From her first turns of the needle, she accompanied all the pioneers of scuba diving, seven decades ago. This year, Blancpain is celebrating, act after act, the anniversary of its legendary Fifty Fathoms. The assets that made its success on the wrist under the waves remain as relevant as ever: foolproof watertightness, a robust secure crown system, a self-winding movement, a dark dial contrasting with luminescent indications, a lockable rotating bezel and anti-magnetic protection.
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3. Judikael Hirel
This is where it all began, in the Mediterranean, not far from Cannes, that the Swiss brand unveiled the third edition to mark these 70 years of the Fifty Fathoms. An Act 3 limited edition in bronze gold, 555 pieces, echoing the model's rich military history. Called "Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3", this model is inspired by the MIL-SPEC model, adopted by the main armed forces of the time. On its dial is the water resistance badge of the original 1957 models, used to indicate to divers that the watch has not been damaged by another diver during a previous mission.
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3. Judikael Hirel
It was during a dive in his favorite place, Cannes, that Jean-Jacques Fiechter, co-CEO of Blancpain at the time and an avid diver, suddenly ran out of air. An experience that made him realize how vital it was for divers to have a time measuring instrument adapted to the needs of scuba diving. With the pioneers of French combat swimmers, he imagined the Fifty Fathoms, the first real diver's watch in the world, because it was truly designed by and for divers.
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3. Judikael Hirel
As on the piece formerly used by the US Navy, we find here a matte black dial with water resistance pad and indexes in vintage Super-LumiNova, a unidirectional rotating bezel with black ceramic insert with a diving scale in vintage Super-LumiNova. It is offered on a two-tone NATO bracelet with the color code of the original piece and from fishing nets recovered from the oceans. But here the MIL-SPEC on which the anniversary model is inspired was made of maillechort, the Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3 is dressed with Bronze Gold 9K, a patented alloy enriched with 37.5% gold (hallmarked 9K), copper – 50%, this allowing it to obtain the name "bronze" –, silver, palladium and gallium. An alloy promising better longevity, oxidation in vert-de-gris being blocked by the addition of gold.
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3. Judikael Hirel
In this 9 bar waterproof 30K Gold Bronze case, which takes the 41.30 mm of the historic MIL-SPEC, is the 1154.P2 movement. Its double barrel gives the part a power reserve of 100 h, a silicon hairspring guaranteeing the movement resistance to magnetism. For the first time, Blancpain offers a 1000 gauss version of its movement, thanks to the use of this material coupled with exclusive alloys for the escapement.
A case inspired by a waterproof camera case. Judikael Hirel
Limited to 555 pieces, the Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3 is offered at around 32000,<> euros, and presented in a case inspired by a waterproof historic camera case, which echoes Blancpain's ocean protection initiatives. Indeed, underwater photography having developed at the same time as the diver's watch, it has highlighted the discovery of the seabed.
