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Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC

Marina Milojević | 06.28.17 | 10:41 PM

BaselWorld 2017:

Earlier this year, on the occasion of the BaselWorld watch and jewelry show, the house of Blancpain enriched its Fifty Fathoms collection with a brand new MIL-SPEC model. With this new addition to the celebrated range, Blancpain reinterprets one of its vintage pieces from the 1950s, the Fifty Fathoms with a water-tightness indicator.

Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC

It was back in 1953 when the famous dive watch „Fifty Fathoms“ was first introduced. The original Fifty Fathoms timepiece, waterproof to a depth of 200 meters, was the product of passion of Jean-Jacques Fiechter, Blancpain’s former CEO. More than a watchmaker, Fiecher was also a fan of diving, so he created a watch that brings together two of his great passions. His original creation solved the problem of waterproofness by using a double sealed crown system, it utilized a new, more practical sealing system for the case-back, and had a blocking mechanism that could prevent accidental rotation of the bezel.

Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC

Almost instantly, Fifty Fathoms achieved the status of an icon and set the standards for the entire watch industry ever since. The model soon became one of the essential pieces of instruments for the French combat swimmers corps, and later for naval forces around the world.  The Fifty Fathoms model has constantly evolved in pursuit for diver safety. One of the earliest inventions that was soon incorporated into Fifty Fathoms design is a circular water-tightness indicator. The small disk, positioned at 6 o’clock, is actually an indicator that informs the wearer if any liquid has leaked into the watch case. If, by chance, this happened, a disk would signal the problem by changing its color from white to red.

Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC

This water-tightness indicator was present on the dial of the Fifty Fathoms model called the MIL-SPEC 1, which was produced to meet the strict standards of the American Navy, and introduced in 1957-58: “Blancpain obtained contracts to equip members of the elite UDT and the Navy Seals with MIL-SPEC 1 watches. Later on, in the early 1960s, those evolved into the MIL-SPEC 2 and, using the name “Tornek-Rayville”, the TR-900. The water-tightness indicator became a requirement of the American Navy, and was incorporated in all these models.”

In 2017, the house of Blancpain introduces the Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC, which is fitted with its in-house automatic movement caliber 1151. The movement, assembled from 210 individual components and endowed with a 4-day power reserve, is nestled into a stainless steel case measuring 40mm in diameter. The sapphire case-back provides a glimpse into the fine mechanics and its solid gold winding rotor with a NAC coating (a platinum alloy) and Blancpain insignia.

Its black dial features indexes in Super-LuminNova® and a water-tightness indicator recalling the designs of the 1950s MIL-SPEC 1. The unidirectional rotating bezel, with luminescent indicators, is covered in scratch-resistant sapphire. The watch is water resistant to 300 meters, and it comes in a limited edition of 500 pieces, and with a choice of a NATO strap, sail cloth strap, or steel bracelet with a secure buckle.

Ref. 5008-1130-B52A
Price: $14,100.

For more information, please visit Blancpain.com.

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