196
Blancpain
Fifty Fathoms No Radiations
A rare and attractive stainless steel diver's wristwatch with black dial and presentation box, made for the German Armed Forces
Full-Cataloguing
When the very first military Fifty Fathoms model came out, the dials featured radium to ensure the luminosity of the watch in the darkness of the sea. Later on, and with the rise of the public’s concern with the level of radioactivity of this material, Blancpain decided that the Fifty Fathoms should use tritium and would clearly indicate the harmlessness of their luminescent material. The present watch was most notably issued to the Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces in the 1960s to1970s. These watches were requisitioned by the German Navy for their elite naval commando unit, the Kampfschwimmer.
Research shows that these watches were supplied by diver's equipment dealer "Barakuda" in Buchholz near Hamburg.
The present example is a well-preserved example with a beautiful lacquer dial, as was selected by Blancpain for inclusion in the Fifty Fathoms Exhibition help in conjunction with the celebration of Blancpain's 27th anniversary.
Blancpain
Swiss | 1735As the watchmaking brand with the earliest founding date, Blancpain remains close to tradition, concentrating on classical mechanical watches. Established in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, the Le Brassus manufacturer today continues to innovate with the development of high-quality calibres and is proud of their heritage, having never made quartz watches. One of the firm's greatest successes was the Fifty Fathom wristwatch introduced in 1953 — the vintage models of which are now highly coveted by collectors. The earliest dive watch available to the market, Fifty Fathom came out a year prior to Rolex's Submariner. Another key model is the Air Command from the 1960s, considered one of the most mythical collector's watches due to their extreme rarity. Today, the firm specializes in creative innovated complicated timepieces.