A
deeply evolved Blancpain: |
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by Magnus Bosse |
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On November 22nd, 2003, Blancpain is proud to celebrate a very special annniversary: The 50th birthday of the 50 Fathom diver's watch Often overlooked,
the 50 Fathoms diver's watch represents a pacemaker in the history of
diver's watches. In 1953 it was the first serious (and serially produced)
mechanical time measuring tool that could meet the strict requierements
of professional divers, explorers and ingeneers. |
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The
Blancpain 50 Fathoms became eventually a huge success due to its impressive
technical details. Several armed forces equipped their staff with a Blancpain
50 Fathoms as official timekeepers, amongst them the USA (Navy SEALS),
France (Les Nageurs de Combat), Germany (Bundesmarine) and Isreal. Furthermore,
it was an essential part of scientific expeditions, and research groups
worldwide were on Blancpain's customers list, for example the French 'Groupe
d'étitudes et de recherches sous-marines' (GERS). But not only marines and scientists trusted their Blancpain's, also prized film-makers were known to rely on Blancpain watches. When Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle won the 'Palme d'Or' at the 1956 Cannes film festival for their amazing underwater film 'The Silent World', several Blancpain 50 Fathoms already did an enourmous job as equippement of the entire film crew. |
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Left: Jacques-Yves Cousteau and people from his team Several different
versions of this famous diver's watch have been made until 1971, when
the production stopped. The 50 Fathoms was the founder of a whole family
of Blancpain diver's watches, consisting of |
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When
Blancpain faced its re-birth after 1983, the sporty and durable 50 Fathoms
family of diver's watches also followed the success of the ultra-flat
and elegant classic Blancpain watches: A 50 Fathoms, a GMT, an Aqualung
and an AirCommand are offered to the Blancpain aficionados with an active
lifestyle (from top left to bottom right; more information on the Blancpain
web-page): |
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These
watches are characterized by combining sportiness with an elegant design.
At a diameter of 40mm (Aqualung: 38mm), they are generously proportionized,
feature screwed backs, crowns and pushers, and thus allowing for a water
resistancy between 100 and 300m. Also these contemporary interpretations
of Blancpain's famous pace-making innovations offer optimal diving usability
with the well readable dial, the luminous hands and the unidirectional
rotating bezel (not with Aqualung). |
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the
limited 50th Anniversary 50 Fathoms diver's watch: |
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Equipped with a self-winding Cal. 1151 with center seconds and 100h power reserve, water resistancy up to 300m, and the unidirectional rotating bezel, this watch is of course a professional diver's tool - but it is also a hand-crafted marvel, and a real 'toy': |
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The
design is a slightly modernised interpretation of the first 50 Fathoms
watches: Dial, hands, case - and even the nifty rotatable bezel! If you
take a close look, you'll see that it is (hand-!) made of sapphire, and
it features an outcurved surface! This is a measure, together with the
unusually thick sapphire crystal, to protect the bezel from being scratched
by hard surfaces (e.g. rock) and is a world's first: |
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The
Anniversary 50 Fathoms will be build in three series, I ,II and III, each
limited to 50 pieces, whereby the 1st series is reserved for the asian
market. The watch comes with both, a 71-type metal bracelet (upper pic) and a tough rubber strap (long enough to wear the watch over a swim-suit) that effectively protects the lugs and has a cut-out around the crown for easy operating of the watch when wearing gloves. It is secured by a functional tang buckle (lower pics). |
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So,
but what if you want to change the bracelet in favour of the rubber strap
for your weekly diving adventure? No watchmaker's tools at hand? No problem,
everthing is prepared for this case: A specially designed (and very tool-looking)
watch-holder kit was developed that constists of a stand for the watch
and the necessary tools. The stand has four hollow feet that unscrew and
hold various tools and spare parts: extractor pins, screwdriver bits,
bracelet-lug tubes and tube securing screws! I guess this is the right
thing for the child in every man! |
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A
worthy contemporary representative of Blancpain's heritage when it comes
to make robust, reliable diver's timepieces. The uniquely shaped sapphire
bezel, the extra-thick crystal, the sophisticated strap changing tool
and the strict limitation will make this watch a collector's item. And,
of course, due to its well thought-off technical features it is a professional
diving timekeeper at the same time - like his ancestors 50 years ago! |
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For
the end of the story, here are the technical data of the Ref. 2200A-1130-71: Case: diameter 40.3mm - height 14mm - water resistant up to 300m - stainless steel - unidirectionally rotatable bezel with curved sapphire inlet Movement: Cal. 1151 self-winding- diameter 26.2mm - height 3.25mm - 21600 bph - 100h power reserve - 210 handfinshed components - 28 jewels |
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© Blancpain November 2003 by Magnus Bosse. Thanks to Christel Räber, Stephan Ceijka and Robert Maloubier for images and informations! |