The model was launched at the past Baselworld watch show and has already appeared in the pages of L'OROLOGIO 160, in our showcase dedicated to 'aquatic' watches.
The news is that the Blancpain exhibited the first 30 examples of this new production at the Cannes Boat Showto celebrate the first 30 years of this event, which has seen it play a leading role for the past three years. For the occasion, the House called in Gianluca Genoni, the world record holder in freediving (141 metres in variable buoyancy), who dived off the azure coast to retrieve, from the hands of none other than Marc Hayek (President of Blancpain), the first example of the Fifty Fathoms Automatique, dedicated to him. Of course, Hayek had tanks and a regulator, unlike Genoni, who dived down to 30 metres in complete tranquillity. In the photos, we see two moments of the world champion's demonstration dive.
But coming to the watch in question, here is what Maurizio Favot writes about it in the window of L'OROLOGIO 161. To get acquainted with the rest of the collection (which also includes a chronograph and a tourbillon), you will have to wait another week, when issue 161 will be on newsstands, with a six-page article dedicated to the historic Blancpain diver's collection, renewed in this 2007.
From THE CLOCK 161:
Blancpain
Fifty Fathoms Automatique
Ref. 05015.O.0.011.030.N.052.A
In 1952 Captain Bob Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud were commissioned by the French Ministry of Defence to organise a special unit called nageurs de combat (combat swimmers), dedicated to "extreme" underwater activities. For the occasion, Blancpain was asked to develop a watch that was up to the task, and the company did its utmost, creating the following year what would soon become one of the historical archetypes of underwater watchmaking. Named Fifty Fathoms because of its water-resistance (the resistance of the original model was precisely 50 fathoms, equal to 91.44 metres), the model has been revised several times by the Maison, with water-resistance increased to 300 metres in 1997, a special edition for the fiftieth anniversary in 2003, and the recent reinterpretation that includes, in addition to the Automatic under review here, a Flyback Chronograph and even a Flying Tourbillon. The characteristics that made the fortune of the progenitor are, of course, respected: the large rotating bezel, the hands and the oversized luminescent markers are still the stars!
The technical equipment
Blancpain continues to refine one of its fetish models. In this case, in addition to many details, there is also a new Manufacture calibre. It is the self-winding 1315, derived from the manual 13R0 presented in October 2006. Equipped with 3 barrels, this movement boasts a power reserve of around 6 days.
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