Blancpain

Blancpain. A Tradition of Innovation. Since 1735.

There is no contradiction in using the words tradition and innovation in the same breath to describe Blancpain. Both are woven together to form the fabric of Blancpain’s philosophy. In a spirit far removed from production lines, the movement parts are patiently finished, decorated and assembled by hand in keeping with the noblest horological traditions. Never veering from its Vallée de Joux heritage, Blancpain has taken the designs, complications and methods of the last centuries and brought them into our modern era through its relentless drive to conquer new horizons and to take the watchmaking art to places where it has never been before.

Ever since 1735, when Jehan-Jacques Blancpain founded a watch manufacturing facility in the Swiss Jura village of Villeret, inventiveness and the pursuit of perfection have led the brand’s watchmakers to craft creations imbued with an excellence and a wealth of resourcefulness that have shaped the history of watchmaking. Almost 275 years of research and development have confirmed Blancpain’s philosophy, which is based on a deep-felt respect for Haute Horlogerie.

The company settled in the mid-1980s in the village of Le Brassus at the heart of the Vallée de Joux. The watchmaking craftsmen of the Manufacture Blancpain have since revived the secrets of the time-honoured art of horology. While loyal guardians of Swiss culture and heritage, they are nonetheless never backward-looking but instead resolutely dedicated towards fostering the future of the mechanical watch. They are accomplished masters in the miniaturisation of mechanical movements and regularly perform amazing feats of ingenuity and innovation in the service of enduring beauty

Ohio Teams Lead the Charge.

Week 2 of the preseason saw both teams from Ohio, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, pull out impressive wins.

The Bengals, as I mentioned last week, are one of those mid-table play-off hopefuls, who really relish the preseason as a chance to make a statement and to build on the progress of last year.

Incumbent starter Andy Dalton looked good, completing 8 of 14 attempts for a touchdown and no interceptions. He helped his team score effectively and consistently in all phases of the game, recording a box score of 3, 7, 7, 7. That's a sign of a nice tempo and a solid, essential ability to find the end zone when it matters.

Furthermore, the Bengals were playing against opposition who are in the same boat. Despite making the play-offs with an impressive regularity these past few years, the Falcons under the leadership of QB Matt Ryan are a team that has failed to convince anyone they can pull it out of the bag when it matters. They have posted great regular season records and challenged for the division since Ryan donned the red and black of Atlanta, but have tanked in January and must now be used to having questions asked about their legitimacy as title contenders.

They are not regarded as a lock for the post-season, but if Ryan's performance was any indication of how they'll fair when the games start to matter, they needn't worry just yet.

The Boston product was sensational, completing a staggering 18 of 21 for 174 yards, a TD and no picks. That is what he needs to do in the preseason to build the confidence of his team. That is what he must do if they are to go further than they have since the days of Michael Vick.

Cleveland, another team that needs the warm-up of the preseason, faced off against the Green Bay Packers, who, unlike the Falcons, have nothing to prove. Expect GB to go 0-4 in the preseason as they tinker with plays and experiment with new packages. It means nothing to them. Success in Green Bay does not end with making the play-offs. There is only one result that will do, and that's the Super Bowl victory.

As for the Browns, one of just a handful of teams to have never contested the big game, their performance against the Champs once removed was professional and laudable.

They hit double digits (10 and 14 respectively) either side of the half. Brandon Weedon kept the ball safe and gained solid yards. Their running game, minus Trent Richardson, looked competent and found success inside the 20.

Promising signs from both Ohio outfits. They'll need to keep it up if they hope to make the playoffs, which is always, for these AFC North afterthoughts, a steep mountain to climb.

Balmain

A world of elegance

From 1987 to 1995, Balmain watches were manufactured under exclusive license by the Swatch Group, which supplied its immense expertise and state-of-the-art watchmaking technology to the brand and the Parisian fashion house founded in 1945 by fashion designer Pierre Balmain. In December 1995, the Swatch Group acquired the exclusive rights to manufacture, market and distribute the brand’s watches throughout the entire world.

Based at Saint-Imier deep in the Swiss Jura, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary in 1997 with «Elysées», a globally acclaimed collection that remains a leading model in the Balmain collection. One of the brand’s distinctive features is the famous «arabesques» dial, the stunning design of which was inspired by the sumptuous embroidery that decorates the haute couture dresses of its creator. The world of fashion draws its inspiration from an infinite number of sources, and each Balmain watch possesses a history and significance all of its own.

Whether they are made of stainless steel, steel and gold, or whether they are prestigious collections in yellow or white 18-carat gold, all Balmain models meet the same high quality standards and are subject to the same attention to detail. They are synonymous with elegance and refinement, and meet the quality and esthetic criteria demanded by discerning women and men alike

A Little About me.

Hi.

For those of you who don't know me (which I guess is most people reading this blog), allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rob, I am a prematurely haggard 26 year old, living in Southampton working for the Swatch Group.

About a month ago I passed my WOSTEP (Watchmakers Of Switzerland Training and Education Program) exams and have started working as a junior watchmaker.

Right now I'm learning the ropes in the polishing department, which is a very useful skill to get the hang of, as the modern sequential servicing process implemented by most major Maisons (watch houses) means the guy repairing the movement of the watch (the bit that goes tick), will rarely be responsible for the refinishing of a case or bracelet sent into the service centre.

Despite that, I, like many young guys in the industry, harbour aspirations to one day found my own brand and to do that you need to know EVERYTHING that goes into making a watch run and look beautiful while it's performing its primary function (feel free to debate the primary function of a watch in a world that has the time displayed on most everything from phones, laptops and TVs to smart fridges etcetera).

Right now, though, and for the next few years at least, I am working for the Swatch Group, and part of being a good watchmaker is to know the brand you work for inside and out.

As I mentioned, the function of a watch is arguably more than the telling of time. Luxury watches are bought and worn by those of the population who want that little bit more from their purchases. Choosing a watch that will set you back the cost of a new Mondeo, doesn't just come down to how accurately it can tell you the time. there are all sorts of things that go into the finalisation of that decision, not least the design characteristics and heritage of the brand you settle on.

With that in mind I made it my goal to learn about all of the brands that fall under the Swatch Group umbrella (there are a lot), and thought it might be a nice place to start. You've got to be aware of the product. You've got to be aware of its roots and history. You've got to know WHY people would want to wear a watch bearing a particular name.

So over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to post a brief run-down of some of the brands I may come into contact with while at work.

If you EVER have ANY questions about watchmaking, be they from a retail/historical/stylistic perspective or a technical question on how or why something works, PLEASE comment on my posts and I will do my utmost to answer. My hope is you will ask me something I don't know off the top of my head so I have to research it and learn something new.

This is an open forum. No question is a stupid question. If there is an answer to be found, I will endeavour to find it for you.

Let the good times roll.

Is it more than Luck?

Luck. That's what we're all talking about today.

Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts, that is. The number one overall draft pick could have expected his first performance to come under unnatural scrutiny and we, the observers and eager critics, could have expected the Stanford stand out to wilt under the bright lights of stardom.

However, Andrew Luck has clearly been reading play books, not scripts.

His first pro pass - albeit a pre-season one - went 63 yards for a touchdown.

Colts owner, Jim Irsay took to twitter before the end of the game to anoint his new signal caller, citing his performance as historic. It sure would be a nice footnote to his career should it take off as we now expect it will.

The Colts new QB is clearly the real deal. Whether he has success in the long term is down to both his character and his namesake. If he is lucky enough to enjoy a talented surrounding cast as his predecessor did, he will be a first ballot Hall of Fame selection.

Yeah, I went there. After one pre-season performance against a shoddy team. But let's just see his career out before you tear me a new one on this, okay?

In other news, Schaub of the Texans continued the weird trend I pointed out yesterday of starting QBs to play sparingly and throw a pick (Seattle's new starter-elect Matt Flynn did the same!). TJ Yates stepped-up well going 8/12 for 89 yards. The Texans triumphed over the Panthers 26-13, and shut out the Carolina outfit in the second half.

In the other Saturday game the Seahawks beat the Titans, who suffered thanks to Matt Hasselbeck's 2 picks and the sluggishness of CJ2K. In good news, Jake Locker looked very comfortable in the pocket and Hasselbeck's implosion will no doubt go further towards locking down the top spot under centre in Tennessee.

No sign of TO on the stat sheet this week. Guess we'll have to wait to see if this legend of the game makes his last stop count.

Few stars shine through the clouds of preseason.

A dozen games are in the books. After yesterday's analysis of the first six, let's take a look at the highs, lows and talking points of the games played under the Friday night lights.

I always like to start at the bottom and work towards my favourite game, but splitting those residing at the bottom of this pack of 6 is tough. In all honesty, Friday's games were far better than those played on Thursday. There were a couple of low scoring teams (the Vikings, Jets and Dolphins, for example) but on the whole, those teams played well with their starters in the line-up and fell to teams that were either better, or more desperate to make a statement.

One observation so far, is the surprising amount of first string QBs coming into the game on the first series, and leaving after tossing an interception. This KEEPS happening, but I guess when you have a finely tuned machine, even the smallest flaw is magnified. You know what I mean: we've all had a car, or known someone who has a car that is SO OLD it has no right to work, but will keep going through sleet and snow, and then there's the guy whose Ferrari will stall in a light breeze. That's my excuse for Matthew Stafford, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning, newly appointed starter Brandon Weedon and Aaron Rodgers.

The Jets lost to the Bengals by a scoreline of 17-6. Sanchez completed 4/6 for 0/0 and 26 yards. Solid, if unremarkable. His main competition for the job - the only 1st and a half string QB in the league - Tim Tebow completed just 50% of his passes (depressingly consistent) and threw a pick. Andy Dalton for the Bengals looked proficient and they should take heart from this win. Beating the Jets in the regular season is an equally useless litmus test given their Jekyll and Hyde performances, but they are always a quality roster, and in the preseason that's what's being assessed. Well done to the Bengals, they are a team that needed to keep the ball rolling with wins, and one of the few for whom the preseason is important.

When the Browns play the Lions, I get a warm, nostalgic feeling in my belly. I'm a Cardinals fan, as has been well documented, but I absolutely love the Browns. When they came back from the dead I danced in the street. When Derek Anderson made them competitive for one season I sang their praises from the rooftops. When Mitchell & Ness released the retro snapback boasting the coolest NFL Mascot of all time (that cute little elf thing), I ran to the shops to buy it, only to realise upon looking in the mirror that I'm way too white to pull it off (it's still on my eBay watch list on the off chance I become significantly street in the near future. There is a history about the Browns that I adore, and the Lions - one of the classic thanksgiving teams - are similarly steeped in legend.

And what followed Friday night, was a decent match-up between two teams who will have to fight tooth and nail to make the playoffs this year. the Lions went last year and, of the two, are favourites to repeat the feat, but the Browns have been getting closer, if not in record, then in style of play. The drafting of Trent Richardson 9who did not suit up for this game) and the experienced Brandon Weedon resulted in an enjoyable game.

Both Browns back-ups - Seneca Wallace and Colt McCoy - won this game for Cleveland. Wallace, a one-time Seattle second string and perennially versatile play-maker, threw for over 100 yards with a +50% completion percentage and a Touchdown. He is fighting hard to relegate the previously anointed starter, Colt McCoy, down the depth chart. McCoy, however, fared very well, going 6/8 for 88 yards. Impressive. Look for McCoy to return and have success if Weedon struggles early.

Oh, the Browns won 19-17. Good on them.

The Vikings played the 49ers in what was very nearly a best v worst contest from last year. Despite the gulf in talent and success, the Vikings did functional under Ponder, who avoided throwing an interception and spearheaded two field goal drives, culminating in Minnesota's only points.

The story of this game for me was the incredibly poised, professional and clinical performance by Alex Smith of the 49ers. 3 attempts, 3 completions. 16 yards passing and one touchdown as the architect of an 8 play, 8 minute drive. Brilliant.

Despite overseeing a 20-7 loss to the Buccaneers, there was only story to come out of Tampa Bay's clash with the Miami Dolphins, and that was the Florida outfit's new Quarterback, Ryan Tannehill.

Having made off-season headlines with his meteoric draft rise and the sudden pouring over his hot wife, Tannehill is the story of the WEEK! His performance was polished and he looks to be the man to lead the Dolphins into a new era...but wait, it's the preseason and this was said of Colt McCoy last year, so let's hold off a bit.

But wouldn't it be great if he IS the real deal? I think any Dolphins fan would be pleased with his 14/21, 167 yards and 1 touchdown against no picks? Awesome.

Kansas hosted Arizona on Friday, and spectators witnessed two battles on the field, one with a far more clean-cut conclusion. While the Chiefs (impressively) set about beating the Cardinals behind the strong running of Peyton Hillis and Cyrus Gray, Kevin Kolb and John Skelton duked it out under centre for the Cardinals starting job. Skelton completed 3 times as many passes as Kolb (3), but also threw a pick in just 6 attempts. Kolb's 1/5 is rubbish, but at least...at least he...god, this is lame...at least he protected the ball.

It wound-up 27-17 to the Chiefs. Starting QB Matt Cassel was very solid with 5/6, 67 yards and a TD. These Chiefs look handy under Romeo Crennel (remember, they were the only team to beat the Packers in the regular season last year, and they did it when perfection was in sight). I reckon they will challenge for their division. Youthful, talented...beware the Kansas City Chiefs.

In the highest-scoring game so far, the Jacksonville Jaguars came back from a momentous deficit to beat the World Champion New York giants by one point (32-31).

No interceptions were thrown in the game, with Gabbert and Henne throwing TDs for the Jaguars. Manning played sparingly and made no mistakes as usual.

Olympic themed addenda: Aaron Ross, husband of super star track athlete, Sanya Richards Ross, recorded two tackles. one for each of his wife's Gold medals at London 2012.

What a couple.

Preseason Begins as the NFL Teams on Show Stumble into Focus.

Okay, so the first preseason outings of 12 NFL franchise are under the belt and we can now start analysing their early showings and going some way towards clarifying the muddied waters of an off-season that contained the highest-profile free agent transfer - that of QB Peyton Manning from the Indianapolis Colts to the Denver Broncos - in league history.

Can we?

Of course not. The preseason, in reality, shows us very little. Whichever team winds up winning these teasing contests does so mainly on the strength of their back-ups. Coaches are trying things out, assessing player by player strengths and weaknesses at full speed in pads, and trying to gauge success on a microcosmic level.

In the preseason - which many experts believe should be shortened from 4 to 2 games with the surplus pair being added onto the regular season (I kind of agree) - the plays run are skeletons of the plays we will see our favourite teams executing come the commencement of the 2012 season. Coaches are looking at the plays in pieces, not as a whole. For example, you may have your number 2 receiver on the field, running a route that is a component of a polished play, but largely inconsequential to that particular play, just to make sure his pattern is on song or his one-on-one with the corner is a battle won in isolation.

There's a lot going on, but not so much that offers any conclusion to the casual observer. Hell, the play books of an NFL franchise are about as guarded as Fort Knox, and the stuff the coaches are willing to reveal is done so in a way that opposing coaches, let alone the fans, can't get too much of a read on their team.

So many times we've seen rubbish teams storm the preseason - an explainable phenomenon. Bad teams NEED to practice REAL plays. Good teams need to fine tune the particulars. So, before anyone goes anointing the Broncos Super Bowl champions after their demolishing of the well thought of Bears (31-3), let's cool off a little and draw what we can from the 6 games played so far.

In the afore mentioned Broncos/Bears clash, four QBs suited up for the Denver outfit. Of the four, only Manning, who played the first series and no more, threw an interception, but it was tipped and apart from that he looked good, albeit with a little less zip on his balls. He gives this team a leader, the calibre of which they have not known since John Elway. Man mountain Brock Osweiler tossed a TD and threw for 38 yards in 7 attempts (4 completions). That's not bad. Osweiler could be a solid back-up and looks good value to progress up the depth chart as the preseason rolls on.

The Bears were shocking on offence but Jay Cutler - a Pro Bowl level QB and their only chance of success this season - didn't even play a down. Adding to that the fact that his back-ups only managed to get one ball to Brandon Marshall - the stand out addition to this roster - for a paltry 4 yards, there is a pretty obvious reason as to why they failed to notch up a single TD.

Remember, the Bears were very good value to make the play-offs last year before Cutler broke his thumb. The collapsed to an awful finish and missed the post-season by a mile. If he stays healthy, look for the Bears to make it this time, but I'm only saying that based on their talent, not that performance against the Broncos.

The Redskins squared up against the Bills in what was Robert Griffin III's first appearance as a pro. The game ended up with a turgid 7-6 scoreline in favour of the Washington team, who have their new superstar's arm to thank for the lone TD of the game.

Buffalo are still relying on Ryan Fitzpatrick to be their difference maker. O like the guy, but he would be a back-up on most any other team right now. Look for Vince Young to take the reigns of a team that plays with some serious cajones when they keep their heads up. Will the Bills make the play-offs?

Probably not.

The Redskins chances look a lot better, though. Unfortunately for them, they play in a loaded division, which resides to the East of an evermore competitive conference. All NFC teams will need to shoot for at least 10 wins to make it into the post-season and unless the Washington Redskins win their division, I can't see them getting in. 2 teams out of the NFC East? It's possible, but the Wild Card picture is so crowded (with the Lions, Bears and Packers of the North all looking good, the Falcons, Panthers AND Buccaneers snapping at the heels of a reeling New Orleans, the Cardinals showing flashes of dominance on D and proficiency under Skelton, and the Seahawks with the addition of former Green Bay back-up Matt Flynn throwing the ball to newly signed Terrell Owens, snagging one of the two available spots will be hard going).

In what should have been the most entertaining game of the week, the Patriots edged the Saints in a 7-6 grinder. With neither Brady nor Brees having a significant impact on their respective team's fortunes, we got a chance to see a carousel of roster players strutting their stuff in two misfiring offences. The Patriots got the ball to 11 different guys through the air, with the sole touchdown coming from rookie Britt Davis. Despite a promising start from the youngster, this game showed us little else save for Luke McCowen's solid performance (9/16 for 86 yards 0/0 TD/INT) under centre for the maligned Saints.

The World Champions once removed stuttered out of the gate, losing a rough one against the Chargers. The bright spot for me was the poised performance of rookie QB Graham Harrell for the Packers. He had 27 attempts, completed 15 for 135 yards and a touchdown. The Pack have a great record of drafting talent at the most important position in football. With at least 5 years to develop behind Rogers, barring a catastrophically early end to the top Quarterback's career, the future once again looks green & gold.

For the Chargers of San Diego, Antonio Gates (TE) and 3rd year pro, Curtis Brinkly (RB) looked fit and both scored. Good signs for the league's most prolific underachievers.

NEWSFLASH: Despite his Eagles beating the Steelers after a period of personal tragedy for coach Andy Reid, Michael Vick went down injured. Damn the preseason. The 24-23, fourth quarter comeback will be a poor salve should Vick not recover sufficiently. Fingers crossed he does.

Finally, the game of the preseason so far has to be the high-scoring contest between the Ravens and Falcons. The 31-17 run-out for these two play-off hopefuls was by far the most entertaining match-up on offer. I like Joe Flacco. There are not buts to come. I think he's got the skills to take this team over the top. Can his receivers hold on to his balls? Of course they can! The agonising drop at the end of the AFC Championship against the Pats was a blip (a mighty big one, but forgivable in time). Flacco had the most completions of all 4 QBs to suit up for the Ravens with the second least attempts. He kept a clean INT box, but was unable to find the end zone. that doesn't worry me. The Ravens are a GREAT team, who like to make statements. They have a huge chip on the shoulders as they are always considered with an air of doubt given their sharing of the AFC North with the super-successful Steelers, but time and time again they make it out of football's hardest nosed division and give us all a thrill in January.

Is this their year?

Like I said, it's too early to go making picks based on these largely meaningless games, but if any team looked ready to play some football, it was the Ravens.

It's good to be back.