Shakespeare. The deep sea. The intuition of an extraordinary character like Jean-Jacques Fiecther. A timepiece, later to become a collection, that wrote epic pages in underwater watchmaking. These, in short, are the ingredients of a story that for 70 years has marked the path of the Fifty Fathoms in the world of hands. (here all our posts on Blancpain)
Blancpain and the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms
In 2023, the Swiss watchmaker wanted to celebrate this important milestone by presenting three new references in as many limited and celebratory series. And so, just as in a play, Blancpain wanted to represent this important anniversary in three acts. The star of Act 1 was the new collection in three series of 70 pieces each. Each series is dedicated to a region of the world, (EMEA, Asia-Pacific, the Americas), and bears a number from I to III on the dial. Black with a soleil finish, it features vintage-look luminescent block hands and hour markers. The watch case, topped by the famous unidirectional bezel with a domed sapphire crystal insert, is made of polished steel and measures 42 mm, an exclusive diameter.
Tech Gombessa
A few months later, the curtain rose on the Act2. It is a unique watch. Christened ‘Tech Gombessa’, it allows for the first time to measure dive time with a time lapse of up to 3 hours. An innovation co-developed by Marc A. Hayek, President & CEO of Blancpain, and Laurent Ballesta, founder of the Gombessa project. Its release was also intended to commemorate 10 years of Gombessa, an initiative to the creation of which Blancpain contributed by becoming a founding partner of the project from its inception in 2013. A distinguishing feature of the timepiece is the bezel which, unlike those found on dive watches, displays a graduation on a 3-hour scale.
This is connected to a special hand, which makes one complete revolution in 180 minutes, whose material and colour, a green-emitting white luminescent coating, is matched to those of the indices. To ensure better readability in low light conditions, the dial features a brand new finish: an asso-silver black, whose structure has the particularity of capturing 97% of light. In the same vein, the hour markers are made up of luminescent bomb-shaped block applications, this time in a blue-emitting orange colour, which are also found on the hour and minute hands for the purpose of distinguishing the hour information of the dive times. As for the material of the 47mm case, grade 23 titanium was favoured. Recently introduced by Blancpain in its collections, grade 23 titanium, also known as grade 5 ELI (extra low interstitials or “with very few inclusions”), is the purest type of titanium available.
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3
An unprecedented material just like the one used to make the case of the Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3. A limited edition of 555 pieces inspired by the MIL-SPEC, it has a diameter of 41.30 mm and is made of gilded bronze. This third commemorative timepiece is directly inspired by its non-magnetic ancestor used by the US Navy. It features a matte black dial with water-resistance indicator and vintage Super-LumiNova® indices, a unidirectional rotating bezel with a black ceramic insert and vintage Super-LumiNova® diving scale, as well as a two-tone NATO strap that echoes the colour code of the original model and is made from fishing nets removed from the oceans. The functions of this timepiece are governed by the 1154.P2 movement, the first with a resistance of 1000 gauss thanks to a silicon hairspring to resist magnetism. So far, the first 70 years of the Fifty Fathoms. And the next ones? In this case, the story begins with the new Fifty Fathoms Automatique.
The new Fifty Fathoms Automatique
And the next ones? In this case, the story begins with the new Fifty Fathoms Automatique. The collection comes in the wake of the Act 1 celebratory edition presented last year with which it shares the 42mm case diameter. For the material, however, the choice fell on red gold and titanium.
These are the two distinctive elements that project into the future a collection destined to write more pages of history for the joy of watchmaking enthusiasts and especially for lovers of the sixth continent. But more on this in the next article. Stay tuned!
Matteo Zaccagnino
