IF ONLY WALLS COULD SPEAK - Blancpain
IF ONLY WALLS COULD SPEAK - Blancpain
IF ONLY WALLS COULD SPEAK - Blancpain
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SHORT TAKES FROM THE BLANCPAIN NEWS-WIRE<br />
PRINCE ALBERT II REWARDS<br />
THE WORK OF ARTIST<br />
JEAN-MICHEL FOLON<br />
This year, the theme of <strong>Blancpain</strong>’s 6th participation<br />
in the Monaco Yacht Show was a celebration<br />
of Monaco’s maritime heritage. In<br />
honor of this partnership, Prince Albert II of<br />
Monaco personally rewarded artist Jean-<br />
Michel Folon with an exceptional watch, the<br />
<strong>Blancpain</strong> Léman Aqualung Monaco Yacht<br />
Show 2005.<br />
A multi-talented artist, Jean-Michel Folon<br />
has given a new lease on life to a 1930s boat<br />
that was inexorably degrading into a wreck.<br />
This superb vessel, entirely restored in keeping<br />
with the noblest shipbuilding traditions<br />
and christened Over the Rainbow, is moored<br />
in the Monaco harbor.<br />
Jean-Michel Folon and His Serene Highness<br />
Prince Albert II.<br />
Produced in a limited numbered edition of<br />
150, the Léman Aqualung Monaco Yacht<br />
Show 2005 is distinguished by its case-back<br />
engraved with the legendary Monaco lighthouse<br />
and by the Monaco coat of arms<br />
adorning its ebony black dial. Each watch in<br />
this limited series is accompanied by a portfolio<br />
on lighthouses illustrated, numbered<br />
and signed by artist Jean-Benoît Héron.<br />
Nicolas G. Hayek Sr and Marc A. Hayek<br />
Welcoming more than 300 members of the<br />
press and collectors from around the world,<br />
<strong>Blancpain</strong> brought its 270th Anniversary<br />
celebration to a climax with two spectacular<br />
openings on October 6th and 7th.<br />
Long a home to the creation of its most<br />
64 | 65<br />
BLANCPAIN CELEBRATES THE RE-OPENING OF THE LE BRASSUS ATELIER<br />
AND THE DEBUT OF THE EXHIBIT “TRADITION OF INNOVATION”<br />
complicated watches, the Le Brassus workshop,<br />
lovingly called the “farmhouse” within<br />
<strong>Blancpain</strong>, has become a symbol of the<br />
manufacture. <strong>Blancpain</strong>’s CEO Marc A. Hayek<br />
accompanied by Nicolas G. Hayek cut the ribbon<br />
to formally reopen the atelier whose