Belabouring the hoary old puns declaring that watches are “all about timing”, it is timing that graced Blancpain with not one but two matters to celebrate with the latest incarnation of the Fifty Fathoms. 2023 marks both the 70th anniversary of this pioneering diving watch and the 10th anniversary of Gombessa, an environmental project that Blancpain helped create, when it became the founding partner at its inception in 2013.
For the occasion, Blancpain has developed not just a completely reworked Fifty Fathoms, but a new function, or “complication”. While the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa is immediately recognisable as a descendant of the 1953 ur-model, most notably for its curved bezel and bold dial, the new watch has been redesigned on every surface and detail, from its strap to its crown.
Jean-Jacques Fiechter, CEO at Blancpain from 1950 to 1980, during one of his first dives in the South of France.
Back in ’53, scuba diving was increasing in popularity, but diving wristwatches had evolved only slightly during the previous 30 years. The impetus for a truly modern, ultra-dependable diving tool remained drove Jean-Jacques Fiechter, then CEO of Blancpain, himself a passionate scuba diver, to respond to his own needs for a credible diving watch. Working with officers from the French Navy, Captain Robert “Bob” Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud, Blancpain produced a timepiece which addressed the crucial requirements now acknowledged by all diving watches: extreme water resistance, immediate legibility, automatic winding, anti-magnetic protection, and a unidirectional rotating bezel for marking dive times, operable even with gloves.
The first Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, from 1953, a timepiece that changed the understanding of diving watches forever.
In the ensuing decades, the Fifty Fathoms has evolved with the increasing demands of modern underwater exploration, with its extended diving times. This is embodied in the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa’s innovation, a three-hour indicator co-developed by Marc A. Hayek, President & CEO of Blancpain – himself a scuba diver – and diver, photographer and underwater biologist Laurent Ballesta, founder of the Gombessa project. With its fourth hand, the Tech Gombessa makes it possible to time three-hour immersions with added visual prominence thanks, too, to the new bezel graduations.
Work began with members of the Gombessa Expeditions, the nature of whose research work involves long-duration deep dives. This includes studying the behaviour of the great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, in French Polynesia, to contribute to the implementation of management measures promoting conservation. Extensively tested before reaching production, the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa’s fourth hand is the subject of a patent application.
Laurent Ballesta is a marine scientist, explorer, award-winning underwater photographer and pioneering deep diver. ©Caroline Ballesta
Despite a 47mm diameter case, containing the 13P8 self-winding movement, the Tech Gombessa is comfortable on a normal wrist thanks to the newly-designed lugless strap, while the watch is lightweight, as its case is fashioned from Grade 23 titanium. With a price of £24,700, serious divers will be relieved to learn that it represents not just the accurate timing of long dives but supreme water resistance to 30 bar (approximately 300m). The case is equipped with a helium valve for the eviction of the gas during decompression.
All the improvements in the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa result in increased legibility and ease of use while diving.
Each Tech Gombessa reaches the client in a special PeliTM presentation box that, too, is water-resistant and shock-resistant as well as reusable and configurable. The case also contains the strap extension, a travel pouch, a magnifying glass, and dividers and cutting tools to personalise the compartments. Available this season, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa heralds a new era in the venerable timepiece’s long history.
Find out more about the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms collection HERE.
Words: Ken Kessler
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