Last year, Blancpain reintroduced its iconic Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe in a Sedna® gold case with a blue dial. This isn't the first time the Bathyscaphe has been housed in a gold case, but it is the first time Blancpain pairs the Swatch Group's patented rose gold alloy with a blue dial. In a world oversaturated with bulky, tool-oriented divers, the Bathyscaphe wins the prize for elegance. As a civilian descendant of the military Fifty Fathoms, the 'first modern dive watch' of 1953, the Bathyscaphe meets ISO 6425 dive watch standards but stands out with a smaller case size and more refined design. Combining the best of both worlds, the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe can dive to depths of 300 meters while looking elegant enough for more formal shore outings. The watch will be released in 2020, here's what we discovered.
A BRIEF DIVE
Most of you are familiar with the history of the Fifty Fathoms model, a professional diving watch released in 1953 by Blancpain for the French Navy's combat divers. The watch was developed by Jean-Jacques Fiechter, then CEO of Blancpain and an avid diving enthusiast, and later refined at the request of Captain Robert Maloubier for his unit of combat swimmers (frogmen) of the French Navy. They needed a robust diving watch with a large black dial, bold numerals, clear markings, and a rotating bezel to track dive time. Blancpain released the Fifty Fathoms - a robust automatic 42mm dive watch with water resistance to 50 fathoms (91.45 m) and magnetic protection. Challenging Rolex's patent on the screw-down crown, Blancpain developed a crown system with two gaskets to achieve the necessary depth.
Following the successful dive of the Fifty Fathoms model, Blancpain CEO Jean-Jacques Fiechter noticed a niche for smaller civilian diving watches. As a result, the Bathyscaphe model appeared in 1956 with a more wearable 37mm case. Named after the deep-sea diving vessel invented by Auguste Piccard, the Bathyscaphe watch remained a formidable underwater companion but represented a growing trend towards diving watches appearing in various everyday life contexts. Besides the smaller diameter, thinner rotating bezel, and rectangular indexes that distinguished them from the powerful tool watches of the Fifty Fathoms, the Bathyscaphe also featured a practical date window. Although initially intended for different clients, these two lines eventually merged into one collection: the Fifty Fathoms.
Following the update to the Fifty Fathoms model in 2007, the Bathyscaphe model was upgraded in 2013 to restore some aesthetic features of the first edition, including the original sharply defined case contours. The new 43mm case size, thinner, scratch-resistant unidirectional rotating ceramic bezel, dials, and hands reminiscent of the earliest Bathyscaphe versions became part of the update, as did the automatic Blancpain caliber 1315 - the same one used in the Fifty Fathoms Automatique model. Three winding barrels provide a five-day power reserve, and another innovation was the use of a silicon balance spring. Since silicon is an anti-magnetic material, there was no need for a traditional soft iron case to protect the movement, and the movement itself can be seen through the sapphire crystal caseback.
Over the decades, Bathyscaphe watches have been enriched with new complications, including a flyback chronograph in 2014, and then a green version in 2020. Even with such a complex complication as the flyback chronograph, the Bathyscaphe retains its purpose as a utilitarian watch for 300-meter dives. In 2018, the Bathyscaphe returned to the market by releasing two models in the 1970s style: the Day Date 70s with a gradient dial and the Day Date Desert Edition dedicated to the desert. In 2019, it strengthened its position by releasing the Quantième Complet Phase de Lune model.
LUXURIOUS SEDNA GOLD CASE
As many ONEWATCH readers know, Sedna® gold is a patented alloy developed by the Swatch Group using gold, copper, and palladium. Designed to ensure the longevity of red gold color, the Bathyscaphe has plunged into these luxurious waters. To emphasize the Bathyscaphe's sporty character, the sharp contours of the case are satin-finished. The watch, measuring 43mm in diameter and 13.40mm in height, has sporty dimensions but is not too large for everyday wear. The caseback and dial are protected by sapphire crystal, and the water resistance is 300 meters.
Even the unidirectional rotating bezel with a coin-edge profile is made of Sedna gold and equipped with a blue ceramic insert with Ceragold® markers - another Swatch Group innovation. The combination of dark blue ceramic (a good choice for diving in saltwater) and rose gold is exceptionally beautiful. Moreover, the fact that the case is matte rather than polished dispels any associations with flashy, ostentatious gold diving watches.
Conveying the rich dark blue color of the ocean, the dial highlights Blancpain's strong ties to the diving world and its commitment to ocean conservation. The blue dial plays with light, creating mesmerizing shimmering reflections. Rectangular and dot-shaped hour markers, also made of Sedna gold, are applied to the blue dial and filled with Super-LumiNova luminous material to enhance visibility, a must for any professional diving watch.
As in the Bathyscaphe watches of the 1950s, the hour and minute hands are thick and rectangular with wide strips of luminous material. The central seconds hand also features a luminous lollipop and a red tip. What always strikes me about the Bathyscaphe watches is their astonishing and ultimately refined minimalism. Some may argue about the date window, but it was an original design feature of Fiechter's. Discreetly positioned between the '4' and '5' o'clock markers, the date window has a blue background to match the dial.
AUTOMATIC CALIBER 1315
The reverse side with a 12-sided golden profile reveals the automatic Blancpain caliber 1315, which was introduced in 2007 for the more sporty and large Fifty Fathoms series. The heavy, large rotor made of 18-carat Sedna gold with sandblasted and satin finishes drives the three barrels that provide a powerful 120-hour/5-day power reserve. The balance spring, as mentioned earlier, is made of silicon and impervious to magnetic fields. The finishing is not Haute Horlogerie, but it suits the character of the watch: perlage, beveled bridges. The caliber, with a frequency of 4 Hz/28,000 vph, measures 30.60 mm x 5.65 mm and consists of 227 components.
CONCLUSIONS
In a word, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe is an anomaly in the world of dive watches. The watch possesses all the necessary qualities, but its relatively restrained proportions and elegance make it an ideal companion in virtually any situation on land. The combination of Sedna gold and a sunburst blue dial is mesmerizing, and the matte gold surfaces smooth out the potentially brash Midas vibe.
Although we only have photos of the canvas strap, the watch is also available with a blue NATO strap with Sedna gold buckles. The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe (Ref. 5000-36S40) in Sedna gold is priced at 23,450 euros.
Further information on the Blancpain website.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS – BLANCPAIN FIFTY FATHOMS BATHYSCAPHE SEDNA GOLD
Case: 43 mm diameter x 13.40 mm height – Sedna gold case, matte – unidirectional Sedna gold bezel with blue ceramic insert with Ceragold markers – sapphire crystals front and back – screw-down crown – water resistance 300 m
Dial: blue sunburst dial – applied Sedna gold indexes and hands with Super-LumiNova coating
Movement: caliber 1315, in-house – automatic – 35 jewels and 227 components – 30.60 mm x 5.65 mm – 28,800 vph – 120-hour power reserve on three barrels – silicon balance spring – hours, minutes, seconds, date
Strap: blue canvas strap with Sedna gold buckle – blue NATO strap with Sedna gold hardware
References: 5000-36S40-O52A – canvas strap
5000-36S40-NAOA – NATO strap
Price: 23,450 EUR