Blancpain was established in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in Villeret, in what is now the Bernese Jura. One of the most successful Blancpain watches has been the Fifty Fathoms, which was launched in 1953 and remains a cornerstone of the Blancpain watch collection today. More recently, Blancpain introduced an extreme divers’ version of this piece, called the X Fathoms.

The Blancpain brand was purchased on 9 January 1983 by Jacques Piguet, the son of Frédéric Piguet, and Jean-Claude Biver. Production was moved to Le Brassus, in the Vallée de Joux. The company was later purchased by the Swatch Group and Marc A. Hayek has been the CEO since 2002. In 2010 the company became vertically integrated with the take-over of Frédéric Piguet SA, which had been supplying Blancpain with movements and components.