Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1

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Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1

Nowadays, a Fifty Fathoms would be regarded as a sporty dress watch. However, originally it was a military time piece. Blancpain developed its first Fifty Fathoms dive watch in 1953, at a request from the newly created French Combat Swimmers unit commanders.

The Fifty Fathoms was produced until the 1980s, then reintroduced in 2003 as a luxury timepiece by the future Swatch Group. Since then, numerous iterations would follow.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1.

The latest has been released to celebrate its 70th Anniversary, with the company delivering a series of limited editions. Act 1 is the first one.

This unit has a 42.3mm polished stainless steel case with the classic lumed 50ftm bezel insert. Both, the bezel and the crystal are built in doomed sapphire.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1 lume.

They black dial also follows the classic 50ftm design but it comes with date window between 4 and 5 o’clock, without disturbing the symmetry of the heavy lumed markers.

A sapphire window on the case back allows to enjoy the view of the gorgeously engraved Blancpain caliber 1315 automatic movement.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1 caseback.

The original Fifty Fathoms was water resistant to 50ftm (91 meters). The Act1 can be sunk up to 300m. And to reassert its military origins, the watch comes with a NATO YTT+ web strap.