Blancpain was acquired in 1981 by Jean-Claude Biver and Jacques Piguet (son of ébauche maker Frédéreic Piguet). The duo immediately decided to double-down on traditional Swiss watchmaking at a time when that was contrarian and far from the accepted or defined path. The slogan the duo settled on has aged with greater dignity and grace than most brand's 1980s attitudes: 'Since 1735 there has never been a quartz Blancpain watch. And there never will be.' The core of Blancpain's revival was to be complication. Specifically, the Six Masterpieces: six complications all cased at 34mm. Starting in 1983 lasting until 1989, the duo then developed a ref. 6595 Complete Calendar Moonphase, 0021 Ultra-Thin Time Only, 5395/5495 Perpetual Calendar, 0033 Minute Repeater, 1185/6 Chronograph/Split Seconds, and 0023 Flying Tourbillon in the same thin 34mm case design and in that chronological order. This is the 5495, the Perpetual Calendar, in pink gold.
The ref. 5395 Perpetual Calendar was the third released, in 1986, and was at the time a remarkable achievement at 34mm and just 9mm thin. However, it was quickly recognized that leap year indication was needed. Shortly after, this was corrected in this ref. 5495 which featured stacked hands at 12 over a greater degree of displayed information. The dial also evolved to include sunken sunbdials sporting matched case metal surrounds on their lightly-bevelled edges. The 34mm case bears traditional but strong shark-nosed lugs, a stepped bezel, and numbered caseback. The groundbreaking calibre did not change in height, the updated 151-component calibre 953 was just 3.28mm thin. 5495 was the Blancpain QP with its full potential evolved. Jean-Claude Biver famously kept a 5495, case no. 00, for his own collection.
This example in pink gold is just case no. 02. Pink gold is rarely seen in the Perpetual Calendar, not compared to just yellow gold but also platinum. Here it receives its own engraving simply stating 'Pink Gold Masterpiece Collection'. The no. 1 examples all sold through Antiquorum in 2003. Since, only a handful of pink gold 5395/5495 examples have been documented at sale. Interestingly, it is only these pink gold examples which feature a champagne dial tone as opposed to the flat white of the yellow gold and platinum.
The 11 year run of JCB and Mr. Piguet led to an eventual sale to SMH Group, now Swatch, 11 years later. For that decade, everything Blancpain created exuded ambition and commitment to quality watchmaking in equal measure. The restart of Blancpain was a monumental success only for JCB's focus on quality and proportion. This complicated, discreet Masterpiece collection set the tone for the 1990s and Switzerland's return to dominance in complicated, mechanical watchmaking. This pink gold QP takes everything that decade of Blancpain executed so well and adds a pink gold edge.
