Pre-Owned Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Milspec 1 40990258/AS04781

Why We Love It

Here at Analog:Shift, there is virtually no segment of vintage watch collecting that we love more than diver's watches.

We may never know whether they've seen an ocean, battlefield, or only an office in London. Regardless, we know that divers from the golden era of sports watches (1950s-1970s) were purpose-built, tough as nails, and provided functionality for a wide range of people all over the world.

Alongside the Rolex Submariner and DOXA Sub 300 Series, the Fifty Fathoms is without question one of the most important dive watch designs in history. It is also often credited with being the first purpose-built timepiece with sub-aquatic usage in mind.

The Navies of France, Germany, and the United States chose the Fifty Fathoms for their divers, and underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau appeared in a documentary with the watch strapped to his wrist.

This particular example is a military-spec watch that was sold to the general public in the late 1950s and 1960s. It features a 41mm bead-blasted case, an oversize dive timing bezel with a luminous bakelite insert, and a lovely Tritium service dial replaced under contract by Blancpain with its characteristic moisture indicator.

If you are looking to elevate your vintage watch game in a big way, this is not only a great start, but a great finishing point.

The Story

In 1952, the French Navy and Secret Services tasked two veterans with a formidable mission. These men—Lt. Claude Riffaud of the Navy and Captain Bob Maloubier of the Secret Services—were to create a specialized unit of combat divers, meant to act under the utmost secrecy. Some of the missions they were to enact included attacking ports and sabotage.

Riffaud and Maloubier had a general idea of what gear the divers needed—compasses, depth gauges, watches.

But as far as watches were concerned, there was no watch on the market specifically designed for the use to which these combat divers would put it.

So Maloubier, armed with a pencil and protractor, sketched a watch. Not just any watch, but a watch ideally suited for diving. It needed to have a robust, watertight case, and a dial that would be legible in the darkest of nights, at the deepest of depths. He then shopped his idea to several different manufacturers, but all were resistant of this new and esoteric design; all except Blancpain, that is, whose CEO, Fiechter,  happened to be an amateur diver himself.

Fiechter relished the chance for his company to create a watch that no other manufacturer had dared to make. He relied on Maloubier’s expertise—and his own diving experience—to build a watch with a Bakelite bezel and rubber gaskets to seal the case. The movement that he used, rather than a manual wind, would be automatic in order to alleviate pressure on the crown from repeated winding.

Blancpain, the esteemed Swiss manufacture that opened its doors in 1735, is known worldwide for crafting some of the most elegant pocket and dress wristwatches in history. Many of these pieces are brilliant works of horological art, and as a category are worth of in-depth study and analysis. But Blancpain's other genius - what has made their legacy - is their entrant into the world of purpose built tool watches, and the industry's prototypical modern diver's watch: the legendary Fifty Fathoms.