A. Drop me an email, and I’ll reply with the RSVP link: tony[at]unpolishedwatches.com. I know it’s a holiday weekend, so don’t worry if you’re traveling—we’re also working on events for June and July.
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ICYMI
The Roundup
AP Pre-Owned. While poking around Audemars Piguet’s IP filings to debunk the idea that Royal Pop was some sophisticated legal gambit, I stumbled across a more interesting trademark filing: The Watch Keepers. Filed in May 2025, it’s described as an “online marketplace for buyers and sellers of second-hand watches.” AP’s pre-owned program has been a long time coming (I’ve mentioned before some of the hires made). The filing hints at a centralized online marketplace for pre-owned AP. As with all online marketplaces, the tricky bit is how involved the middleman will be. If it’s an AP-branded site, presumably it will want to provide certification and warranty on all watches. It’d be tough for AP to push a program onto retailers, especially since it doesn’t really have any retailers. The CPO-by-retailer model works for Rolex because Rolex makes 1m+ watches a year, so there’s plenty of stock to go around. But AP makes ~75k watches a year, so a more centralized website/program that has real selection seems to make sense.
Christopher Ward opens its fourth U.S. showroom here in Chicago. It’s just down the street from the new Geneva Seal Gallery in Fulton Market, which is turning the West Loop into a real destination for watches. Make an appointment here.
Bremont (finally) gets a win! Maybe you saw those two Navy jets crash at an Idaho air show—all four safely ejected. That’s good news for Bremont! Four more people who can now buy the Martin Baker I, only available to pilots who have used an MB ejection seat.
The Pocket Watch Agenda. Julie Brener Davich, who writes a newsletter about auctions, asked me if there was a connection between all the big pocket watch auction results and Royal Pop. I said no!:
“The entire vintage and ‘collectible’ watch market is on fire—like, as crazy as Covid. Broadly, historically or horologically important watches of all eras that are in good condition are shooting up in value, and other stuff is getting left behind. Some collectible wristwatches have gotten so expensive that they’re basically reaching art prices anyway and people aren’t wearing them, so why not get into pocket watches? In many cases, there’s more horology and history than a wristwatch.” (The Appraisal)
I know there are trend pieces about how The Pocket Watch Is Back, but I think the run-up in vintage pocket watch prices is pretty much unrelated to—and predates—the Royal Pop.
Aimless Men. Fashion writer Amy Odell picked up my Swatch dispatch and called the guys showing up to Swatch stores around the world “masses of aimless men,” perhaps the most sadly accurate description I’ve read. (Back Row)
Two Swiss CEOs gave interviews this week—Patek Philippe’s Thierry Stern (Hodinkee) and Swatch Group’s Nick Hayek Jr. (BBC)—neither came off well. Humility, it turns out, is not a Swiss complication (WatchPro clipped and transcribed Hayek’s interview here).
Market Check-In: Neovintage Blancpain
U.K. dealer Subdial is hosting a Blancpain Villeret exhibit in London over the next few days. Alongside the exhibit, they’re selling a bunch of Villerets in this week’s drop. I wrote about Blancpain’s Six Masterpieces from the 1990s a few years ago for the Mothership—read it for the full history—and they’re still some of my favorite neovintage watches.
When Jean-Claude Biver took over Blancpain in the 80s, they started by pursuing six complications: complete calendar, ultra-thin, tourbillon, perpetual calendar, minute repeater, and chronograph. These became the Six Masterpieces. They’re all 34mm, which is slightly too small for mainstream tastes, so they haven’t popped like neovintage complications from Patek Philippe, Vacheron, or AP (also Blancpain simply doesn’t have the name recognition—no one was rioting for the Scuba Fifty Fathoms).
The cases are slim and the lugs thin, but a stepped bezel gives it some structure. The dials are also flat, which leaves some wanting more. To me, it works better on the QP than on the chronograph or tourbillon (the tourbillon looks like an open-heart Seiko you’d see for 30% off at Macy’s—sorry!).
The Perpetual Calendar ref. 5395 is still the best value in neovintage QPs, and prices haven’t moved much over the past few years. Getting into a perpetual from AP or Vacheron requires 2x the budget nowadays. The Six Masterpieces use an F. Piguet automatic caliber as a base, adding complication modules on top. Here are a few masterpieces on the market right now:
Subdial has a naked yellow gold 5395 for £8,750 (~$11.5k). The closest thing you can get to a “beater QP.” I think box and papers matter more with neovintage than true vintage—if you’re a modern buyer branching off into neovintage, it’s what you expect. But if the price is right, who cares?
The Six Masterpieces were also offered on a Gay Frères bracelet, and these command a big premium. Danny’s Vintage Watches has a 5395 on the original solid-gold Gay Freres bracelet listed for $27k. But the Villeret is perfectly fine and perhaps even preferred on a strap.
Subdial’s also got a 90s Minute Repeater for £48k. The minute repeaters are a cool party trick, but sound like sh*t—very tinny.
Collectors Corner NY has a platinum Ultra-Thin ref. 0021 listed at $7.3k. It’s a little boring—I prefer the chronometer ref. 7002 with Breguet numerals (here’s one for $8k).
Along with the Six Masterpieces, Blancpain also started to mix and match complications:
The QP Minute Repeater ref. 5335 with Jean-Pierre Hagmann case featured in my auction preview sold at Phillips for Chf 70k.
Subdial has a pair of QP Chronographs (ref. 5585) in steel and yellow gold, both around $20k. A ton of watch for that price. Estimates put total production at ~400 pieces.
Tahoma Watches also just listed a rose QP Chrono, so I asked him to send over a few photos. Besides the rare two-tone, rose is the hardest to find. The only more accessible perpetual calendar chrono I can think of is the IWC Da Vinci, but those swiveling lugs are…an acquired taste.1 Tahoma’s asking $24k for this rose 5585:
So much of the neovintage market has boomed the past few years, but Blancpain has been stable. The size, design, and the simple fact that they say Blancpain on the dial keeps them more of a deep cut than anything with real “investment” potential.
If you just want a watch you can wear and enjoy, that’s great.
I also know dealers can scream about the “value” of watches like this. A QP CHRONO FOR $20K!! If you don’t really get it, that’s fine. I like some of the Villerets—the QP, complete calendar, and split chronograph, along with the cousin ref. 7002—but I find the tourbillon and chronograph lacking.
You can also find special dials and genuinely interesting limited editions if you’re patient. Subdial sold this Constellation that had enough diamonds for Elton John to buy one. There are also cloisonné enamel Villerets, stone dials, etc. Here’s a favorite 90s Blancpain I’ve seen this year:
Finally, props to Blancpain for collaborating with a secondary market player to tell the Villeret story. It takes some guts to put your name on a project that’s offering a 90s Villeret QP for $10k when the modern version will set you back $61k.
If you’re in London, get tickets for the Blancpain Villeret Exhibit here.
Get in touch:
tony[at]unpolishedwatches.com
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The Habring x Massena Monopusher Perpetual is another comp, which Tahoma also happens to have right now.
-"Masses of aimless men"
I'll share again here my commentary I provided in a WhatsApp Group and then again in the comment section for a recent ScrewDownCrown.
In our ecosystem there has been much pearl clutching and mockery of those who lined up for one or more days at Swatch outlets for the Royal Pop. But in these same circles, we praise and hold in high regard the constant drove of men, and yes it's always men, who fly business class from around the world to Geneva, leaving wife and kids behind so that they can bring gifts and genuflect to a trove of various watchmakers with the hopes of getting an allocation sometime in the next few years.
The difference between an insane man and an eccentric connoisseur? Their budget.
I guess there’s a negative halo from the current state of the brand, which I would describe as “Fifty Fathoms and other stuff”. It’s not quite as extreme as modern Movado depressing vintage Movado. But you could imagine Biver-era Blancpain being grail-like objects if modern Blancpain was in better shape.
It’s also not that easy to collect. I like neovintage Blancpain a lot, and have a couple references that I’m actively looking for. But I’ve been looking for a while.
Production volumes weren’t high in aggregate, and if you’re looking for a particular reference - good luck. Even if one comes up, it might be priced wrong because there aren’t that many precedent transactions (you’ll often see these sit for 6-12+ months).
Finally, a lot of the watches were 34mm. Which is impressive from an engineering standpoint! But a little small for my tastes, even on my tiny wrists.