Blancpain

The larger case size of 43.6 might throw some people off but the watch is well proportioned and wears comfortably on the wrist. The larger case size also allows for a larger dial which makes this watch highly legible in both bright and low light conditions. The spartan design of the dial, large lume surface area and high polished indices and hands also help for easy time reading even in extreme low light conditions. In contrast, my main complaint about the submariner is it’s text filled small dial which looks disproportioned to the super case. I found out through Crown and Caliber’s guide to the Submariner that this watch only has a dial size of 30mm despite its large wrist presence! 

And on another note on legibility, I was also quite hesitant after Hodinkee pointed out that the hour and minute hands are similarly sized and makes time telling a tad more difficult when they are close together. But after getting some wrist time, the slight differences in size is more than enough to differentiate the 2 hands. I still cannot comment on reading the time while under water. 

As for the uni-directional bezel, the Bathyscaphe and Submariner both have good resistance which prevents it from being moved accidentally. The Bathyscaphe however feels more rough but in a good way as you would expect from a well made tool watch. The Submariner is smoother and makes me think that the mechanism is made with smaller parts. Quality on both watches are superb but I would give Blancpain a few more points simply for the high polish markers and the movement. 

The Bathyscaphe also come with a display case back, 120 hours of power reserve and is water resistant to 50 fathoms or 300 meters. The movement also allows for quick set date but the Rolex Submariner’s date change is far more superior and fast. The date change at midnight for the Bathyscaphe is not instantaneous. 

And lastly, the nato strap is well built and feels as luxurious as the watch but is tedious to wear. I would still prefer to upgrade to the simplicity of a double folding buckle when I get a chance to travel again since we currently do not have any Blancpain ADs in the country. 

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