Blancpain is celebrating 40 years of its relationship with Haute Cuisine through a new video series starring its partner Chefs. The Maison describes four decades of shared passion with some of the greatest names in international gastronomy, a circle of friends that now represents more than 100 Michelin stars.
For a watchmaker, such a partnership may seem to sit outside the usual language of cases, calibres, and complications. Yet Blancpain frames this long relationship as part of its Art of Living universe, where precision, craftsmanship, emotion, and hospitality belong to the same world.
Four decades of Blancpain and gastronomy
The new series begins with a throwback video retracing Blancpain’s relationship with gastronomy across four decades. Built around archival footage and historical milestones, the opening film looks back at the origins and development of this story, which the Maison says remains part of Blancpain’s DNA today.
This is not presented as a simple sponsorship exercise. Blancpain describes these Chefs as long-standing friends of the Maison, figures who have helped shape the way the brand approaches hospitality. In that sense, the anniversary is less about a campaign and more about a culture Blancpain has cultivated over time.
Blancpain’s circle of Michelin-starred friends
Blancpain’s Art of Living universe currently includes a wide circle of internationally renowned chefs. Among them are Martín Berasategui in Spain and Dubai, Julien Royer in Singapore and Hong Kong, Glenn Viel in France, Hideaki Matsuo in Japan, Mathias Sühring and Thomas Sühring in Thailand, Christopher Coutanceau in France, Christophe Hay in France, Rui Paula in Portugal, Dominik Sato and Fabio Toffolon in Switzerland, Holger Bodendorf in Germany, Son Jongwon in South Korea, and Juan Amador in Austria.
Together, this community represents a broad culinary geography, from Europe to Asia, united by Blancpain’s chosen themes of excellence, precision, craftsmanship, and emotion. Those words belong naturally to fine watchmaking, but the Maison is clearly extending them into the rituals of the table as well.
Expanding the Swiss family
Blancpain is also strengthening its ties with Switzerland’s gastronomic scene by welcoming new Switzerland-based talents to its Art of Living universe. The new names include Olivier Jean in Geneva, Titouan Claudet in Geneva, Peter Knogl in Basel, and Charline Pichon in Crissier.
This Swiss expansion gives the anniversary a local dimension. While the Maison’s circle is international, the addition of chefs based in Geneva, Basel, and Crissier reinforces the connection between Blancpain’s Swiss identity and the country’s own culture of exceptional dining.
Vampirsky take
A fine watch and a fine meal are both arguments against haste. Each asks for attention. Each rewards patience. Each depends on hands trained over years to make something appear effortless.
Blancpain’s 40-year relationship with Haute Cuisine is therefore not as distant from watchmaking as it may first seem. The watchmaker and the chef both work against disappearance: one preserving moments in metal and movement, the other making memory from flavour, service, and time shared at the table.
In this new video series, Blancpain does not simply point to celebrity names or Michelin stars. It points to a quieter idea of luxury, one built through friendship, continuity, craft, and the rituals that make time worth measuring.
Source: Newsletter/email received by Vampirsky.
