Ornatus-Mundi[Zenith]
7136
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe
Nov 15, 2013,12:32 PM
Blancpain's Bathyscaphe historically was the poor sister of the famous Fifty Fathoms, one of the first really useful diving watches, technically much less demanding and offered at a lower price point. There are countless variations, and poor documentation make it really challenging to (i) catalogue and (ii) authenticate them. Here are a few I found on the net:
Many of us had the same feelings towards the Fifty Fathoms - a superb 'but' luxurious sports watch - to precious to be used in rough waters. Thus this report starts with a flashback almost three years into the past: in our Basel 2011 report on Blancpain we, Magnus & Oliver:
"Let’s face it: The ultimate legitimation for the modern Fifty Fathoms would be its certification for any military, explorative or other physically demanding operation.
I am sure that such a certification would drive the watch world crazy. But I am also certain that this will not happen. Not because the Fifty Fathoms would not stand such a test (I assume it would), but it would be much too expensive.
So what I would like to see is a 'budget' Fifty Fathoms with a less elaborate bezel, a more basic case and less expensive finishing but built to withstand the elements as the current one - this does not really fit into Blancpain's haute horlogerie philosophie, doesn't it?
WAIT – there was once a watch called 'Bathyscaphe'...? We almost pray in unison: Hope, is there hope?" [stated
here]
On BaselWorld 2013, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, our wish became reality:
Blancpain presented a range of three Bathyscaphe watches, two 43mm models for the gentleman, one in steel with an anthracite dial and one in ceramised titanium, respectively, and one 38mm model in white for the sporty ladies:
We got what we (and may others) wanted, simplified, smaller and more affordable, but the reactions were quite mixed, including our own personal feelings. I'll get to that later in the conclusions, as I think that's an interesting experience.
So I was very surprised (and very excited as well) and one day in late summer I got a phone call from Swatch Group Germany asking me whether I wanted to have a Blancpain
Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe for a couple of days for a photo-shoot!
Of course I accepted and a few days later a parcel arrived - not with one, but with
all three versions:
What follows are image-heavy posts (thanks to the fact that I could use the atelier of Jakob Kirchmayr in Vienna as shooting location and source of inspiration), but I hope going through them is worth your time and bandwidth!
Best,
Magnus
This message has been edited by Ornatus-Mundi on 2013-11-15 11:16:08