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Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date 70s, c. 2019

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Blancpain (maker)
Date
c. 2019
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Wristwatch
Dimensions
Case 43 mm
Stock no.
40990459
Credit line
Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40990459)
Catalogue title (original)
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date '70s (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40990459), this is a wristwatch by Blancpain, made in Switzerland, dated c. 2019. The Atlas places it in the Contemporary Horology period (2010 – Present) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 43 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

In the history of dive watches, a few names tend to stand out as pioneers and innovators: Rolex. DOXA. Blancpain. The latter changed the world with its Fifty Fathoms, a timepiece that many consider — and rightfully so — to be the world's first true diver's watch. However, the Fifty Fathoms wasn't the only diver that the maison from La Brassus produced. There was also a scaled-down version called the Bathyscaphe, named after the manned submersible of the Swiss explorer-diver Auguste Piccard. More recently, Blancpain has revived the Bathyscaphe nomenclature, offering an entire line of sophisticated divers that pay homage to their vintage counterparts. The particular Bathyscaphe that we have here is a Day Date 70s edition dating to circa 2019. Housed in a 43mm stainless steel case, it features a sapphire crystal, a signed crown, a unidirectional, rotating dive timing bezel, a sunburst, grey Super-LumiNova dial with matching fat syringe handset, and a brown leather strap with a Blancpain-signed pin buckle. It’s powered by the automatic Blancpain Calibre 1315DD with a whopping 120 hours of power reserve and a silicon balance. Grab it while you can!

Historical context

Contemporary Horology (2010 – Present)

Silicon components, connected watches, optical-lattice research clocks and a thriving independent scene.

Smartwatches became the world's best-selling watches, while mechanical watchmaking focuses on craft, innovation (silicon components, new escapements) and independent makers.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Mechanical Renaissance

Atlas type guide

Dive and water-resistant watches

Keeping water and dust out of a wristwatch was a long-standing challenge. Rolex's screw-down Oyster case (1926) and Omega's Marine (1932) were landmarks; in the early 1950s Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms and Rolex's Submariner defined the professional dive watch with rotating bezels for timing dives, luminous dials and high water resistance. The ISO 6425 standard (1982) later codified what a 'diver's watch' must do.

Dive watches became icons of post-war design and exploration, and their evolution — helium escape valves, ceramic bezels, saturation-diving depth ratings — records the history of underwater work.

What to look for

  • Unidirectional or bidirectional rotating bezel with minute markings.
  • Screw-down crown and case back; depth rating printed on the dial.
  • Luminous hands and markers (radium before c. 1960, tritium c. 1960–1998, then Super-LumiNova).
  • Reference numbers on the case between the lugs or inside the back.

Dating clues

  • Screw-down Oyster cases: from 1926.
  • Professional dive watches: from 1953.
  • Tritium 'T' marks on dials: c. 1960–1998.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

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