In 1985, Jean-Claude Biver and Jacques Piguet traveled from Le Brassus to Hamburg to present Blancpain watches to a major German retailer. The brand, acquired a few years earlier for 23,000 francs, thus landed its first client at Wempe. Almost simultaneously, a retailer in Zermatt became its first client in Switzerland.
A business meeting after a fourteen-hour drive
The departure takes place at 9 p.m. in Le Brassus, in the Vallée de Joux. Biver and Piguet travel approximately 1,300 kilometers to Hamburg, driving a Volkswagen Beetle. They arrive the following morning and then present themselves at Wempe, a major German watch dealer.
Their goal was to convince the retailer to distribute the new watches bearing the Blancpain name. The brand was then « dormant » before the two men bought it a few years earlier for 23,000 francs.
Blancpain’s first two clients
The approach to Wempe was successful: the German retailer became the brand’s first customer. Around the same time, Blancpain also obtained its first point of sale in Switzerland, with the retailer Schindler, in Zermatt.
Jean-Claude Biver, a Luxembourger who would become one of the leading figures in Swiss watchmaking, humorously described their unconventional spirit. Jacques Piguet, on the other hand, came from a family of watchmakers. Their expedition to Hamburg marked the beginning of Blancpain watches being sold to these two retailers.
Source: Le Temps: Economy (www.letemps.ch)
Original article: See the original source
Author: Pierre-André Schmitt
