It’s been two years since Blancpain unveiled Julien Royer as a Friend of the Brand and since then, the watchmaker and chef have gone from strength to strength. Royer recently opened another restaurant called Claudine, named after his mother, within Dempsey while Blancpain has continued releasing a slew of well-received timepieces including the Ladybird collection, a new Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon 8 Jours model and an ultra-rare, vintage Air Command watch updated for this era.

It’s the latter that Royer sports in the video below, which showcases the chef’s approach to cooking and how the precision required in his discipline is like the art of timekeeping.

As Royer says: “There is no good cooking without a certain level of discipline and this level of discipline goes with time and precision. These are the keys to a delicious dish.”

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Blancpain Air Command

Blancpain Air Command in titanium.
Blancpain Air Command in titanium.

In the video, Royer is wearing the new Blancpain Air Command in titanium. The Calibre F338B powers the watch and its chronograph functions and has a power reserve of 50 hours. There is also a variant in red gold and a 500-piece limited edition in the original specifications.

The original Air Command came out in the 1950s and was originally intended for the US Air Force – its aquatic counterpart had adopted the Fifty Fathoms. Only 12 prototypes were supposedly made, although no one really knows for sure since there was no official documentation. A few have popped up in auctions though and have gone under the hammer for significant amounts. In 2019, a vintage Air Command went for HK$1,125,000 (S$197,000) at a Philips Hong Kong auction.