Blancpain Extends Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Collection With Trio of New Ceramic Models

Blancpain got our attention earlier this year, when it introduced a new version of its elegantly complex Complete Calendar Moonphase into the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe collection, and did so with a new material combination of a case and bracelet both made of high-tech ceramic. The follow-up to that head-turning timepiece just dropped this week: three new models of the Bathyscaphe — the more casual-wearing, versatile offshoot of the ruggedly robust Fifty Fathoms dive watch — all in black ceramic cases and offering a variety of striking dial colors and wristband options.

Two of the new models hail from the core three-hand-date Automatic series, while the third is the latest version of the Bathyscaphe Flyback Chronograph. The dials of the Automatics are executed in deep green and a dark shade of blue meant to evoke the look of sunlight penetrating the ocean depths, both enhanced with a subtle gradient and sunburst finishing. The three-register dial of the new Chronographe Flyback is also in the nautically inspired blue tone, with the same light-catching surface treatment. The bezel features a polished ceramic insert with numerals and dive-scale markings in Liquidmetal, a proprietary amorphous metal with a hardness greater than steel, made from zirconium, titanium, beryllium, copper and nickel, which bonds seamlessly with the ceramic, itself derived from zirconium oxide (Zr02). 

The cases of all three timepieces measure 43.6mm in diameter (with 13.83mm thickness for the Automatics, 15.25mm thickness for the Chronograph) — not understated by any means, but more modest than the 45mm of its predecessor, which debuted in 1953 as the first modern dive watch and which remains a core collection of Blancpain today. The Bathyscaphe collection, described aptly by Blancpain as the “urban alter ego” of the deep-diving Fifty Fathoms, takes its cues from a 1956 model, with “everyday” details like the 4:30 date window, a less bulky, more wearable case, and a streamlined dial with simple geometric markers, while still retaining the necessary diving accouterments, like the unidirectional rotating bezel and 300-meter water resistance. 

A Blancpain in-house movement animates each of the new models. Inside the Automatics beats the self-winding Caliber 1315, which stores an astonishing five-day power reserve in its three series-coupled barrels and includes a stop-seconds function. The Flyback Chronograph houses the automatic Caliber F385, one of Blancpain’s most impressive manufacture movements, boasting a high-frequency balance (36,600 vph, or 5 Hz), a 50-hour reserve, and an integrated column-wheel chronograph with a vertical clutch to control the built-in stopwatch. The high frequency ensures that chronograph readings are accurate to 1/10-second, and the flyback functionality allows the user to start, stop, and instantly reset the chronograph in quick succession with a single pusher and return it to zero with the other. Both movements are on display behind sapphire caseback windows — rather than hidden behind solid backs that such heavily water-resistant dive watches would usually require — thanks in part to their inclusion of silicon balance springs, which renders the mechanism highly resistant to magnetism without the need for a soft-iron inner case. Both also feature an oscillating weight in black NAC-treated gold. 

As with the Complete Calendar model that preceded these models, the high-tech ceramic used for the case and bracelets is produced locally in Switzerland, in order to minimize the emissions produced by the manufacturing process. It is five times harder than stainless steel and nearly four times harder than titanium while also being 25 percent lighter. The durable, highly scratch-resistant and hypoallergenic material comes from a process in which it is fired at above 1,400º Celsius (about 2,552º Fahrenheit) and then machined with diamond-tipped tools. The bracelet, which Blancpain says required three years of research and development, uses a patented system in which the links are assembled with cam-shaped pins, preventing them from touching each other and breaking, and designed with strict tolerances and maximum comfort in mind.

The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Automatics retail for $13,700 on a sturdy sailcloth strap or a fabric NATO, and for $21,300 on the new ceramic bracelet. The Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback is priced at $18,400 for the models on straps and at $26,000 on the bracelet.