Blancpain looked to the original scales and functions used in 1950s military aviation and brought them into the modern era in its Air Command watch. It is a re-issue of a chronograph it developed for the US Air Force; a very limited number were offered to American military pilots. The rugged 42.5mm watch is highly legible thanks to oversized orange-colored Super-LumiNova-coated numerals and markers, and the bi-compax flyback (instantaneous zero reset and restart) chronograph dial design with 12-hour and 30-minute totalizers. Additionally, the actual dial size is larger than the original, and the sapphire box-like crystal offers easier viewing. Sporting a tachymeter scale on the outer flange of the sunburst black dial, the watch displays hours, minutes and central seconds. It also has a bi-directional ratcheted countdown rotating bezel with ceramic inserts. The rotor of the self-winding high-frequency (5 Hz) watch is shaped like an aircraft propeller and visible via the sapphire caseback.
Details
Company | Blancpain |
Price ($) | 19,800 |
Price range | < $100,000 |
Price version | Stainless Steel |
Gender | Male |
Case | Round |
Complications | Chronograph Minutes Tourbillon Hours Additional features Small Seconds |
Water Resistance | 30m |
Power Reserve Range (hours) | 49 - 72 |
Power Reserve | 50 hours |
Case Size | Large (>39mm) |
Case Diameter (mm) | 43 |
Case Height (mm) | 14 |
Case Back | Open |
Case Colour | Stainless Steel |
Case Material | Stainless Steel |
Dial Colour | Black |
Limited Edition | Limited edition |
Caliber | F388B |
Where to buy | Blancpain in New York |
Reference Number | AC01 1130 63A |
For Blancpain, innovation is not exceptional but simply traditional. Constantly creating, the brand makes watches for the modern man: conventional yet performatively progressive. This is achieved through the sourcing of specialized resources such as titanium, unique metal alloys and ceramic to ensure that each component is made from the right material to function at its best.Designed with free rein of imagination, collections such as Air Command, Fifty Fathoms and Ladybird, deliver the high functionality that the name suggests. Embodying luck, the Ladybird line is a refined and riveting collection whose bedazzling diamond bezel inspires good fortune. Similarly, the Air Command series allows wearers of its timepieces to sovereign over their space, swinging their arm with the same conductor's authority as that which created the pieces in this cutting-edge collection. And though fathoming 50 things at once may be mind-boggling, the first modern diver's watch enabled by the Fifty Fathom series reflects that complication can be made simple. Even when one is under water, they can always be grounded by time.