Astrolabium
Earlier I posted a message about my visit to a watch event called watch2008 and the fact that I was absolutely stunned by the Christiaan van der Klaauw Astrolabium. I also mentioned that this was one of three highlights at the event.
Although the Astrolabium was in fact THE highlight for me that day (and for a long time to come I imagine), I still feel that the other 2 highlights may not go unmentioned. So in this post I will tell you about the first runner-up of the event.
Unfortunately I was unable to take good pictures of the piece, because there were only 2 of them present. This is quite an accomplishment if you consider the fact that only 3 were made 
So two thirds of the world production was present at the event 
The reason that there are only 3 so far is that they are made on order. The good thing about that is that they remain very exclusive and you can have it made according to your own wishes. Of the 2 watches that were there one was in a display case with nasty lighting, making it practically impossible for me to take decent pictures. The other was on the wrist of the man that built it. He showed it to me briefly but I didn’t get a chance to take a good picture of it. 
Well, I hear you thinking “come on already, what special timepiece are you talking about? You’re beginning to sound like Oscar Wilde. Even though he used up 6 pages for merely describing a painted picture, you are taking up 250kb describing a watch and we still don’t know what’s so special about it.” Hmmmm……could it be that the wearer of this watch never ages??? 
Alright, alright, I’ll get to it then.
I’m talking about the Blancier World Timer 1. The thing is, worldtimers aren’t all that exclusive anymore. Most respected brands have one in their collection. However, this watch doesn’t just show you the time and give a second dial to show a second time-zone……..it shows ALL timezones at once…..including the irregular ones like for instance the one in India. That’s interesting isn’t it? The mechanism uses a circular representation of the earth map which rotates counter-clockwise underneath the dials. Every 24 hours the map completes a 360 degree rotation, just like the real thing
Unfortunately the above picture is the only good one I found online. Like I said, my own pictures turned out pretty bad but maybe I’ll post them later anyway, just to give you an impression, although they will not look very good I’m afraid.
Read more about it here: http://www.blancier.com/en/blancier.php
and here: http://www.blancier.com/files/press/insync/aug07_bwt1.jpg
Hi Vincent,
Great post!!! Great content, funny, and beautifully formatted!
Thank you for sharing this unique timepiece with us. You’re educating me about brands and watches I never knew about!
That is so cool that the watch is built-to-order. The price is nice too
. I love how the globe is painted on the face, and it moves! Sweet! I wish there was a video of this watch in action… that would be sweet!
Take care
Nazmul
Well Nazmul, actually there is a movie: http://www.blancier.com/files/press/weltzeituhr_high.avi
Hi Vincent
Check out your post again. I’ve just added the video inside your post
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Take care
Nazmul.
Hi Vincent,
This is by far the coolest post on the entire site! Great job and on it!!! I love the watch though I thought it would be like $100,000, so I i guess for a custom made watch with all those functions it is a good value for the money?? maybe? Thanks so much for sharing this rare timepiece with us! I think if I were to get one made for me it would be steel and 35mm, i am not sure if they come in diff sizes…??
The back is really beautiful too, i think you could flip it around inside out, and wear the back side facing out and it would still look cool, LOL! It would be a fashion statement!! I have seem some Breguets where the back is a pretty as the front and its sad you cant see that side more. Perhaps we can start a new trend of displaying the backs of our cases?? heheh
Izabel
Yes, the price is actually quite modest for a custom made watch, especially featuring a patented movement like the worldtimer.
I do think the because of the movement they might not be able to vary the size, not sure though. Maybe you should send them an e-mail to enquire about the possible customizations.
By the way: they als offer “regular” watches with custom finishes. If you look at the website (http://www.blancier.com/en/blancier.php) and click the button “Your watch”, you get a kind of workshop where you can combine different choices for movement, casing, strap, dials, watchface, crown, etc.
These customised “regular” watches start at around 450 pounds (which at the moment is about 684 USD) so that is definitely not bad.
Even cooler is their offering of a watchmakers experience. They give the opportunity to visit their watchmaking facility where you get a pre-arranged (same custom options as the website offers I think) unpolished/unfinished watch, they explain a little bit about watchmaking skills and then you are given the tools and guidance to take the watch apart.
When it is in pieces you get to finish the pieces yourself (finishing means adding the Geneva striping to the movement, blue-ing the screws if you so desire and polishing the individual pieces of the movement). When all the finishing has been done, they let you put it back together and after the two days are over you take the watch home with you. If you want, the face can be stamped with your name or another text but you’d have to tell them beforehand I think. This is an experience I would consider trying sometime.
Depending on the choices you make for the watch the costs range from approx. 1297 USD and up. Not bad for such a cool experience and the memory in the form of a watch you disassembled and reassembled yourself, right?
WOW that is sweeet! I cant get over the reasonable price.
I would love to do something like that, this gives me ideas for the future. If only I had tons of money, I could make a contest on Drivelikeagirl and a give away sweepstakes where the winner gets a free trip there, or something. I wish I could do that for you guys!! One day I hope!
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Thanks so much for the information. I am currently not THAT into the inner workings and movements but after a trip to the Blancier facility I would be!!!
Wow. That is too cool! I agree, for such a cool watch, the price is reasonable, given what the others are charging. Thanks for educating me further on Blancier. What a cool company. I would love to attend the watchmakers experience! What a great concept!!! I love the idea of that level of customization on a watch. I would definitely have a strong connection with a watch that I disassembled and reassembled myself, and I would have a greater appreciation for it all
. This is too cool!!!
Blancier is quickly becoming a very interesting watch company for me. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen any of their pieces
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Thanks again for sharing such great information with the community and raising my level of awareness on all the cool stuff that’s out there. Do you think you can take this comment and make a post out of it? I think this is too good just to be left as a comment, no?
Take care
Nazmul.
Hello Vincent,
Great post!
I spotted the Blancier World Timer 1 as well, which is a unique timepiece created by the Lotterman & Soehne watchmaker(s). This World Timer also can display 0.5 hour differences in time zones. I did write a blogpost on the entire Watch2008 event, but the coverage on Blancier is also included: http://www.fratellowatches.com/archives/2008/12/10/watch-2008-report/
The only con of this World Timer is, that I think the colors of the map are ugly. But since it is built-on-order, you probably can have some influence on the colors of the dial.
Robert-Jan