Short answer
The Blancpain 1735 is a grand complication wristwatch. Blancpain introduced it in 1991. The model name comes from 1735, the year Jehan-Jacques Blancpain began making clocks in Villeret, Switzerland. The movement holds 740 parts. Blancpain built the watch in a small series for collectors, at a price in the high six figures.
Fake versions exist. Most copy the dial, the case shape, and the caseback engravings. Almost none copy the movement. A $150 fake cannot run a minute repeater, a tourbillon, a perpetual calendar, and a split-seconds chronograph at the same time. No factory does that work at that price.
What the real 1735 contains
- Tourbillon
- Minute repeater
- Perpetual calendar
- Split-seconds chronograph
- 740 components in one movement
- Platinum case
Blancpain and most auction houses describe the 1735 as a watch with five complications. The fifth item in that count varies by source. Blancpain has not published a complete production figure.
Three grades of fake
Quartz copies
Price range: $30 to $90. Stamped case, mineral glass, printed dial. The subdials are glued decorations. The pushers do nothing.
Cheap automatic copies
Price range: $80 to $250. A stock Chinese automatic movement with a rotor. One date window shows one number. The calendar subdials do not track month length.
High-end replicas
Price range: $400 to $1,200. Engraved bridges, blued screws, sapphire crystal, a display back with a decorated rotor. The complications still do not work. The repeater slide on these models moves a lever that strikes nothing.
Checks that take under a minute
- Pull the repeater slide. A real minute repeater chimes the hours, the quarters, and the minutes on two gongs. A fake gives a click or silence.
- Watch the tourbillon cage. It turns one full rotation per minute. A fake open-heart cutout shows a balance wheel that oscillates but never rotates.
- Set the calendar to February 28 in a non-leap year. A perpetual calendar jumps to March 1 on its own. A fake needs the crown turned by hand, or it displays February 31.
- Weigh the watch. Platinum has a density near 21.4 grams per cubic centimeter. Steel sits near 7.9. The real case feels heavy for its size.
- Read the caseback text. Fonts, spacing, and serial formats on fakes differ from factory engraving.
Legal status in the US
Counterfeit watches are illegal to import, sell, or traffic in the United States. Customs and Border Protection can seize and destroy them under 19 U.S.C. 1526. Trafficking carries up to 10 years in prison and a $2 million fine for an individual on a first offense under 18 U.S.C. 2320. Watches rank among the top product categories in CBP counterfeit seizures.
Blancpain is a Swatch Group brand. The group does not service counterfeit watches. A fake has no resale value at auction.
Open questions
Blancpain has not published the exact number of 1735 units made. Auction records list a small number of examples. Production numbers quoted on replica forums come from sellers, not from the brand.