The Complete History of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms

When it comes to the different type of watches that are available to watch collectors, by far the most popular style is the divers watch. It’s funny to think that the most popular style of watch is only around 70 years old considering the watch industry is hundreds of years old and people have been using devices to tell time for much longer.

By far the most recognized and copied divers watch is the Rolex Submariner which was released in 1954. The Submariner soon became the standard in dive watches with its robust construction, easy to read design and water resistance. With an initial water resistance of 330 feet, the original Submariner was no joke.

Up for debate is who created the first true dive watch, with half of the people being in the Submariner camp while the other half is in the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms camp. The Fifty Fathoms is the watch we will be talking about today which was released in 1953 with collaboration from the French navy and divers Bob Maloubier and Claude Riffaud.

Prior to both the Submariner and the Fifty Fathoms there were water resistant watches, but no true diving watches. The first true water resistant watch was produced by Rolex and was simply called the Rolex Oyster. The original Oyster was released in 1926 and boasted a hermetically sealed case for protection against water ingress. The watch was even named “Oyster” since it sealed the movement inside the case like a sealed oyster shell.



The technological leap of the Rolex Oyster was shown off in 1927 when swimmer Mercedes Gleitze wore an Oyster as she swam across the English Channel. Gleitze swim lasted over 10 hours all the while the Oyster was subjected to the cold harsh seawater. After her swim was complete, the Rolex Oyster was still in 100% perfect running condition, showing off how well the watch had been designed. Design elements like the screw-down crown and sealed caseback are design principles still used to this day on dive watches.

The Oyster started a new trend in water resistant watches and was followed up by a host of other early water resistant watches from some of the biggest names in watches. With the next notable entry being the Omega Marine which debuted in 1932. The Marine’s main headline was the innovated double-case design, which consisted of a sealed inner case that would slot into an outer case which improved water resistance. The Marine was also crafted out of a newer material for watches at the time in stainless steel. Omega tested the watch down to 73 meters in Lake Geneva and when checked had zero signs of any leakage.



Next up was the Panerai Radiomir which was released in the late 1930s. The Radiomir was developed by Panerai for the Royal Italian Navy’s frogman commandos. The case of the Radiomir used welded on lugs and a screw-down crown which greatly helped with its water resistance. The main thing that the Radiomir brought to the table was the use of radium-based paint on the dial which made the dial very legible in the depths of the ocean. The dial, hands and numerals all featured this paint which was to become a staple of dive watches going forward.



Finally we’ll talk about the Longines Weems Second-Setting watch also released in the 1930s. Longines designed this watch in collaboration with Lieutenant Commander Philip Van Horn Weems of the U.S. Navy. The most notable feature of this watch was the first time a rotating bezel was featured in a wristwatch. While not used as we use a rotating bezel today for dive watches, this rotating bezel could be turned for additional fine-tuning and easier reading of the time against the seconds scale. It could also be locked into place with a locking side screw.



The horological stage was now set with features defined by earlier water resistant watches for a true divers watch to be produced. The first to get all of these elements into one watch was Blancpain. Blancpain was founded by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in Villeret Switzerland in 1735, making them one of the oldest still functioning watch brands. Since its founding, Blancpain was known for their extremely high standards of craftsmanship producing some of the most fine and meticulously crafted timepieces. Elegant pieces like classic dress watches with clean and classic designs were their bread and butter. Along with dress watches, Blancpain was well known for their quality in the pocket watches they produced as well. Blancpain was also no slouch when it came to producing complicated pieces either, with some amazing chronographs, perpetual calendars and moon-phase watches in their back catalog.

Blancpain’s dive watch came out of necessity, when in the early 1950s Captain Bob Maloubier and Lietenant Claude Riffaud required a watch that could withstand the demanding conditions of underwater missions for the French elite combat diving corps. Some of the design elements they required were a watch that was reliable, water resistant and easy to read under the most challenging of situations. Also needed were a large dial, robust case and a rotating bezel so dives could be timed.

At the time, the CEO of Blancpain, Jean-Jacques Fiechter, was also an avid and passionate diver that completely understood was Maloubier and Riffaud were looking for in a watch. It was under Fiechter that the original Fifty Fathoms was developed.

The first reference in the Fifty Fathoms line was the reference 5015 which was released in 1953. The 5015 featured improved water resistance using a double o-ring gasket to seal the crown against water penetration. The watch also featured a unidirectional rotating bezel which would allow divers to keep track of their dive times without the fear of having the bezel turn the wrong way and give a false and potentially deadly indication of how long the dive had been. The watch was also extremely easy to read underwater with its black dial, larger numerals and indices covered in radium based material that made the watch legible in darkness. The 5015 also featured a center seconds hand with luminous pointer, so that divers could be at ease by seeing the watch was currently running.



Another interesting feature about the Fifty Fathoms 5015 was the automatic movement which wouldn’t require divers to wind their watch every day. Built into the movement was the hacking seconds complication that allowed divers to stop their watches by pulling out the crown to sync dives. The watch also had the movement wrapped in an iron case which shielded the movement against magnetism.

The watch would be rated to 50 Fathoms or around 91 meters (300 feet), which gave the watch its name. After the watch was developed tests began, which it passed with flying colors. French combat divers routinely took the watch down to 100 meters where it ran without fault and kept great legibility. The Fifty Fathoms was then adopted by the French navy as their special issue dive watch.

The roaring success of the Fifty Fathoms 5015 caught the attention of the US Navy in short order. The US Navy was also looking for a dive watch for special missions and had not yet found one that met all of its criteria. Top on the list for the US Navy was the need for a moisture indicator to be included on the dial in an easy to read location. Another necessity was that the watch needed to be produced by a US watchmaker.

Since Blancpain, a Swiss company, could not directly supply the US Navy with watches, they used their American distributor, Allen V. Tornek to supply the watches to the Navy. Tornek even had to set up a testing laboratory in the United States to certify and test the watches for the Navy. Some of these early Fifty Fathoms even bore Tornek’s name on the dial and no mention of Blancpain was seen.

The more interesting part of the US Navy’s needs was the need for a moisture indicator. Since most divers did not keep their own watch, watches were provided by the Navy to each diver before the mission. By doing this, the diver had no idea how the watch had been treated and if it was even water resistant by the time in came around to him. Blancpain put a disk on the dial at 6 o’clock that when dry was a light blue or white. When this material came in contact with moisture the color of the disk would change to a darker color, often red, to indicate that the watch’s case had been compromised. This version of the Fifty Fathoms would become known as the MIL-SPEC variant, which today is one of the most sought after of all Fifty Fathoms models.



Although initially used by the French and US Navies, the Fifty Fathoms was really starting to become popular with diving professionals along with the general public. For his 1956 documentary “The Silent World”, famous French oceanographer, filmmaker and conservationist Jacques Cousteau wore a Fifty Fathoms. Cousteau won both the Palme d’Or at Cannes as well as an Academy Award for this film. Commercial divers along with underwater researchers also started to use the Fifty Fathoms as their dive watch of choice.

By the late 1950s the public interest in the Fifty Fathoms had really grown but changes had to be made for the retail market. The initial versions of the Fifty Fathoms were heavily coated with radium-based paint that made the dials easy to read in the dark. This was allowed for military operations and these watches were not typically worn for long periods of time. In the late 1950s there was also a growing concern with the general public about radioactivity poisoning.

Blancpain knew that they had to change something in the design of the Fifty Fathoms to keep their luminosity while not using highly radioactive material. They also needed to make it very obvious that the dial did not contain any high levels of radioactivity to the buyer. The solution to this problem was tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Although radioactive, the amount of radiation was just a fraction of what radium put out. The marking of T-25 signaled that the watch featured less than 25 millicuries of radiation, making it safe for the public. Blancpain also replaced the moisture disk of the MIL-SPEC dial with a “No Radiation” symbol depicted by a red and yellow trefoil, similar to the international symbol for radiation with a line through it, indicating no radiation. This “NO RAD” version of the Fifty Fathoms has also gone on to be a prized possession of Fifty Fathoms collectors.



The next evolution to the Fifty Fathoms came in the late 1950s with the collaboration with Aqua Lung. The Aqua Lung was the first self contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) and was co-developed by Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan. For this collaboration, Blancpain featured the Aqua Lung logo under the Blancpain logo. The Aqua Lung was only produced for the American market and boasted a substantial depth rating of 1000 feet, which was also printed at the bottom of the dial.



The Fifty Fathoms had now grown to over 41 mm in case diameter, which by today’s standards isn’t that large, but by 1950s tastes the watch was huge. To address this issue, Blancpain decided to release a smaller cased version of the Fifty Fathoms. The new smaller version of the Fifty Fathoms was now called the Bathyscaphe. Bathyscaphes typically fell in the range for 35 to 38 mm and could be worn as an everyday watch. Although smaller, the Bathyscaphes needed to still be serious diver’s watches with substantial water resistance, rotating bezels, luminescent markers and a robust case.



Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Blancpain kept working on refining the Bathyscaphes models, but when the quartz crisis hit the Swiss watch industry, the Fifty Fathoms took a hiatus. It would take all the way until 1997 for a new model of the Fifty Fathoms to be released.

In 1997 Blancpain released a trilogy of watches that would celebrate the brand’s heritage. These three models were for land, a GMT Watch, sea, a new Fifty Fathoms, and air, the Air Command watch. Although all three watches used a similar case, the Fifty Fathoms featured the classic design language of the original watch. This was a simple three hands design, but now with the addition of a date window. The watch now also featured a metal bezel with a 60 minute scale instead of the traditional inset bezel. The watch also came on a metal bracelet for the first time.



In 1999 the original trilogy Fifty Fathoms was also refreshed for the “Concept 2000” Fifty Fathoms. This watch retained much of the design language from the trilogy set, but now had a dark dial and also featured carbon fiber reinforced rubber for the crown and bezel.



The next milestone for the Fifty Fathoms would be the 2003 limited edition 50th anniversary release. This watch (ref. 2200A-1130-71) was limited to 150 pieces with 50 going to each of the three main markets being Asia, Europe and North America. This limited edition piece introduced the use of a sapphire bezel and domed crystal. This 40.3 mm Fifty Fathoms would usher in the design language seen in today’s modern Fifty Fathoms.

2007 brought upon the first production Fifty Fathoms in decades. For 2007 Blancpain decided to put the Fifty Fathoms inside of a beefy 45 mm case which would contain the newly developed caliber 1315. This new caliber featured three mainspring barrels that allowed the watch to have a very impressive 5 day power reserve. 2007 now also saw the Fifty Fathoms expand from just one watch to a full collection. The collection included everything from the traditional 3 hand model to a chronograph all the way up to a Fifty Fathoms with a tourbillion.



Blancpain followed up the 2007 45 mm release of the Fifty Fathoms with two widely different case size options. First up was the 500 Fathoms released in a 48 mm fully titanium case. The 500 Fathoms takes the Fifty Fathoms much deeper as the name implies. The 500 Fathoms is rated for a depth of 1000 meters, 10 times that of the standard Fifty Fathoms. With its case made out of titanium and slightly hidden lugs, the 500 Fathoms actually is lightweight and wears much smaller. The watch also employs a sandwich dial with the lower dial fully lumed to make the oversized numerals really shine.



In 2013 Blancpain released a new version of the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe. The model measured a little smaller than the full 45 mm Fifty Fathoms at 43 mm. The metal choices were stainless steel or titanium both featuring ceramic bezels. The watch featured the caliber 1315 with 120 hour power reserve and still kept the 300 meter water rating of the larger Fifty Fathoms. Blancpain also released an even smaller version of the Bathyscaphe with a ladies piece measuring 38 mm and available only in stainless steel with a white dial.



During this time period Blancpain also released the limited edition Fifty Fathoms X Fathoms. This 55.6 mm titanium cased beast featured a mechanical depth gauge with two scales. The watch was also able to store maximum depth reached. The X Fathoms featured a 5 minute countdown feature that allows divers to time their decompression stops. The case back shows off the amorphous metal membrane which is part of the mechanical depth gauge as well. This membrane allowed Blancpain to make the watch half of the thickness it would need to be if crafted out of steel.



The next notable milestone in the history of the Fifty Fathoms is the collaboration between Blancpain and Swatch with the release of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms in 2023. For the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms Blancpain teamed up with the fellow Swatch Group company to release five watches inspired by the oceans of the world. The watches were all crafted out of bioceramic and feature an automatic Swatch movement. These colorful watches show off the current design language of the Fifty Fathoms with the Arctic Ocean version featuring the “No Radition” markings of the vintage NO RAD Fifty Fathoms and the Antarctic Ocean version having the moisture detection disk (non-functioning) of the MIL-SPEC version. At 400 dollars these Scuba Fifty Fathoms make the Fifty Fathoms accessible to just about everyone.



For the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, Blancpain didn’t only do the collaboration with Swatch but they also released three very special watches to commemorate the anniversary. The first watch, or the Act I, is a limited edition of 210 watches watch. 70 examples of the watch went to the three main markets of the Americas, Asia and Europe/Middle East/Africa. The Act I watch is crafted out of stainless steel and measures 42.3 mm and comes with the caliber 1315 and its 120 hour power reserve featuring a platinum 70th anniversary rotor.



For Act 2 of the 70th anniversary celebration of the Fifty Fathoms Blancpain released the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa. The watch is crafted out of grade 23 titanium and measures in at 47 mm. The Tech Gombessa can reach depth of 300 meters, but its real importance is the bezel with 3 hour scale and a hand that tracks 3 hour dives. This is important for saturation divers that can stay underwater much longer than standard SCUBA divers which max out around an hour. The watch was also produced in collaboration with the Gombessa Expeditions which is partially funded by Blancpain’s Ocean Commitment. These expeditions use re-breathers to study marine life at around 120 meters for hours at a time, so the Tech Gombessa’s three hour timing is of extreme importance on these longer than usual dives.



For the third and final act of the 70th anniversary celebration for the Fifty Fathoms, Blancpain released the ACT 3 model inspired by the MIL-SPEC model. This model is crafted out of 9K Bronze Gold, which is a blend of gold, copper, silver, palladium and gallium. The metal is crafted to have a pink hue and unlike bronze can be worn directly against the skin with the gold preventing traditional oxidation. The watch also features the moisture detection disk at 6 o’clock which is homage to the original MIL-SPEC Fifty Fathoms of the 1950s. The Act 3 is also limited to just 555 pieces for the entire world.



Over the past 70 years, Blancpain has done something truly special with the Fifty Fathoms. They were the first to put together all the elements of early water resistant watches into one package that could be labeled the world’s first dive watch. Over the years the Fifty Fathoms line has evolved into a very diverse series of watches covering everything from 3 hand ladies timepieces all the way to high horology with a model featuring a tourbillion.

Blancpain is a little overdue to update the Fifty Fathoms lineup, but with all of the recent attention it has received over the last few years we feel that it isn’t too far off. Personally we have always loved the Fifty Fathoms and have even been fairly close to pulling the trigger on a 500 Fathoms. Also the Tech Gobessa is nearly grail watch status for us, especially if the prices ever come down.