Blancpain Fifty Fathoms

Birth of the modern divers watch. In 1952, two French naval officers, Commander Robert Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud were instructed by the French Ministry of Defense to set up an elite unit called "Les Nageurs de combat", a special operations unit of the French Navy, specializing in underwater operations.

After surveying the watches in the market, Commander Maloubier and Lieutenant Riffaud found no diver's watch that could meet their specifications. The two officers contacted Blancpain Rayville SA, in Villeret, Switzerland, and together they created the the Fifty Fathoms. Its name refers to its water-resistance, guaranteed to a depth of 91.45 meters or fifty fathoms, although the watch was actually water resistant to 150 meters.


The Fifty Fathoms became known world wide when it was worn by Jacques Cousteau and his divers during the underwater film "Le monde du silence", which won the Palme d'or at the Cannes film festival in 1956. Over the next 30 years the Fifty Fathoms was adopted as the official issue watch by several navies, most notably the US Navy in 1964 which ordered 1,000 units.
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms has a unidirectional rotating that can measure up to sixty minutes of elapsed time mounted on a 45mm case which is water resistant to 300 meters. The watch is powered by a self-winding Blancpain Calibre 1315 movement with an impressive 120 hour power reserve and a date display. The movement is encased in a anti-magnetic cage.

The watch is also available in Rose Gold, and with Chronograph or Tourbillon complications, features not too commonly found in divers watches, but what makes this watch particularly interesting is the bezel.

Sapphire Bezel. The Fifty Fathom's has a sapphire scratch proof bezel. The use of sapphire crystal on the bezel also allows for another interesting feature. The quarter hour, five minute and minute markers on the bezel are luminescent.

About Blancpain. Blancpain is a Swiss watch manufacturer, founded in 1735 by Jehan-Jaques Blancpain. The influx of inexpensive quartz watches from Japan and China during the early 1970s put the company on the brink of bankruptcy. It was only thanks to the intervention of Jean-Claude Biver, an Omega executive with a love of fine timepieces, that the company was reborn in 1983. Blancpain is now owned by the Swatch Group. Blancpain produces fewer than 10,000 watches a year, with each watch is made by a single watchmaker.