The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Education Thread

Well not about me educating you but me asking to be educated by all of you FF veterans...

The FF has caught my eye thanks to the many postings by Nico and of late Cazeala in Wristscan but there seem to be several variants. What are the differences between the variants and what should one look out for especially if considering a vintage variants ( I kinda much prefer the hands in the older iterations vis-a-vis the current model).?

Also, any tech spec info on PR, manual/automatic etc? Is the movement in-house, if not, where did they source the movement from? Patina versions more collectable etc? What's the deal with Milspec and US Navy? More collectable as only a small quantity produced etc? The story behind no radiation?

Thanks in advance.

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Vintage Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Aqua Lung No Radiation Bakelite Bezel Steel

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Ultra Rare Vintage Blancpain LIP Fifty Fathoms fully signed

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The problem with the Vintage FFs is to find them...

By: amanico : June 23rd, 2012-22:33

If you compare with the Rolex production, the Vintage FFs are much, waaaay much rarer, even if we can't say precisely how many were made, per year. They were produced for a period of circa 25 years. The pics you nposted are ALL about Vintage FFs, the last...

Thanks Nico

By: ArthurSG : June 24th, 2012-07:27

I have already read 2 of your excellent articles. You refer to "AM".. what is this? Any pics?

Help on Vintage FF

By: ArthurSG : June 24th, 2012-19:38

Hi Nico, I'm reading a lot over the past day or 2 on this. I'm getting the feel that the no radiation dial and the Polish Navy FFs seem to be relative to the rest, the most common and hence also, the ones with the most fakes and hence, the least desirable...

Sorry. MEant to PM this.

By: ArthurSG : June 24th, 2012-20:38

Nico, PLs delete this post on prices as pr forum rules. I meant to PM you on this. Apologies and hep you can help regardless.

Have a look on our Collectors market, Arthur.

By: amanico : June 24th, 2012-22:16

You will have an idea on the price of the No Rad, even if I find the last prices exagerated. Not that the No Rad is not a desirable watch, especially the Bund, but the Milspec, the TR 900, the AM, the 3 / 6 / 9 / 12, the R.I are, in my opinion, and accord...

Try this

By: TdotBean : June 23rd, 2012-23:04

Review-Blancpain: Autopsy of a Cult Watch: The Tornek Rayville. http://Blancpain.watchprosite.com/?show=nblog.post&ti=576456&fi=4 Vintage Fifty Fathoms: The difficult quest for information http://Blancpain.watchprosite.com/?show=nblog.post&ti=649611&fi=4 ...

ThanksAgent T

By: ArthurSG : June 24th, 2012-07:25

Very good informative reading.

To the experts

By: YASARGIL : June 24th, 2012-01:18

I did this answer several months ago... Do you know how many watches were made in each model? Nice watches!!!! Best regards, Mario.

Not for all the models As no archives were kept. Sadly. [nt]

By: amanico : June 24th, 2012-01:34

That is a lot of questions!

By: Briandumais : June 26th, 2012-04:42

Arthur You have asked a lot of questions and its very difficult to answer them all in one thread. But i think Nicolas is correct that the Am, pakistani, the US Navy and Tr-900 are the rarest. I am not a big fan of the Polish Navy but i am a huge fan of th...

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