UP IN THE AIR

Blancpain’s Air Command follows its other siblings in embracing the green dial trend, with two limited editions that we are betting will fly off the showcases.

Darren Ho

The mid-20th century was really a milestone-making era for Blancpain. Not only was it helmed by the first female chief executive in the watch industry, but it was also setting important accomplishments. The Fifty Fathoms launched an entirely new category of tool watches and defined the standard for diving timepieces. And the aviation-centric Air Command also presented a flyback chronograph complication, making it one of the first brands to follow Longines in this achievement successfully. Blancpain had two case sizes for the Air Command, 36mm and 42mm. An early model owned by Jacques Cousteau was actually ordered by him in 1949, even though it was only delivered much later. The flyback chronograph function, an essential capability for pre-radar civil aviation in the past, allowed pilots to reset the chronograph with…

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CROWN (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 4 2024

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