An early Blancpain diver…This is a very rare and very early Blancpain Fifty-Fathoms. Credited as the first divers watch with uni-directional bezel, the Fifty-Fathoms was designed by the then CEO of Jean-Jacques Fiecht who was an avid diver, in the early 1950s.
Available tot he public in 1953 ( same year as the first Rolex submariner), and used by many Armed forces (French, German, Israeli, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, and most famously, American).
It is very unusual to find one of these watches in such good and original condition!
The name Fifty Fathoms may sound a strang , but it refers to a British measurement of depth. Fifty Fathoms is about 91 meters/close to 300 feet deep, and at the time this was the deepest divers could dive with the technology of the time available.
The case is very strong all-round and houses an original glossy SWISS only dial with gilt text in the upper half. The original white hands contain lume that is a very good match with the hour plots, all having taken on a rich cappuccino hue. The original filled bakelite bezel is in really amazing condition. Finding examples like this in this condition is not easy, this is a very special watch indeed !! The movement has been fully serviced by our watchmaker.
Specifications:
- Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
- Steel 40mm case
- Black Dial with gilt writing on upper half
- Original bakelite bezel
- Original white hands
- Serial 37XX Dating to 1953
- Comes on the pictured Bulang and Sons strap
- Fully serviced by our watchmaker
- One-year mechanical warranty
- Includes a handmade leather watch pouch
- Free worldwide Fedex Priority shipping
This watch has been certified at Certifiwatch under registration number CF-0102733