Lot 355

Blancpain

Rolls / ATO

An important, early vintage wristwatch with "rolling" automatic winding mechanism and digital display

No, the movement is not loose. It is mounted on balls and moves up and down lengthwise in the case.
The patent was invented by French watchmaker and jeweller Léon Hatot (1883-1953), which is pronounced "ATO" and is reflected in the name of this model.
This Blancpain ATO was restored at Blancpain in Le Sentier in February 2024 and comes with a detailed restoration documentation and a copy of the Blancpain extract from the archives.
Rolls timepieces were manufactured in the 1930s. It is an exceptional heritage of the French watchmaker, jeweler and designer Léon Hatot (1883-1953) from the Art Deco period. First, Rolls featured manual movements. Then, in the early 1930s, Léon Hatot developed a specific unusual automatic winding system in which the movement itself served as the oscillating weight. This "ATO" system was patented and integrated into the collection.
On September, the 23rd, 1930, Blancpain decided to sign an agreement with Léon Hatot to integrate this exceptional heritage in order to perpetuate this historic innovation.

Hatot trained at the watchmaking school in Besançon from 1895 to 1898 and later studied at the University of the Arts. In 1905 he opened a shop in Besançon which specialised in the making and engraving of watch cases made from precious metals. In 1911 he took over the company Bredillard in Paris but also continued working in his previous manufactory. Hatot established a company producing battery-driven watches in 1919 and was joined by Marius Lavet in 1923; together with Lavet, Hatot began making the "ATO Pendulettes". In 1925 Hatot was awarded the Grand Prix der Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels for a collection of art deco-style electric clocks and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour.
1929 saw the development of a novel type of self-winding wristwatches ("Rolls"); however, more attention was paid to the small electric clocks Hatot introduced at the Colonial Exhibition in 1931. In 1933 Hatot took over the watch- and clockmaking workshop of Jean Paul Garnier, which had been in business in Paris for over 100 years; Hatot wanted to extend his range of models with this step. Production facilities were now centralised in Paris and the location in was downsized. In 1938 Marius Lavet registered a patent for the Lavet stepper motor for Hatot; the design is still used for quartz clocks today.
Hatot was particularly famous for the skillful and artistic execution of his custom-made timepieces. He was a founding member of the Société chronométrique de France and the designer of the annual trophy awarded to the winner of the chronometer test.