FIFTY FATHOMS HISTORY: 60 YEARS OF DIVING WATCHES
Created in 1953, the Fifty Fathoms by Blancpain is the archetype of diving watches. The history of this iconic collection from the first Fifty Fathoms vintage watches to the last Blancpain Bathyscaphe unveiled at Baselworld 2013 for the 60th anniversary can be discovered on this special page.
Blancpain Bathyscaphe: rapture of the deep
Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms is considered the first modern diving watch. To mark the occasion of its 60th anniversary, Blancpain released the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, which is also a tribute to the original 1950s model.
Diving watches nowadays comply with a set of standards that seem to have become universal and permanent: 300 meters water resistance, graduated unidirectional bezel, increased readability and large crowns. According to watch aficionados, Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms was undeniably the first watch to feature all these characteristics.
Eric Singer from Kiss talks about his Fifty Fathoms
Everyone knows KISS. However, what most people do not know is that the band’s drummer, Eric Singer, is a dyed-in-the-wool watch collector. Indeed, he is particularly fond of the Fifty Fathoms, the legendary timepiece by Blancpain.
In 1991, Eric Singer replaced Eric Carr – who had been diagnosed with cancer – as KISS drummer. However, Singer only became a permanent member of the band in 2001. Meanwhile, in the 1990s, he took part in the adventures of various legendary bands. Eric Singer specialises in hard rock and collaborated with artists such as Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Brian May, Queen, Lita Ford, Gary Moore and Avantasia. Other than having a passion for music, he is an informed watch aficionado to the point of being found in the halls at Baselworld learning about new timepieces.
Laurent Ballesta and the X Fathoms
Baselworld 2013: An exposition to celebrate 60 years of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
Today, Blancpain inaugurates an exposition on the Swatch Group booth in order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms. Allowing you to enjoy the spirit of this event as if you were there, Watchonista brought you some exclusive pictures. Through this exposition, it is not only the history of Fifty Fathoms that the visitors can discover but Blancpain took this opportunity to unveil its new model Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, a true homage to its past and to divers watches as well.
Baselworld 2013: Bathyscaphe versions - Blancpain celebrates in 2013 60 years of it’s Fifty Fathoms
As witnessed by the itinerant exhibition relating the emblematic history of the diver's watch according to Blancpain, namely the Fifty Fathoms, the underwater universe is populated with surprises that make fantasize on the surface.
