It’s time for Blancpain to bring back the water-resistant minute repeater

Andrew O'Connor

Complicated sport watches, especially high-end complicated sport watches, seem to be an odd dichotomy. On one hand, we expect sports watches to be practical timepieces with usable features that make them functional and reliable tools. Haute horlogerie complications such as tourbillons, complex calendars, and minute repeaters are usually associated with precious metal cases and traditional designs – and watches that prioritise facilitating the intricate and often delicate mechanisms inside rather than any practical or ergonomic considerations. Take the extremely impressive Blancpain Grande Double Sonnerie that was released late last year: an impressively complicated watch that measures 47mm across and 14.5mm thick, and only has a 10-metre water resistance rating.

During the peak of large watches in the 2000s, we saw the release of a number of tourbillon-sporting dive watches with eye-watering price tags, indicating their intended use of being worn on parked yachts in Monaco rather than any serious ocean-going. Those still exist, in addition to several modern complicated sport watches with cases made of modern materials and rubber straps, but with too little water resistance to consider them a true sports watch.  Since then, there are now many accessible and usable tourbillon divers with very approachable designs, not only democratising the complication in its usability but price point, making them appealing to a wider range of collectors. The same can be said for some complex calendars and complicated chronographs. But what about other complications?

During that period of uber-extravagant watches in the early 2000s, Blancpain developed a couple of watches that, to me, were extremely interesting. In 1999, they released a minute repeater that was the first of its kind to be rated to 30 meters of water resistance, the Léman Répétition Minutes ref. 2135. That may not seem like much, but similar to the potential perils of using a chronograph underwater, the slider used to activate the minute repeater is a great point of weakness when it comes to water resistance, making it so that most minute repeaters have no water resistance rating whatsoever.

Blancpain then followed this development in 2007 with the Léman Aqua Lung Minute Repeater ref. 2835, another watch in its Léman collection that had a much more significant 100 meters of water resistance. These developments are revolutionary, yet they seem to be widely forgotten. With the recent release of the Grande Double Sonnerie putting Blancpain minute repeaters back in the spotlight, it got me thinking: why doesn’t Blancpain bring back the water-resistant minute repeater?

A quick history lesson: the Blancpain Léman collection

Modern Blancpain is a brand dominated by its sporty Fifty Fathoms collection, with the recently refreshed Villeret collection its dressy counterpart. However, Blancpain used to have a third collection that bridged the two. The 2100 and the Léman series of watches as a whole was Blancpain’s sporty-casual line, with more robust, larger cases (compared to the classic 33.5mm cases of the late 1980s) that offered usable durability, while still being offered with configurations you’d expect from a high-end brand, including grand complications and precious metal options (steel was also an option for most of these models). The 2100 series was offered in 38mm cases, with the evolution into the Léman series in 2002 bringing in 40mm case diameters.

The combination of high-end finishing, 38mm-40mm diameters, and increased durability makes them ideal for many modern collectors, and I think it is a shame these models don’t exist in the modern Blancpain catalogue. With a range of time-only models, ultra-thin watches, various chronographs, complex calendars, tourbillons, and minute repeaters, if it was a complication in Blancpain’s catalogue, it essentially made its way to the 2100/Léman series. This formula served as the platform for the reference 2135.

The 2135, as already mentioned, was released in 1999. Part of the 2100 series, it utilised the calibre 0035 that was released by Blancpain in 1988. This F.Piguet-based calibre was one of the smallest and thinnest minute repeating movements at the time of its release, measuring 23.9mm in diameter and a svelte 4.85mm thick. It was also possibly the first automatic winding minute repeater, beating other automatic winding repeating watches from IWC and Patek Philippe to market. If this wasn’t enough, the calibre 0035 utilises cathedral gongs, which are longer than traditional repeater gongs.

The case of the 2135 measures 38mm in diameter, with examples made in both pink and white 18k gold. With a screw-down crown, screw-in display case back, and the unique locking mechanism for the repeater, Blancpain was able to achieve a 30-meter water resistance rating. Most minute repeaters have no water resistance whatsoever – partly because the extra material needed to make a water-resistant case would dampen the repeater, but also because the pusher for the repeater is responsible for activating and winding the repeating mechanism. Finding a way to create an adequate seal around these components is extremely difficult, but Blancpain’s method of utilising a locking tab to keep the repeater slide in place when not in use proved to be a more than adequate solution.

From the information I have found about the 2135, the sound of the repeater is quieter than most others, yet it is still clearly audible and pleasant in timbre, likely due to the usage of the longer cathedral gongs. A longer gong will be lower in pitch, and lower frequencies transmit through materials better than higher frequencies. To further add to the practicality, the 2135 features applied indices with lume. I do find this pretty amusing, as the original purpose for minute repeaters was to facilitate telling the time in the dark for the ultra-wealthy. Lumed indices obviously make this obsolete, but that is besides the point of mechanical watch enthusiasm in the modern age.

The game changer: the Léman Aqua Lung Minute Repeater ref. 2835

Moving into the 21st century, and as Blancpain transitioned the 2100 series into the Léman line, the increase in case diameter also brought the introduction of titanium as a common case material for the range. At BaselWorld 2007, Blancpain unveiled the reference 2835, the Léman Aqua Lung Minute Repeater. With this model, Blancpain took the water-resistant minute repeater to the next level, offering a repeating timepiece with 100 meters of water resistance. They managed to ditch the locking mechanism and developed a new mechanism featuring an actuating lever with two racks and a transmission shaft.

The transmission shaft has two intermediate wheels that are fitted with O-ring gaskets, providing a water-tight seal. By isolating the movement and being able to seal the activating mechanism, in addition to the screw-down crown and screw-in case back, Blancpain was able to achieve 100 meters of water resistance, and patented this development.

The movement inside is the calibre 351, which, from what I can gather, is the calibre 0035 with the addition of the water-resistant repeater activating mechanism. The ref. 2835 measures 40mm in diameter, 10.84mm thick, and features a mostly solid case back instead of the display back seen on the reference 2135. The “mostly solid” case back does feature a small cutout to reveal the minute repeater hammers.

The Aqua Lung Minute Repeater was offered in titanium and rose gold, both with matte black dials and applied lumed indices. Especially in titanium, this reference could potentially be one of the most sleeper minute repeaters ever. Unfortunately, the 2835 was a piece unique in each material, which I imagine was due to the complexity of the water-resistant repeater activating mechanism. While I know this wouldn’t be a model that would be flying out of showrooms, it would make my heart at least a little happy to know there are a few more of these out in the world – and surely, with 2020s tech and skills, it might be something Blancpain can produce more widely.

Closing thoughts

Despite my love and appreciation for both Blancpain and minute repeaters, I think these seemingly forgotten references are important, not just for the brand but for watch enthusiasm as a whole. As I alluded to earlier, I think putting tourbillons in dive watches, as silly as it seems, did a great deal to make tourbillons more palatable to a wider audience. What was once one of the most high-end complications made almost exclusively in precious metal cases became something more widely wearable, both in style and durability. This led the way to brands developing more affordable versions, somewhat democratising the tourbillon.

I think Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo did the same thing for ultra-thin watches, especially the stainless steel models with 100 meters of water resistance. While those models are a little bit thicker, they are still mind-bogglingly thin. The steel Octo Finissimos are durable enough and styled in a way that a wider audience can not only appreciate them, but will actually wear them in their daily lives. Compared to the ultra-thin watches in precious metals that preceded the Octo Finissimo, Bulgari’s pricing almost seems like a steal.

I don’t see minute repeaters becoming accessibly priced any time soon, especially thin minute repeaters with cathedral gongs, but I do think making a minute repeater that is more widely wearable with what a broader audience likes in their luxury timepieces will go a long way to making the complication more approachable. I’m sure it won’t democratise repeating watches, but if Blancpain were to bring these models/developments back into production in the future, I think it would go a long way towards putting minute repeaters on more collectors’ radars.

Considering Blancpain’s history of both high horology and dive watches, something like the Aqua Lung Minute Repeater is an odd, albeit fantastic, way to combine those two lines of history.  I don’t think the world needs a Fifty Fathoms minute repeater, but a 38mm titanium cased repeater with a lumed dial and usable water resistance would be pretty damn cool.