It was in 1962, in Death Valley in the United States, when Ernest H. Brooks II, a pioneer of underwater photography and contributor to the Edition Fifty Fathoms project carried out a spectacular dive in 1962 in Devils Hole, an underwater abyss that enters the bowels of the earth at a depth of over 120 metres before flowing into a gigantic underwater river. Thinking back to that incredible mission and inspired by the colours of the desert, and in particular by a Blancpain diver's watch from the 1970s, the brand has created a new edition of the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date, limited to 500 pieces, with a dial in delicate sandy beige shades, a colour never before seen in this collection. The unidirectional rotating bezel features a brown ceramic insert and Liquidmetal indices. With a 43 mm satin-finished steel case and water resistance to 30 atmospheres, it is equipped with the automatic 1315DD calibre with silicon balance spring. The strap is in sand-coloured sailcloth. Price: €12,080.
New colours also for the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronographe which, after black, meteor grey and blue, chooses green for the dial and bezel. Dozens of processing steps are required to achieve the perfect colour and finish, not to mention the effort involved in researching and developing the ideal shade. The result is a distinctive nuance of delicate green tones, which change according to the angle of incidence of light and sometimes turn into metallic tones. The automatic F385 calibre, with flayback function, vertical coupling and column wheel, beats at a frequency of 5 Hz and allows each second to be divided into 1/10th intervals. With a 43.6 mm satin-brushed black ceramic case and rotating bezel with green ceramic inserts, it comes with either a Nati strap or a sailcloth strap. Price: 16,240 euros.
