Seventy years after the Bathyscaphe first appeared, Blancpain is revisiting one of its most distinctive vintage designs in the original compact proportions.
The new Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe 70th Anniversary Limited Edition takes its inspiration from a 1968 model and stays unusually close to it. Production is limited to 300 pieces, all with the vintage model’s 37.4mm stainless steel case diameter.
That size is small by modern dive-watch standards, but that is a big part of its charm. Blancpain has also recreated the slim case profile and curved surfaces, resulting in a thickness of just 10.6mm. But despite those dimensions, water resistance still reaches 300 metres.
Vintage details carry over to the sunburst meteor-grey dial, where baton hands and hour markers use warm-toned Super-LumiNova. Blancpain has also brought back its mid-century logo, and a box-style sapphire crystal adds another nod to the watches of the period.
Around the dial, the rotating steel bezel keeps the narrower proportions of the 1968 original. The old hesalite insert has been replaced with ceramic for added durability, and a hand-stitched chocolate calf-leather strap rounds out the retro look.
Power comes from Blancpain’s automatic calibre 1150, which delivers a 100-hour reserve. Flip the watch over and the movement is visible through a sapphire caseback, complete with an 18-karat gold rotor inspired by the original Fifty Fathoms.
The Bathyscaphe itself dates back to 1956, when it arrived as a more civilian-focused counterpart to the Fifty Fathoms during the rise of recreational diving.
Blancpain has priced the anniversary edition at $18,300 in the US. For collectors drawn to vintage dive watches but reluctant to deal with the compromises of owning an original, this 37.4mm recreation gets remarkably close without giving up modern durability.