Blancpain introduced two models to join its iconic Fifty Fathoms diver’s watches and celebrated the 60th anniversary of the launch of the original model with a dedicated exhibition and press conference at BaselWorld 2013.
First created in 1953, the original Fifty Fathoms watch is now 60 years old.
To celebrate this anniversary, Blancpain president and CEO Marc A Hayek welcomed important figures and partners from the diving world who have played, or still play an important role in ocean investigation, to the stand at BaselWorld. Guests included Jean-Jacques Fiechter, described as the father of the Fifty Fathoms as Blancpain president from 1950-1980; David Bennett, National Geographic vice president; Enric Sala, National Geographic explorer in residence; Krov Menuhin, Hans Hass Award Committee president and Gianluca Genoni, a free diver who has established multiple world records.
The press conference was filmed, see below.
The vintage-inspired Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe comes in a 2013 men’s and women’s version that incorportaes a silicon balance-spring.
The original Bathyscaphe diver’s watches were inspired by the abyssal underwater exploration of Swiss adventurer Jacques Piccard and introduced in the late 1950s as models for both men and women.
The latest version of the Bathyscaphe models are a modern take on the earlier versiona, incorporating technical innovations.
Features such as the watch hands maintain the traditional look of the vintage watches and the date appears through a dedicated aperture. Also in the same vein as the original, the new models have a luminescent dot on the bezel that serves to ensure the permanent readability of driving times.
Embracing latest technologies, the models use modern Blancpain calibres. Each of the mechanical self-winding movements beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour and a nonmagentic silicon balance spring can be seen through the watch’s sapphire crystal case back.
Additionally, the graduated scale in Blancpain’s amorphous metal alloy Liquidmetal helps avoid any deformation and makes for quality bonding with the ceramic bezel insert.
Each model is equipped with a unidirectional bezel activated by turning it counter clockwise in one-minute increments.
The new Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe is naturally water resistance to 30 bar, which is the equivalent of approximately 300 metres.
A triple-look Nato strap is a suitably sturdy strap for the timepieces.
