Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback

The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is without question one of the world's most iconic dive watches, and arguably the first; however, it might never have been made at all were it not for one man — Jean-Jacques Fiechter of Blancpain.

In 1952, the French Navy tasked two veterans with a formidable mission. These men — Lt. Claude Riffaud and Captain Bob Maloubier — were to create a specialized unit of combat divers meant to act under the utmost secrecy. Some of the missions they were to enact included attacking ports, disrupting supply lines, and sabotage of enemy vessels.

Riffaud and Maloubier had a general idea of what gear the divers needed — compasses, depth gauges, and of course, watches. But as far as the watches were concerned, there was no timepiece on the market specifically designed for their purposes.

So Maloubier, armed with a pencil and protractor, sketched a watch. Not just any watch, but a watch ideally suited for diving. It needed to have a robust, watertight case and a dial that would be legible in the darkest of nights, at the deepest of depths.

Pitched to several well-known manufactures, Blancpain was the only maison that agreed to produce Maloubier's new design. Jean-Jacques Fiechter, Blancpain’s CEO at the time and himself an avid diver, helped the pair create a unique watch equipped with a Bakelite timing bezel and rubber gaskets. Nothing like it had been seen before, and one of the world's first purpose-built, modern diver's watches was born. As a reflection of its depth rating, Blancpain called it the Fifty Fathoms.

The Fifty Fathoms has been a staple in the dive watch world ever since. This piece is an extension of the Fifty Fathoms design DNA into a modern package. Housed within a 43mm case affording 300 meters of water resistance, this piece is a flyback chronograph built upon the Fifty Fathoms model family. Powered by the automatic winding Calibre F385, the Reference 5200-1110-B52A provides a 50 hour power reserve.

This piece comes with its inner and outer box set, as well as service papers dated to November, 2023. For a chrono take on a dive watch icon, this is the piece to have!