Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
The diving watch has proven to be one of the most
popular variants of the sports watch, despite the fact that
few owners use them for the purpose for which they are
designed. Their popularity, perhaps, is due more to their
potential, rather than their actual, capabilities; the
notion that the watch is able to operate at depths far
beyond which the human body can survive provides a
comforting sense that it will easily withstand the knocks
and bangs of prosaic everyday life.
But it was not always thus; in the early 1950s the diving
watch was generally the preserve of the actual diver, whose
choice was limited to two timepieces: the Rolex Submariner
and the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. And whilst the former has
gone from being a purely functional item (witness how Bond
uses, and we emphasise uses, a Submariner in Fleming’s novels) to being a ubiquitous
symbol of wealth, the latter, perhaps by dint of it
initially only being available to military personnel, has
always had a lower profile, and, we believe, is far more
desirable because of this.
Whilst it would be tempting to include a vintage Fifty
Fathoms in The List, the truth is that the modern Fifty
Fathoms Sport is, in our opinion, a better watch than the
original, being water resistant to a greater depth, more
accurate and, thanks to its low production quota, rare
enough to make the task of seeking a vintage model largely
unnecessary. It is these virtues, and the effortless melding
of ruggedness with the hand-built ethos for which Blancpain
is famous, that has earned this timepiece (in stainless
steel form, of course) its place on The List.
The origins of the Fifty Fathoms can be traced back to
the requirements of two French naval officers – Commander
Robert Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud – for a watch
that was capable of operating accurately under the harsh
conditions experienced in military diving missions. The pair
approached Blancpain in Switzerland, which responded to their
requests by producing the Fifty Fathoms; so-called due to
its ability to function at up to the maximum depth that the
autonomous diver was thought to be able to withstand – 50
fathoms, which is around 91 metres.
This watch went on to become standard issue for certain
French military divers, before being made available to the
general public in 1954. Due perhaps to its production in
very limited numbers, the Fifty Fathoms has always been
something of a connoisseur’s watch, though, never achieving
(or desiring, some would argue) the kind of widespread
recognition that its immediate competitor, the Rolex
Submariner, has enjoyed.
The current range includes a tourbillon and a flyback
chronograph, but the model in which we are interested is the
plain date/time Sport, which closely replicates the clean
lines and simplicity of the original. Powered by a Calibre
1315 movement, which has 35 jewels and a power reserve of an
astonishing 120 hours, the Fifty Fathoms Sport is, like all
current Blancpains, assembled by a single watchmaker rather
than on a production line.
The joy of a diver’s watch is its rugged simplicity and go
anywhere ethos, and the Fifty Fathoms Sport has this in
spades. But it also has a depth of character, evident in
such things as the exquisite finish of the movement, that
sets it apart from other watches of this type. White bread
it most certainly isn’t.
