Treasure Diver: Blancpain Unveils Blue-Dialed Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe in Sedna Gold


Blancpain introduced the Bathyscaphe, an understated, “everyday wear” offshoot of its legendary Fifty Fathoms diving watch in 2013 and has grown it into a significant collection since then. The latest version of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe combines a deep blue dial — an element long associated with the series — with a case and bezel made of 18k Sedna gold.

Sedna gold — an extra-durable alloy of gold, copper, and palladium — is proprietary to the Swatch Group, Blancpain’s parent company, and familiar to fans of another brand within the group, Omega, which uses it on several models including the Seamaster Diver 300M. Blancpain uses the material here for the 43-mm case and the unidirectional rotating bezel, which is outfitted with a blue ceramic insert and hour markers and time scale made of Ceragold, another proprietary alloy that bonds 18k gold with ceramic. The luminous dot index at 12 o’clock on the bezel is a faithful reproduction of the one used on historical Fifty Fathoms watches of the 1950s. The 300-meter water-resistant case has a satin-brushed finish and a relatively slim profile, at 13. 4 mm thick.

The shimmering, sunburst-finish blue dial hosts distinctive rectangular hour and minute hands, which echo the look of their 1950s forebears and feature luminous coating; a tilted date window at 4:30; a thin, red-tipped central seconds hand; and a chapter ring consisting of dot-shaped and rectangular hour markers and combining gold and Super-LumiNova.

Beating inside the Sedna gold case, on display behind a sapphire caseback window, is Blancpain’s self-winding caliber 1315, a movement of proven sturdiness developed specially to equip the manufacture’s sports watches. Its three series-coupled mainspring barrels provide a lengthy five-day power reserve while guaranteeing a constant supply of energy. The movement has a balance-spring made of silicon, whose low density makes it particularly light, strong shock-resistant and impervious to magnetic fields — all of which contribute to the almost perfect geometry of the balance spring, thereby improving the isochronism of the movement and hence the precision of the watch. Caliber 1315 also boasts an array of high-end finishing, with a Sedna gold rotor enhanced with sandblasted, satin-finished, and snailed motifs as well as an engraved brand logo. The bridges feature snailed finishes and beveled edges.

The Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe in Sedna gold is offered on either a sail canvas strap with rubber interior or a three-ring NATO strap, both in dark blue tones echoing the dial colors, and will be priced at $25,200.

For another major 2020 release in the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe family, click here.

Manufacturer:Blancpain SA, Le Brassus, Switzerland
Reference number:5000-36540-NAOA/5000-36540-O52A
Functions:Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Movement:Blancpain manufacture Caliber 1315, automatic, 227 components, 27 jewels, 120-hour power reserve, diameter = 30.6 mm, height = 5.65 mm
Case:18k Sedna gold case with sapphire exhibition caseback, screw-down crown, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, water resistant to 300 meters
Bracelet and cla­­sp:Blue sailcloth with rubber lining or NATO strap
Dimensions:Diameter = 43 mm, height = 13.4 mm
Price:$25,200
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