DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
This Baselworld, Blancpain pays a tribute to a lifesaving timepiece released 60 years ago with the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms MilSpec. We examine the watch in great detail, and came away very impressed. The aesthetics are excellent, as is the technology within. But also the tribute to the historical watch is fitting.
The new MIL-SPEC pays a tribute to a lifesaving timepiece released 60 years ago
Origins of the species
At the beginning of the 50’s, it was Blancpain’s CEO Jean-Jacques Fiechter passion for diving coupled with the need of a reliable tool watch for Captain Robert “Bob” Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud, founders of the French Navy’s combat swimmers corps, which led to the creation of Fifty Fathoms. Upon not being able to find a watch capable of the extreme conditions of underwater missions, the two officers approached Blancpain with an highly specific set of technical specifications. This specification including a revolutionary unidirectional bezel. The watch developed following these requests is considered the archetype of the diver’s watch, its name derived from the water resistance guaranteed to a depth of 50 fathoms or 91.45 meters.
The Fifty Fathoms were met these specifications by the use of a patented double sealed crown system. A second patent for a case-back with a channel into which the “O” ring is held in position. And of course, the unidirectional bezel to mark the critical dive timing.
Further, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms make another important innovation, with the use of white luminescent indexes and hands on a contrasting black dial, increasing the underwater visibility. The automatic movement also reduced the need of crown usage for winding, and thus increasing the usable life of the crown’s seal.
Blancpain continued its innovation streak under Jean-Jacques Fiechter’s supervision and in 1957/58 incorporated a moisture indication on the dial – the MIL-SPEC 1. With this,Blancpain managed to win the contract to equip the elite UDT and the Navy Seals. At the beginning of the 60’s, with the incorporating a humidity indicator on the dial, which changes its colour from pink/blue to entirely pink. The humidity indicator would show if water moisture had penetrated the watch, hence requiring a servicing. This was the so called “Tornek-Rayville”, after Allen V. Tornek of the Rayville factory, the representative of Blancpain in the US. 1000 of these watches were delivered to the US Navy. One such piece was auctioned by Christie’s as Lot 101 in 12 November 2007, Geneva for CHF 18,750 against an estimate of CHF 9,000-14,000.
This year, Blancpain released the “Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC” to celebrate 60 years from the first release of the watch with water-tightness indicator. Last year, Deployant reviewed another “brother” from the Fifty Fathom Collection – the Blancpain Fifty Fathom Bathyscaphe.
Blancpain “Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC”
The Blancpain’s MIL-Spec is a worthy successor of the ’57 release, coming in stainless steel […]
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Article from: DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles, by Dan-Andrei Kluska
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