Blancpain X Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms Review

The Swatch brand was born as a Swiss response to the Japanese quartz crisis of the 1970s and early 80s. The brand was founded by the CEO of ETA SA and included other high ranking executives from the Swiss watch industry.

The name Swatch is a play on words meaning "Second Watch", since Swatch watches were affordable timepieces mostly made of plastic and containing quartz movements. Much of the ability for Swatch to make their watches so affordable was in their pioneering use of automated production lines.



The use of colorful designs and a low price point lead to Swatch watches being a runaway success. Also Swatch was smart when choosing companies and IPs to collaborate with, furthering their success. The success of Swatch is believed to be one of the main reasons the Swiss watch industry didn't fold during the quartz crisis.

In 1985 Swatch was taken over by a group of Swiss investors lead by Nicolas G. Hayek. This new leadership would go on to become the Swatch Group, which today is one of the largest groups in the Swiss watch industry. The Swatch Group contains such well known watch brands as Blancpain, Breguet, Certina, Glashutte Original, Hamilton, Longines, Omega and Tissot.



In March of 2022, Swatch made the biggest wave in the last few decades in the watch world by shock releasing a collaboration with Omega. This collaboration resulted in the release of the MoonSwatch which was a one to one recreation of the iconic Omega Speedmaster Professional Moon Watch most famously being the first watch worn on the moon.

The MoonSwatch shared the same physical dimensions with the Speedmaster, but the cases were crafted out of Swatch's BIOCERAMIC material that was a mixture of ceramic and biosourced material derived from castor oil. The result was a material that was lightweight and scratch resistant that could be formed into any imaginable color. For the initial release, Swatch picked heavily bodies in our solar system and represented each with their own color of MoonSwatch.



Swatch decided to keep the release limited to several of their biggest boutiques and also not sell the watches online. This created a frenzy for the initial release of the MoonSwatch with lines around the block for just a chance to get one of these non-limtied quartz powered MoonSwatch watches. Needless to say this drove aftermarket prices of the MoonSwatch sky-high and even people with no knowledge of watches knew what the MoonSwatch was.

After the release of the MoonSwatch, it was clear that the release was bigger than anything seen previously in the industry, naturally Swatch would start looking on how to expand the idea of the MoonSwatch and creating an affordable version of a much more expensive and storied timepiece. The Omega Speedmaster might be the most famous watch of all time, but there were other very important watches available to Swatch from other Swatch Group brands.



The early 1950s saw the explosion of recreational scuba diving and the need for timepieces that could track dive times reliably to keep divers safe. The initial rush to produce a true dive watch came down to the wire between the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and the Rolex Submariner, with Blancpain just edging out Rolex to release the first true dive watch. Over the decades the Fifty Fathoms has gone from being a true dive tool to being the finest dive watch available on the market, with a price to match, with base steel models starting at over $15,000.

With the heritage of the Fifty Fathoms, it was hard for Swatch to look past it as the second watch to receive the Swatch treatment. The initial Blancpain X Swatch project was extremely small, consisting of around ten people from both companies including Blancpain CEO and avid diver Marc Hayek.



One sticking point with Blancpain collaborating with Swatch on a watch would be the movement. While the MoonSwatch used a quartz movement, Blancpain has said it would never produce a non-mechanical watch and they felt their collaboration with Swatch is considered a real Blancpain watch. This meant that either a hand-wound or automatic mechanical movement would need to be found for this new watch. Naturally a Blancpain movement would never work, since Blancpain uses extremely high-end movements which are made by hand. Luckily Swatch did have an automatic movement that was already being mass produced in their Sistem51.

Now armed with a movement, Blancpain and Swatch could move on to the case design of the watch. The Fifty Fathoms is broken down into two lines, the Fifty Fathoms and the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe. The Bathyscaphe is the smaller version of the Fifty Fathoms but is still 43 mm, while the Fifty Fathoms is 45 mm. Current watch trends are leaning towards smaller case sizes, with both models on the higher end of case size, the companies found a different smaller solution.



Although there were prototypes of the Blancpain x Swatch Fifty Fathoms in both Fifty Fathoms and Bathyscaphe cases, the companies ended up picking the regular Fifty Fathoms for the collaboration. Although the regular Fifty Fathoms has a case diameter of 45 mm, Blancpain had released limited edition larger 48 mm versions like the 500 Fathoms (which I own) and smaller 42.3 mm versions like the Act 1 70th anniversary model. The 42.3 mm version would later become a normal production model and ended up serving as the case inspiration for the Blancpain X Swatch watch to be based off of.

In September of 2023, the Blancpain x Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms collection was released. The watches came in different color and dial configurations representing the oceans of the world and also featuring such famous Fifty Fathoms dials as the "No Rad" and MIL-SPEC. One other interesting aspect of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms collection was that each watch was represented by its own unique nudibranch, which was suggested by Marc Hayek. Some input on which nudibranch to pick for some of the oceans was also given by Blancpain Gombessa diver Laurent Ballesta.



The release of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms wasn't as crazy as the MoonSwatch release for a few reasons. First, using an automatic movement in the Scuba Fifty Fathoms raised the price of the watch up to $400, which was a lot higher than the initial price of $260 for the MoonSwatch and its quartz movement. With the MoonSwatch having been around for a good bit of time, much of the flipping mania behind it had already run its course, also in general watch speculating was already becoming a thing of the past and with it, the industry in general was slowing down and getting back into the regular swing of things. Finally the Fifty Fathoms and Blancpain just aren't as well known to the general public as the Speedmaster and Omega is. With the Speedmaster starting at just over $6,000, it is much more obtainable than a Fifty Fathoms starting over $15,000, meaning it's a more aspirational watch.

With being a huge fan of the Fifty Fathoms as well as an owner, I really liked the release of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms. With recently having twin daughters, I didn't get a chance to check out the release in person, but did like the execution of the watches. I didn't really have a particular favorite from the release until a few months later, when the Ocean of Storms version was released.



The Ocean of Storms took inspiration from the Oceanus Procellarum, which is the vast area of the moon considered to be Oceanus. This basically meant the watch ended up having a fully black aesthetic, with a black case, dial, bezel and strap. The dialed back design also meant this Scuba Fifty Fathoms looked the most like something Blancpain would release as a Fifty Fathoms.

I recently reached out to Swatch to see if they had a Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms that I could review and they said they did and got one sent out to us. When the watch arrived I was very excited to see how it would end up feeling in the "metal".



The first thing I noticed about the Scuba Fifty Fathoms was how nice the packaging was. For $400, I didn't really expect much in the way of presentation. The watch box comes surrounded by a cardboard sleeve with branding and interesting facts about the lunar sea, which is repeated on the box. Opening the box reveals the globe shaped hard carrying case containing the watch. I've seen a lot of travel cases that come with high end watches, and this might be one of the nicer ones.

The next thing I noticed was that the Scuba Fifty Fathoms actually felt like a real watch. When I first had the MoonSwatch in my hands, I felt that it was far too light to really resemble a Speedmaster. While the Scuba Fifty Fathoms is also lightweight, there is some substance to it. You can also feel the rotor moving in the SISTEM51 as you move the watch, which just adds to the sensory experience of handling a watch.

Finally, I was really amazed with how nice the bezel action of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms was. Apparently the same bezel system was used on the Scuba Fifty Fathoms that is used on the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. I have to say the bezel feel of my 500 Fathoms feels remarkably similar to that of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms.



Now that we've gone over the back story of the Blancpain X Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms and my initial impressions, let's take a look at the technical specs of the watch. The watch is crafted from Swatch's BIOCERAMIC material that is a mix of two thirds ceramic and one third biosourced material and measures 42.3 mm in case diameter with a lug to lug length of 47.8 mm. The case thickness is 14.6 mm and the weight of the watch is 44 grams.

The unidirectional bezel of the Ocean of Storms is also crafted from black BIOCERAMIC like the watch's case is. Unlike the matte finished case, the bezel is polished and features white numerals and markings covered with grade A Super-Luminova the glows blue in low light. The look of the bezel does a nice job of resembling the very expensive to make curved sapphire bezel of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. The bezel takes 60 clicks to complete a full rotation and its bezel mechanism is modeled after what's found on the Fifty Fathoms. Anti-scratch coating was added to help mitigate scratches and scrapes to the bezel.



The glass is manufactured from a biosourced material with an anti-scratch coating also applied. There is a slight dome to the glass, but nothing too radical. Under the glass is the black sunbrushed finished dial with a color matched date window at 4:30, the same place it is found on Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. The hour markers and numerals are large and also covered in Grade A Super-Luminova that glows blue in low light. Swatch uses large hour and minutes hands as well as an orange tipped seconds hand, all covered with matching Super-Luminova. With the lights off, the Ocean of Storms really puts on a good lume show and could be used just fine in low light conditions underwater.

The dial is finished off with Blancpain x Swatch branding at 12 o'clock and "SCUBA Fifty Fathoms 91 m / 300 ft" text at 6 o'clock. Finally there is a white chapter ring counting the minutes around the outside of the dial and "Swiss Made" at 6 o'clock. The non-screwed down crown is nicely scalloped and offers great grip and is finished off with Blancpain X Swatch branding. The resting position of the crown allows for manually winding, while pulling it out to position one sets the date and position two sets the time. The crown feels sturdy and causes no jump of the minutes hand when pushing it back into the case. Pulling the crown all the way out does not stop the seconds, which is common on most modern mechanical movements. There are crown guards on each side of the crown to protect the crown from accidental knocks.

Flipping the watch over shows something a bit unexpected, a sapphire crystal display back. It's a bit interesting that Swatch would use more expensive sapphire on the case back and not for the front glass. Sapphire is a lot more scratch resistant than the glass used on the front, but maybe it has something to do with Swatch wanting the front glass to be biosourced. There are also messages about exploration and conservation around the case back.



Beneath the sapphire crystal you can see the rotor of the SISTEM51 automatic movement featuring the SCUBA Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms branding and the Okenia Luna nudibranch native to Peru. This nudibranch features luminescent tips which inspired its lunar name and why it was picked for a moon based Scuba Fifty Fathoms.

The SISTEM51 takes Swatch and ETAs decades of movement manufacturing and puts it all together in an automatic mechanical movement that can be mass produced and still have all the reliability and accuracy of the top Swiss made mechanical movements. The SISTEM51 features only 51 pieces and features just one central screw. The movement has a more than ample 90 hours of power reserve and is fully anti-magnetic thanks to the Nivachron hairspring. The SISTEM51 beats at 21,600 vph (3 Hz) which helps with its power reserve, but doesn't lead to the most constant sweep of the seconds hand. On our timegrapher the SISTEM51 ran an astonishing +1 seconds per day of accuracy given the watch's price.

Besides having the nudibranch on the rotor, the Ocean of Storms also has moonscape decorated main plate. There are nice cutouts where you can see the exposed gears and balance wheel as well. For a $400 watch, the movement is decorated way past what should be expected.

One thing that has been mentioned about SISTEM51 is that the movement can't be repaired, especially not by a local watchmaker. Now for a watch costing $400, even the cheapest service is going to be the same price if not more than the watch costs. Swatch has mentioned that the movement can be swapped out for a replacement movement if something does break on the watch. I'd imagine this cost of this would be a fraction of what a watch service or repair would cost from a watchmaker, so the reparability issue of the SISTEM51 shouldn't be a real issue here.



The lug width is 21 mm and the included black and white NATO strap is 20.5 mm wide that does not tapper to its pin buckle. The NATO is made from recycled fishing nets, while the pin buckle and loops are made from BIOCERAMIC. One thing I really love about the Scuba Fifty Fathoms is that they used the drilled lugs and screwed bars from the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Although not included with the watch, all that is needed to remove the strap is a pair of .9 Hex screwdrivers that I already had from my 500 Fathoms. My Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Offshore Montoya both use screwed bars for their straps, and are really a million times better than spring bars for peace of mind. I really wish more brands would use these and I really applaud Swatch for keeping that design element.

Now I have to say I really don't like NATO straps. I think I just never gave them a chance and am set in my ways at this point. Liking larger watches, I feel NATO straps add un-necessary height to a watch as well. Also on the Scuba Fifty Fathoms, the NATO strap blocks the case back, so you can't see the movement or the nudibrach rotor. I had a spare black rubber strap laying around that I put on the Ocean of Storms and used during my time with the watch. I really feel Swatch should offer some affordable and colorful Tropic style rubber straps for the Scuba Fifty Fathoms. I have to say the majority of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms I see online have been switched out to rubber straps. It would be a nice little way for watch to offer their fans branded matching straps and also make a little bit of extra after sale income. Just my two cents.

Since I was excited about the arrival of the Blancpain X Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms I tried to wear it as much as I could. At first I was a little worried about being overly careful with the watch, but after a few encounters with various surfaces with no damage I stopped being so careful. With my main dress being mostly black t-shirts, shorts and sneakers, the Ocean of Storms fit in perfectly. The watch felt just as at home at a nice dinner as it did running errands or having drinking. On the black rubber strap combined with the all black look of the watch it pretty much fit in everywhere. The more colorful options might be reserved for only less formal outings though.



While I do prefer larger watches and the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms I own is almost 6 mm larger than the Ocean of Storms, I still found the watch pleasing to wear. Normally I avoid anything with under 50 mm of lug to lug length, which the Ocean of Storms is, but it looks good on wrist. It never favored either side of my wrist which I can't stand on smaller watches. The Ocean of Storms is just so lightweight that the watch disappears while wearing it. The biggest surprise I found while wearing the Ocean of Storms was in my head I actually thought I was wearing a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Maybe since Blancpain is listed first on the dial it played some trick with my head convincing me that it was a Fifty Fathoms. That was really a pleasant surprise that you could never predict without spending time wearing the watch.

The all black look of the Ocean of Storms makes the watch very under the radar while wearing it out. The funny thing was that I was approached quite a few times while wearing the watch. The people that came up to me knew about the MoonSwatch and Scuba Fifty Fathoms but hadn't seen the Ocean of Storms in person. Two people that came up to me already had other Scuba Fifty Fathoms and said they were going to pick up the Ocean of Storms after seeing it in person. I feel that only watch collectors would approach you wearing the Ocean of Storms, but with how colorful the rest of the collection is, I'd imagine you'd get a lot of comments with the bright colors. Finally my wife along with acquaintances of mine that are used to looking over my personal watches as well as watches we have in for review commented on how much the Scuba Fifty Fathoms felt like a luxury mechanical watch mirroring my initial thoughts.



As you've probably gathered so far, I'm a pretty big fan of the Ocean of Storms. For $400 you are getting a lot for your money, even so much as having a budget Fifty Fathoms of your wrist. As a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms owner, the watch even felt somewhat authentic to me. I do however feel now is a good time to go ahead and look at some alternatives to the Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms.

Naturally the first alternative to the Scuba Fifty Fathoms is going to be the Omega X Swatch MoonSwatch. The MoonSwatch is smaller by around a millimeter in lug to lug length and comes in a huge variety of BIOCERAMIC colors. The movement is not mechanical, instead using a Swatch made quartz movement. While the Scuba Fifty Fathoms has superior water resistance, the MoonSwatch does have the added chronograph complication. The MoonSwatch only costs $270 versus the $400 of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms as well.

Next up we have the Seiko 5 SRPD51 coming in at $325. The Seiko is crafted out of stainless steel and features a Seiko 4R36 automatic movement. The watch goes down a bit deeper than the Scuba Fifty Fathoms to 100 meters and the movement offers less than half the power reserve at 41 hours. The Seiko is just the tiniest bit larger at 42.5 mm, but has a shorter lug to lug at 46 mm.



Moving on we have the Nodus Avalon II which also made out of stainless steel like the Seiko and measures 41.5 mm in case diameter. The watch uses a Japanese Miyota automatic movement and once again has less than half power reserve of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms at 41 hours. The NODUS does have superior water resistance at 300 meters though. The Avalon II is a bit more expensive at $700.

Finally we have the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms in stainless steel and measuring 45 mm in case diameter. The Fifty Fathoms is rated to 300 meters of water resistance and comes with an in-house Blancpain automatic movement that has 120 hours of power reserve, besting the Scuba Fifty Fathoms by 209 meters and 30 hours respectively. The Fifty Fathoms naturally also has the famous names of both Blancpain and Fifty Fathoms and is an icon in the watch world. All of this comes with a price, with the least expensive full Fifty Fathoms coming in at $15,700.

You can see that for $400 the Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms completes well with other alternatives in the space. One massive decision would be if you wanted a watch crafted out of a traditional material like stainless steel or feel comfortable with BIOCERAMIC. So far the BIOCERAMIC has held up well for me. Also the material allows the watch to be created in virtually any color and makes the watch feather light. Obviously comparing the watch to the full blown Fifty Fathoms is a little silly, but we might as well have a bit of fun. As I also mentioned earlier, the Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms did give me strong Blancpain Fifty Fathoms vibes while wearing it. I feel Omega Speedmaster owners have the same sort of feeling when wearing a black or grey MoonSwatch.



So is the Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms for me? I'd say it actually is. I'm admittedly a huge fan of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, so a sanctioned homage watch that Blancpain was a part of is a huge plus. I kind of wish they picked to go with the 45 mm Fifty Fathoms case, but the 42.3 mm case is fine. For $400 you really can't go wrong here, the watch is just that good. I do feel BIOCERAMIC was the only way Blancpain would have allowed this collaboration though. If the case was done in ceramic or steel, this watch would have cannibalized Fifty Fathoms sales. As for durability and reparability, that's really left to be seen, but from my time with the watch it seems to be fairly durable. I have not heard firsthand accounts of repairs either yet.

Would I recommend the Blancpain X Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms to somebody? It depends. If the person is already a watch collector and has other daily watches and is looking at the Scuba Fifty Fathoms as an interesting and fun addition to their collection, I'd fully recommend the watch. If they are a first time watch buyer and doesn't have experience with watches, I might caution against it. While I absolutely love the watch, I do feel buying a sub $200 steel quartz watch might be the better way to get used to wearing a watch. Something like that can be banged around and be fine, which is a better way to learn how to care for a watch. Also for those collectors who want a taste of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms without spending $15,000, the Scuba Fifty Fathoms is a great choice.



In the next week or two I'll also be putting out an article comparing the Blancpain X Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms to my Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms. I haven't seen any articles comparing a Scuba Fifty Fathoms to a real Fifty Fathoms, so that should be fun.

I'd really like to thank Swatch for sending us this Blancpain x Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms to review. I was pleasantly surprised with just how much I liked the watch and how much it felt like a true Fifty Fathoms. We can't wait to see what Swatch sends us next to review!

For more information about the Reef please visit : Swatch

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: SO35B400

Retail Price: $400

Case Size: 42.3 mm

Lug to Lug: 47.8 mm

Thickness: 14.6 mm

Weight: 44 Grams

Case Material: BIOCERAMIC

Bezel: BIOCERAMIC

Strap: NATO Strap Made From Recycled Fishing Nets with BIOCERAMIC Pin Buckle

Movement: Swatch SISTEM51 Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date

Power Reserve: 90 Hours

Water Resistance: 91 Meters (50 Fathoms)