====== Manufacture Blancpain ======

**Manufacture Blancpain** is a Swiss movement manufacturer paired with [[Blancpain]] and owned by [[Swatch Group]]. It was formerly known as **[[Frédéric Piguet|Frédéric Piguet SA]]** or **F. Piguet** and traces its history in [[Le Brassus]] and [[Le Sentier]] to watchmaker Louis-Elisée Piguet in [[1858]].

===== Louis-Elisée Piguet =====
Louis-Elisée Piguet (1836-1924) began producing [[ebauche movement]]s in [[1858]]. Originally founded in [[Le Brassus]], the company has remained in that village and the neighboring [[Le Sentier]] for over 150 years. After his apprenticeship, Piguet focused on producing [[complication]]s in his workshop, primarily supplying high-end [[Geneva]] and [[London]] brands, including [[Dent]], [[Gübelin]], [[Breguet]], and [[Frodsham]]. Piguet was also a supplier for the American market through [[C.-H. Meylan|Charles-Henri Meylan]] and [[Audemars Piguet]].

Louis Elisée Piguet is credited for creating the first [[perpetual calendar]] module, a complication that his company is still known for. He also created a working [[grande sonnerie]] mechanism based on the design of his teacher, [[Golay, Henri|Henri Golay]], and Frédéric Piguet has returned to this design repeatedly over the years. Piguet's most famous creation was his "Le Merveilleuse", which included 22 [[complication]]s. Manufactured with Ami LeCoultre-Piguet, this was one of the most famous "super-complications" of the era.

===== Frédéric Piguet =====
Piguet's four sons took over the business in [[1905]], renaming it **Les Fils de L.E. Piguet**. They ran the company through [[1938]], when his grandson (1906-1977) acquired all of the family's shares and renamed the company using his name, **Frédéric Piguet**. The company remained a prime supplier to high-end luxury watchmakers in Geneva and across Switzerland, counting [[Audemars Piguet]], [[Paul Buhré]], and [[H. Moser & Cie.]] among its customers.

Frédéric Piguet was especially well-known for [[ultra-thin]] movements for use in luxury watches. These rivaled those produced by [[Piaget]], the leader in this space through the 1960s, and were in high demand.

===== Piguet and Blancpain =====
Upon his death in [[1977]], Frédéric's son Jacques Piguet inherited the company. Piguet immediately recruited [[Capt, Edmond|Edmond Capt]] as technical director. Capt had designed the [[Valjoux 7750]] chronograph and was eager to develop next-generation [[quartz]] movements as well. Piguet's historic movements ([[FP 21]] and [[FP 71]]) were no longer selling well and the company intended to redirect their attention to advanced quartz movements for customers like [[Cartier]] and [[Ebel]]. Capt's [[FP 620]], [[FP 820]], and [[FP 8310]] quartz movements were quickly adopted by these brands, and his later [[FP 1270|FP 1270 "Meca-Quartz"]] would be the first Swiss quartz chronograph movement. Capt also developed a mechanical movement for [[Audemars Piguet]], [[FP 18]], and a series for Blancpain.

In [[1981]], Jacques Piguet and [[Jean-Claude Biver]] bought the defunct [[Blancpain]] brand from [[SSIH]]. Biver directed the brand to focus exclusively on mechanical movements, calling it "the living museum of the past." Piguet set about creating "six masterpieces" for Blancpain An [[ultra-thin]] watch, [[moon phase indicator]], [[perpetual calendar]], [[split-seconds chronograph]], [[tourbillon]], and [[minute repeater]]. The two companies accomplished every one of these tasks in a decade, and were one of the first to deliver a tourbillon wristwatch based on a design from [[Vincent Calabrese]].

Many of the developments from Frédéric Piguet in this period were notable Their [[moon phase indicator]] kicked off a trend for the complication in [[1982]]; they were the first company in modern times to produce a [[split-seconds chronograph]] and are credited for re-introducing this complication in [[1988]]; their [[tourbillon]] was only the second in a mass-produced wristwatch after [[Audemars Piguet]] in [[1989]]. The Frédéric Piguet tourbillon, [[FP 23|Cal. 23]], remains notable for using [[Vincent Calabrese|Calabrese]]'s off-center [[balance wheel]] concept, which some have categorized as a [[carousel]] but this is incorrect since it does not have a secondary gear train.

Edmond Capt's basic movements were important to Blancpain as well. In [[1985]] the company introduced the slim [[FP 810|Cal. FP 810]] and [[FP 951|Cal. FP 951]], which powered many simple watches for Blancpain, including smaller models for ladies.

===== Manufacture Blancpain =====
The [[Swatch Group]] purchased Piguet and Blancpain in [[1992]]. In [[2010]], F. Piguet was renamed **Manufacture Blancpain**, supplying movements for Blancpain.

One of the most-notable products of Manufacture Blancpain is [[Frederic Piguet 1185|Cal. 1185]], one of [[ultra-thin|the thinnest]] [[automatic chronograph]] movements in the world. This calibre is used by [[Audemars Piguet]] and [[Vacheron Constantin]] along with [[Breguet]] and Blancpain. Manufacture Blancpain also supplies movements for other Swatch Group companies, including [[Jaquet Droz]].

===== Address =====
Frédéric Piguet SA\\ Rue des Collèges 8\\ CH-1348 Le Brassus\\ Tel. +41 (0) 21 845 16 16\\ Fax +41 (0) 21 845 16 00

===== External Links =====
  * [[https://grail-watch.com/2021/03/16/blancpain-f-piguet-and-biver/| Blancpain, F. Piguet, Biver, and the Path Forward]]

{{wst>author|[[Stephen Foskett]] ([[https://grail-watch.com/|Grail Watch]])}}

{{tag>Movement_Manufacturers Movement_manufacturers_Switzerland Swatch_Group Le_Brassus Vallée_de_Joux}}