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Despite being around for only a few years, Bianchet have established themselves as one of the big names of the haute horlogerie, revered for their tourbillon watches that bring sophisticated Italian aesthetics and cutting-edge mechanics. This brand was born in 2017 from the shared passion of husband and wife Rodolfo and Emmanuelle Festa Bianchet. Before entering the world of watchmaking, Rodolfo had a reputable career in the fintech sector, while Emmanuelle Festa was a journalist with a keen interest in music and painting. Thanks to Rodolfo’s experience developing tech based on numbers and algorithms and his love for watches, he founded Bianchet with his wife as an independent watch brand based in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Although it took almost four years before the launch of their first timepiece, the brand immediately stood out for their unique and bold take on high watchmaking. The inaugural watch B1.618 Openwork featured a perfect tonneau-shaped case and an exposed tourbillon movement governed by the principles of the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio. This timepiece laid the foundation of the brand’s nonconformist tone, setting a standard in innovation.
A True Maison Of Haute Horlogerie
The sine quo nons of haute horology have been well nurtured by Bianchet in pursuit of timeless beauty. The maison utilise the golden ratio of 1.618 to create perfectly structured cases and movements. As a result, every Bianchet watch is beautiful inside and out.
For the movement, not only did the brand opt for watchmaking’s most difficult-to-produce complication — tourbillon — as a cardinal element, but further graced this complex mechanism with unique details and architecture. Bianchet’s in-house flying tourbillon movement is entirely crafted from grade 5 titanium. The bridges, both on the front and back, along with the tourbillon escapement and other components are positioned per the geometric rule of golden circles. Therefore, the timepiece’s visage is truly a spectacle on the wrist.
Bianchet use a revolutionary material called titanium-dust-high-density-carbon to construct their timepieces. This material is lightweight and is composed of 500 compressed layers of thick carbon fibre, infused with titanium powder. Not only is this material highly practical but it is also stylish, perfectly embodying the brand's philosophy of combining style and performance. The inclusion of titanium powder makes the surface reflective, while the carbon fibres are stacked at 45 and 90-degree angles, creating a unique marbled pattern.
The B1.618 Collection
The brand’s current line-up includes two bold creations — the Flying Tourbillon B1.618 Grande Date and the Flying Tourbillon B1.618 Sport GMT. Released in 2023 as a limited edition of 200 pieces, Grande Date was a loyal descendant of the B1.618 Openwork watch, carrying a similar tonneau case crafted from the brand’s ingenious carbon fibre material. This new timepiece introduced the practical date complication into the brand’s repertoire, emphasising that Bicnachet watches are as much at home in real-world scenarios as they are in the sphere of high-end watchmaking. Hammering home this notion was the brand’s subsequent release — Sport GMT. Launched in 2024, this Bianchet model also aims at making haute horology more functional. Sport GMT is a standout travel watch that embodies maison’s recognised design codes while giving something new to the patrons to gush over.