Blancpain closes one of its most exceptional years after the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, the first technical diving watch that was celebrated in style, in three events, and with three unique watches created for each of those occasions. They are special editions, very special, that have become, as expected, an object of desire. A must have for true collectors.
It all started at the beginning of the year with the first of the acts, Act 1, a watch focused on the present, to pay tribute to the contemporary Fifty Fathoms. He continued with Act 2, which focused on the future, introduced a useful innovation for technical diving: for the first time it allows dives of up to 3 hours. And it ended, in style, with Act 3 in an extraordinary meeting of the brand with collectors and retailers with an eye to the past and paying tribute to a coveted vintage model. Because it was precisely there, in the waters of Cannes, that this essential tool for professionals was born, the Fifty Fathoms, the watch that established the technical foundations for diving models of the modern era.
Jean-Jaques Fiechter, who was CEO of Blancpain between 1950 and 1980, is responsible for all this madness in which Blancpain has immersed itself in recent years because he was the one who, after a bad, very bad experience, during an immersion in the who was very close to running out of oxygen and, of course, dying, he sat down to design a watch to avoid new scares.
Only based on his experience, just so that what happened to him underwater would not happen again to anyone, he drew a watch almost out of nothing with the first double gasket system that prevented water from passing through the crown. He thus invented the first rotating bezel that allowed diving times to be measured and, most importantly, he equipped it with a unidirectional lock to prevent it from moving by accident. This means that if the crown rotates, it rotates in the direction that indicates there is less air and less time left. Never the other way around to prevent the diver from believing that they have oxygen that can be vital there underwater.
He also requested an automatic movement for that watch to limit the drive of the crown to a minimum and a soft iron cage to avoid the influence of the magnets so common in diving equipment. Thus was born that first Fifty Fathoms that she fell in love with, it was a crush, to the combat swimmers of the French National Navy. Now, 70 years later, that watch is still just as wonderful, if not more. Improved. More airtight. More precise. More beautiful. Lighter. And a great source of pride for Marc A. Hayek, current president and CEO of Blancpain.
In love with weather and diving in equal parts, it was he, when he was appointed head of the brand acquired by Swatch Group (founded by his grandfather Nicolas Hayek) a couple of decades ago in 2001, who invested all the enthusiasm and hours necessary to make this model shine like no other.
“When I discovered the Fifty Fathoms I realized that it was a treasure. A watch very different from the others and that had to become the Blancpain watch for the 21st century. Classic but modern. Technical but stylish. Elegant but above all a useful tool,” he explains. This is how this essential for pro divers that in the 90s was reinterpreted in Trilogy without much success (it had little to do with the original from the 50s) was taken up again (Marc A. Hayek did it, of course) first in 2003 to mark the half century of its creation in a limited edition of 150 pieces for the entire world and in 2007, four years later, with its own collection.
And now, having celebrated the 70s (in three acts, with a grand finale in Cannes) no one has the slightest doubt, that model is the undisputed star in the Blancpain catalogue. Surely one of the most desired watches in the coming year.
The impeccable history of that Fifty Fathoms that, in addition to the swimmers of the French navy, accompanied the North Americans of the Navy SEAL, cannot have a better tribute than in these three watches, which are Act I, Act II and Act III of very short runs. , very high technical rigor and, of course, within the reach of only a few.
Luckily, the most popular models are still in the Blancpain portfolio, available in both steel and titanium, with a diameter of 45 millimeters and dials in blue or black (starting at 15,000 euros) and for those who want but cannot yet, that Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms for 390 euros that also pays tribute to the wonderful story that Marc A. Hayek is so proud of.
In fact, during the presentation of Act. used by the main Navies of the time and characterized by the patented sealing pad. And on the left is the Swatch one, in the Antarctic Ocean version. This is how proud the current president and CEO of Blancpain is of this long history and of his relationship with diving, who implements the exploration and preservation of the world’s oceans like no one else.
It is an essential question for him, for Marc A. Hayek, and for this manufacture that he loves, which with the 70-year legacy of the Fifty Fathoms has established for more than two decades a close relationship with explorers, photographers, scientists and defenders of the environment. environment, who value this precious resource. With this affinity, the determination has arisen to support important activities and initiatives dedicated to the oceans that are grouped under the name of Blancpain Ocean Commitment and to support all the projects of the photographer, diver and underwater biologist Laurent Ballesta since his first expedition to Gombessa in 2013 .
From the Indian Ocean to French Polynesia, passing through Antarctica, fine watchmaking manufacturing has accompanied the naturalist in his incessant search for discoveries, knowledge and extraordinary images. For his part, Laurent Ballesta has received numerous awards for his photographic talent and regularly stands out in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the oldest and most prestigious nature photography contest.
