A few years in the past, the watch world feted Blancpain because it basked within the heat glow of the seventieth anniversary of the world’s first dive watch, the Fifty Fathoms. With out query, the dive watch is among the hottest varieties of watches worldwide, particularly for those who solely think about the mechanical selection. Fairly aside from diving, whether or not it’s for sport, science, exploration or recreation, the software watch that helps the diver has advanced into a logo of precision and robustness. The up to date government is solely all at sea and not using a dive watch to accompany her or him all through the day, even when that day is spent taking conferences and banging out emails.
The story is considerably incomplete and not using a little bit of house for the Bathyscaphe mannequin, which was the diver Blancpain made for the general public. For many who care about names and such, for this reason we don’t simply say Bathyscaphe as an alternative of Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe – the mannequin was made as a model of the storied Fifty Fathoms. Thus, as standard, the journey we’re about to undertake requires some historical past, particularly regarding the Bathyscaphe but additionally to the complication on show on the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune.
There are two elements to this however we current them collectively as a result of all of it explains why issues are essential in a dive watch, particularly at Blancpain. So, as standard, if specs and the like concerning the cowl watch specifically are what floats your boat, then flip to the Cowl Watch story on this situation.
CRISIS AND OPPORTUNITY
Whereas Blancpain returned the Fifty Fathoms to the common assortment in 2003, it could take one other 10 years earlier than the little brother additionally rejoined. This was really the primary main broadening of the gathering since that relaunch, and because the Fifty Fathoms turned a full assortment once more in 2007.
Within the Nineteen Fifties, the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe made its debut, rising roughly three years after the long-lasting Fifty Fathoms mannequin was publicly launched on the Basel commerce honest. True to its dive watch heritage, the unique Bathyscaphe was designed with superior water resistance, distinctive legibility, and a rotating bezel engineered for exact dive timing.
The strategy was twofold: one model was crafted in a smaller measurement ideally suited for on a regular basis put on – particularly important in an period when watches have been typically extra modest in dimensions – and one other, much more compact mannequin, was tailor-made particularly for ladies’s wrists. This dual-concept technique has endured; the 2013 relaunch of the Bathyscaphe carries ahead the identical philosophy of versatility and user-focused design.
Beneath the steerage of Blancpain CEO Marc A. Hayek, the Bathyscaphe line has expanded to supply a various vary of sizes to swimsuit each style. This evolution builds upon the groundwork laid by Jean-Jacques Fiechter throughout his tenure as CEO, when the fashions have been first launched with a easy date show and later enhanced with each day and date capabilities. Hayek pushed these improvements even additional.
Immediately’s Bathyscaphe assortment not solely contains fashions with the usual date or day-date shows widespread to the Fifty Fathoms household, however it additionally options extra subtle issues corresponding to full calendar moon phases, annual calendars, and even a flyback chronograph.
The wealthy historical past of the Nineteen Fifties to the Seventies continues to function a wellspring of inspiration for the fashionable Bathyscaphe variations. For instance, the “No Radiations” fashions proudly bears a legend on the dial that assures civilians of the absence of radioactive compounds – supplies that have been, at occasions, utilized by militaries for luminous indexes and fingers. Equally, the MIL-PSEC fashions pay homage to US Navy watches by incorporating a moisture indicator instantly onto the dial. Different iterations embrace the Aqualung sequence, which nods to the unique Fifty Fathoms timepieces offered alongside diving tools in French Aqualung dive outlets, and the Barakuda fashions, which draw inspiration from watches marketed by the German diving tools provider Barakuda. The Day-Date 70s variant harks again to a Seventies mannequin that includes day and date issues, whereas the Nageurs du Fight sequence honors the longstanding relationship between Blancpain and the French Fight Diving Corps.
Over the previous twenty years, the evolution of the Bathyscaphe has additionally been marked by a broad exploration of case supplies. Whereas the early fashions have been completely crafted in stainless-steel, latest choices now function a formidable array of choices, together with numerous treasured metals, titanium, and even ceramic. This shift in materials selection not solely reinforces Blancpain’s dedication to useful design but additionally elevates the aesthetic enchantment of the Bathyscaphe, making certain that every timepiece meets the demanding technical necessities of diving whereas catering to a variety of stylistic preferences.
As for the issues little bit of the story and the watch, that is one thing that took off in probably the most sudden of moments, within the late Seventies, on the peak of the onslaught of low-cost and exact quartz watches. We get into Blancpain’s resolve on this matter in a while however for this bit, we wish to congratulate the model for recognizing that individuals is perhaps within the appeal and great thing about advanced handmade watches. The very first of those difficult watches was a mannequin with shows for the date, day of the week, month and moon part, all calculated and derived purely mechanically. No transistors have been welcome.
This Nineteen Eighties watch began the whole Swiss watch trade down the trail in direction of embracing mechanical appeal, and ignited in most people a ardour for clockwork. The latter remains to be rising. Curiously, the configuration of that preliminary Blancpain full calendar with moon part shows turned a template of types, being obvious all through the Blancpain vary in the present day, together with right here with this Bathyscaphe mannequin.
IT CAME FROM BENEATH
In 2023, Blancpain celebrated the seventieth anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms assortment, to return to the opening paragraph. And to rejoice, the model launched a slew of incredible limited-edition fashions. As is customary, every time a media outlet determined to write down about one in every of these watches, they dug deeper into Blancpain’s historical past, re-telling the origin story of what many think about the world’s first fashionable dive watch, the Fifty Fathoms. For the sake of brevity, we is not going to go in-depth into this story as soon as once more; see the aforementioned cowl story in 2023 for extra, or the identical story on-line on Luxuo.com. In a nutshell, the impetus for the primary Fifty Fathoms got here when Fiechter, himself a diving fanatic, had a near-fatal accident while diving. He determined then to dedicate the corporate’s sources to making a extra dependable software for divers in order that they by no means needed to expertise what he had. Thus, the Fifty Fathoms was born.
In 1953, across the time that this was taking place, it’s price noting that diving was nonetheless thought-about an excessive sport, one thing that solely severe fans would think about. That is very a lot the other in the present day the place one can turn out to be an authorized PADI Open Water diver in as quick a time as three days. The Fifty Fathoms of the Nineteen Fifties was designed with its context in thoughts and was meant to be offered solely in diving outlets as an important ingredient of a diver’s equipment or issued to army personnel. Due to this fact, the watches didn’t fairly take into accounts questions like how nicely they sat on the wrist or did the scale match the development of watch wearers of that era. No, it was a devoted software, made to serve its final perform as a time instrument to be used underwater. The time period Fifty Fathoms was derived from the measurement of distance. With a fathom measuring 6 ft, 50 fathoms point out 300 ft which is roughly 100 meters. Even in the present day, the ISO 6425 commonplace that governs the horology trade’s dive watches additionally stipulates that if it have been to be referred to as a dive watch (or diver’s watch or diving watch; there are a number of acceptable phrases) it should have a water-resistance of 100m at minimal.
Thus, as a result of the Fifty Fathoms was designed as a software, the preliminary watches have been made with a 41mm diameter. Immediately this measurement could seem nearer to a midsize case, particularly for a dive watch however contemplating that almost all males’s watches at the moment measured 32 to 34mm, 41mm was shockingly big to most people. After the debut of the Fifty Fathoms, Fiechter had the concept to take what made that specialised watch profitable and remodel it into one thing smaller to swimsuit the tastes of most people. And thus, the Bathyscaphe was born.
It’s a little ironic that what was basically a watch that could possibly be used each as an on a regular basis timepiece and as an informal dive watch could be named after a vessel that will ultimately be the primary vessel to succeed in Challenger Deep within the Mariana Trench, the deepest level on Earth. It’s recognized that Fiechter was an acquaintance of the person who designed the Bathyscaphe submersible, the Swiss scientist, Auguste Piccard, by means of his affiliation with diving- associated occasions. Maybe for this reason he named the gathering Bathyscaphe, after a good friend. One other idea to contemplate, and that is neither confirmed nor denied by Blancpain, is that maybe on the time, the Bathyscaphe submersible was constructed with cutting-edge know-how, a illustration of modernity which Fiechter likened to Blancpain’s new Bathyscaphe assortment branching out from the Fifty Fathoms.
As talked about, the Blancpain Bathyscaphe debuted with a smaller case measurement, and in subsequent years because the Blancpain Bathyscaphe launched, received a good bit extra difficult too, though it all the time saved its identification as a dive watch. Hayek insisted on this – no matter complication appeared within the Bathyscaphe assortment, it couldn’t compromise the watch’s utility as a diving instrument. Thus, the unidirectional bezel is all the time current and the water-resistance is rarely compromised.
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE
So, why this watch right now for our cowl? Properly, the Bathyscaphe has lengthy been a favorite in these elements and Blancpain is absolutely one of many few manufacturers on the market doing the loopy work of packing issues into dive watches. Apart from this, the gathering can also be what we’d name underrated and even perhaps criminally underappreciated; it has been on our darkish horse checklist earlier than, though we cowl it ceaselessly. Blancpain additionally debuted the watches on this story final yr, in full ceramic packages; the watches existed earlier than, with ceramic circumstances too, however not with matching bracelets. Now, you probably have not been following watchmaking religiously, the ceramics you’re usually acquainted with are nearly all ornate and delightful or just helpful, within the case of most plates and dishes; nevertheless, they’re additionally extremely fragile, which you’ll know all too nicely. This merely is not going to do for an instrument designed to accompany its wearer as she or he goes about their day, or within the case of the Bathyscaphe as they enterprise to depths unknown.
The ceramics utilized in watchmaking retain all of their magnificence and ornateness, if you’ll, however shed most notions of fragility; ceramic remains to be a tough materials that breaks or chips quite than bends or dents. Inside the trade, the ceramic materials is prized for its sturdiness, lightness, hypoallergenic properties and above all, its hardness which makes it impervious to all however probably the most forceful makes an attempt at scratching its floor. There’s a take a look at within the trade often called the Vickers hardness take a look at which pushes a diamond tip into a fabric and calculates numerous parameters to find out hardness. Simply as a comparability, gold which is understood to be one in every of softest watchmaking supplies, is available in at about 100 Vickers. Conventional stainless-steel has a hardness of round 250 Vickers. Blancpain’s favorite Grade 23 titanium is more durable at 300 Vickers. However the kind of ceramic Blancpain makes use of for its watchmaking, zirconium dioxide, sits on the pinnacle of hardness with a whopping 1,200 Vickers.
For all its fascinating properties, the most important barrier for watchmakers to make use of this coveted materials is the complexity of its manufacturing course of. Think about, if you’ll, that this materials that boasts such unbelievable hardness begins off as a high-quality powder. The powder is blended with high-tech pigmentation and binders earlier than being dried in a twig drying atomization course of. Then this powder needs to be both pressed or injection molded, each at extremely excessive pressures into the specified form.
Most likely the toughest half about ceramic manufacturing comes from the sintering course of. To acquire the hardness stage of 1,200 Vickers, the sintering course of places the uncooked materials into an oven and bakes them at excessive temperatures. Though the reason appears easy, the precise course of is something however. It requires cautious administration of the temperatures, the size of the sintering course of, the speed at which the temperature will increase and even how the completed supplies cool. Any miscalculation in these parameters and the completed product might not have the meant impact and even worse, be rendered unusable. And for those who think about the tight tolerances wanted in watchmaking and the shrinking that happens throughout sintering, this alone is sufficient to create a hurdle that many watch producers are unable to cross.
It’s also due to this sintering course of that solely sure colors might be created for ceramics. The ratio of pigments and the precise recipe wanted to realize the meant color is one factor however think about then having to place this complete factor by means of a high- temperature sintering course of, which causes most of the pigments to alter color. For instance, the pigment for black ceramic is normally gray or tan earlier than heating. As of now, Blancpain has managed to good the recipe for 3 colors together with black, blue and inexperienced. There’s additionally a particular gray plasma color that resembles stainless-steel. This distinctive model of ceramic requires an extra heating course of at excessive plasma warmth ranges reworking the zirconium oxide into zirconium carbide.
As advanced because the above steps are, right here issues get much more ridiculous. Bear in mind we have been mentioning simply how extremely arduous ceramic is as a fabric? Properly, as soon as the case nears the ultimate form, it now needs to be machined to get the exact form, together with the inside parts that home the bezel, motion and caseback. And since the fabric is so arduous, most of the instruments required to chop and grind the case have to come back with diamond ideas, one of many few industrial supplies left that’s more durable than the ceramic case.
Because of this even sprucing the case of the Bathyscaphe needs to be met with the identical fervour. A easy satin end, usually fairly simply achieved on stainless-steel watches now requires many hours of extremely expert handwork. To reveal the finesse that Blancpain’s craftspeople have, they even managed to shine the areas between the lugs the place nobody ever appears. Simply as a sign of its complexity, Blancpain estimates greater than 50 aspects on the case, the place every must be addressed by the ending craftspeople, one after the other, side by side, usually a number of occasions per side.
Fifty aspects might look like a loopy quantity to hand-finish however think about that simply final yr, Blancpain launched a full ceramic bracelet. These bracelets are extra advanced than most conventional bracelet constructions with a number of hyperlinks, termed “maillons” with connectors on both facet. All these elements are made in ceramic which suggests every of those small elements has been meticulously stress injected, sintered and at last completed by hand. Right here with so many transferring elements, the tolerances are even tighter as a result of if the match of the weather is simply too unfastened, the bracelet can be sloppy and if they’re too tight there’s a threat of it binding. Simply to supply the bracelet alone, Blancpain has filed for 2 separate patents on the method and even the metallic pin that binds the hyperlinks, has a patent for its cam-like form.
BATHYSCAPHE OF TODAY
Lastly, it’s only after setting the scene for the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune that we will correctly perceive what makes this watch price its asking value. In fact, chunk of this comes from the complexity of producing the ceramic bracelet, which is principally what’s new right here. There’s a cute anecdote that Jeffrey Kingston wrote within the twenty fourth situation of Blancpain’s annual Lettres du Brassus journal the place he talked about having by chance left his ceramic Bathyscaphe in a room with an enormous 40kg German Shepard canine. When he returned someday later, the sailcloth strap was torn to shreds whereas the watch was nonetheless pristine, with out even a touch of a scratch or blemish, even below the scrutiny of a watchmaker’s loupe. As a fast apart, a lot of the historic data on this story was sourced from Kingston’s superb articles in Lettres du Brassus.
In fact, you’ll desire a sturdy and dependable materials corresponding to ceramic defending the advanced Calibre 6654.P motion that beats inside the Bathyscaphe. Why must you not need the identical stage of safety for the strap? It’s the very factor that defines a wristwatch and and not using a good strap, you simply have a cool desk accoutrement or barely ridiculous pocket watch. As we’ve got written extensively about, our climate doesn’t take kindly to leather-based straps so bracelets are objectively higher. Is the ceramic model for you? Do your self a favour and head right down to the boutique and check out the choices on.
“Staying true to the Bathyscaphe’s legacy as a dive watch meant for the informal on a regular basis wearer, the gathering additionally homes different issues initially not meant for dive watches just like the flyback chronograph”
Staying true to the Bathyscaphe’s legacy as a dive watch meant for the informal on a regular basis wearer, the gathering additionally homes different issues initially not meant for dive watches just like the flyback chronograph. This complication that permits a fast resetting of the chronograph hand with out having to cease the measurement of elapsed time was developed for the aviation trade to measure gas consumption or the time taken to journey between waypoints. The flyback chronograph finds its approach onto the Bathyscaphe assortment by way of the Calibre F385 motion which presents a column wheel system and a vertical clutch for chronograph aficionados. Furthermore, the beat price for this motion can also be elevated to the next 5Hz in order that the chronographs might be correct to 1/tenth of a second. 5Hz means the regulating organ of the watch is oscillating at 36,000 beats per hour translating to 10 beats per second. Thus with the correct scale, the wearer will have the ability to observe the precision of the timekeeper as much as 1/tenth of a second. Because of its complexity, the watch is priced equally to the whole calendar talked about above.
Lastly, for the bottom Bathyscaphe in ceramic, the mannequin is offered with a date indication between the 4 and 5 o’clock positions. Curiously the watch is powered by Blancpain’s Calibre 1315 motion which, like all of Blancpain’s actions, was designed, developed, produced, assembled and adjusted in- home. Moreover, it presents a staggering 5 days of energy reserve and that is achieved by means of the usage of three sequence coupled barrels. The watch remains to be housed in the identical 43.6mm case even with its lack of complication, which is identical measurement because the flyback chronograph and full calendar variations. One motive for this could possibly be as a result of complexity of producing these circumstances. It’s cheaper for Blancpain to make all three variants the identical measurement so they don’t have to recalibrate the machines for every totally different reference of the ceramic Bathyscaphes.
Though the scale of those Bathyscape ceramic watches is taken into account fairly giant at 43.6mm, it’s price noting that in stainless-steel, the Bathyscaphe nonetheless is available in quite a lot of sizes, even cutting down as small as 38mm to suit virtually each wrist measurement and style choice. Immediately, the Bathyscaphe may also be present in quite a lot of colors and case supplies together with this ceramic model, 18K gold and grade 23 titanium. The variance in materials, colors and complication continues to propagate the legend of the Bathyscaphe because the extra informal cousin of the Fifty Fathoms and this story doesn’t seem like will probably be altering anytime quickly.
PHOTOGRAPHY by CHING@GREENPLASTICSOLDIERS
STYLING by GREGORY WOO
This story was first seen on WOW #76 Spring 2025 Difficulty
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