Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms No Radiation Limited Edition

Today (15 March in Switzerland), Swiss high-end watchmaker Blancpain has unveiled a limited edition modern reproduction of its legendary military diver’s watch from the 1960s. In relation to this, if you follow SNS accounts such as Blancpain Instagram and Facebook, you must have seen the teaser image uploaded a few days ago. The main character of the topic is Tribute to Fifty Fathoms No Rad, and as the name implies, a phrase indicating that no radiation-based luminous paint is used is placed at the bottom of the dial with a distinctive symbol. Add them to reveal your unique personality.

The Fifty Fathoms, considered the forerunner of the modern diver’s watch, was founded in 1953 by Jean-Jacques Fiechter, her niece and co-CEO, Betty Fiechter, who led Blancpain in the 1950s. . An all-round sportsman who enjoyed scuba diving, Fister began to create professional diver’s replica watches, which was unknown at the time, based on his personal experience of missing the timing of decompression while diving in Côte d’Azur, and feeling life threatening due to lack of oxygen.
Robust sealed design case, crown with independently developed double O-ring seal, unidirectional rotating bezel to check dive time, automatic movement that self-winds according to the movement of the wrist without manipulating the crown , anti-magnetic performance, anti-reflective matte black dial and self-illuminating luminous indexes in the dark, the Fifty Fathoms was incredibly ahead of its time as a result of a time when diving equipment or timepieces did not exist. , was noticed by Robert “Bob” Maloubier, co-founder of the French Navy’s elite combat unit and instructor at the Ecole des nageurs de combat, Combat Diving School, making a Swiss watch unusual for the French Navy. It will also be adopted as a diver’s watch.
From the left of the photo, Fifty Fathoms Mill-Spec 1 Original made in the late 1950s, Tribute to Fifty Fathoms Mill-Spec Hodinkie Edition released in December 2020, Torneck-Ravill model for the U.S. Navy in the late 1950s.
As such, the Fifty Fathoms marks an important page in the history of military diver’s watches. Not only in the French navy, but also among the special forces of the German, Polish, and American naval forces, it has gained a reputation because it is manufactured robustly enough to meet the demanding military specifications (MIL-SPEC, for short). In the 1950s and 1960s, Swiss watches were supplied in the form of parts rather than in the form of parts to the US market, which imposed very strict import conditions and imposed high tariffs, and was able to meet the demand by having some parts manufactured locally in the US. It is against this background that models with variant names such as Tornek-Rayville or Blancpain Tornek, after an American import agent at the time, are often found in the auction market. . Also by the end of the 1970s it was presented in quite a few different designs, including the unusual model with a humidity indicator at 6 o’clock on the dial. When moisture seeps into the case and dial, the round white patch treated with a special solution turns pink. For modern watch enthusiasts, the limited edition 500 Tribute to Fifty Fathoms Mill-Spec Edition released in 2017 is relatively popular with the hit.