Posts Tagged ‘Fifty Fathoms’
‘3H Bund’ Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
Veblen goods are those for which demand increases as price increases, breaking traditional economic models. If this does not compute, ask a guy named Philippe Dufour to explain it to you. But I’d like to suggest there’s a similar but distinct phenomena in military watches. Usually, collectors uniformly aim for golden tritium, perfect razor cases,…
Read MoreBundeswehr-Issued ‘No Rad’ Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
I’ve pondered many times if beginner’s luck is universal. We’ve all seen it, but how, why? Think in the watchmaking context. Even if you try to consciously separate the fallacy collectors have to preference the earliest iterations of any watch, it still holds. There’s a magic about tabula rasa thinking, as long as you exclude…
Read More‘Milspec 1’ Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
There is no greater tell that a watch is firmly in the collector zeitgeist than when Hodinkee writes a guide on its genealogy. But when the Fifty Fathoms passed that milestone passed last month, it seemed perhaps a bit overdue? I mean this is really the first dive watch as we know the formula today.…
Read MoreLip-Signed Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
If you didn’t know, the original Fifty Fathoms was developed in collaboration with the French Combat Diving School, a tool needed for the most elite units of the French Navy (later Commando Hubert). Captain Robert Maloubier, who was previously a British Special Operations secret agent during WWII (and had an enviable mustache) and Lieutenant Claude…
Read MoreBlancpain Fifty Fathoms Aqualung
This, I could fairly argue, is perhaps one of the most attractive vintage dive watches to ever exist. The Navies of France, Germany, and the United States all used the now-legendary Fifty Fathoms at some point in time and in so doing made it a relatively famous and desirable tool. Blancpain produced about twenty versions…
Read MoreAqualung Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
This, I could fairly argue, is perhaps one of the most attractive vintage dive watches to ever exist. The Navies of France, Germany, and the United States all used the now-legendary Fifty Fathoms at some point in time and in so doing made it a relatively famous and desirable tool. Blancpain produced about twenty versions…
Read MoreBlancpain Fifty Fathoms Aqua Lung ‘No Radiations’
I am continually perplexed that lovers of dive watches know the Fifty but have not yet made familiar with the civilian version. Yes, there was a civilian model. The Navies of France, Germany, and the United States all used the Fifty Fathoms and in so doing made it a relatively famous and desirable tool. Blancpain…
Read More1 of 150 Blancpain ‘Barakuda’ Fifty Fathoms
No, this is not the proverbial Swatch group reissue. Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms is arguably the most influential dive watch of all time and inarguably the first ‘modern’ dive watch (by modern, I mean a uni-directional rotating bezel with substantial water resistance). While borne to meet the needs of the French Naval Combat Divers, the innovative…
Read More1 of 500 Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda
In the immortal words of esteemed 1970s rock band Heart, “Ooooooh Barracuda!” Among Blancpain’s pantheon of iconic, original Fifty Fathoms variants, none seems safe from the proverbial Swatch Group refresh. Normally, I roll my eyes at these cash-grabs. However, on rare occasion, my eyes roll for a millisecond before reshaping into the heart-eye emoji thing.…
Read MoreAM Milspec 1 Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
Among the numerous rationales enthusiasts may give for enjoying the mad niche that is watches, history is often referenced. History, where wristwatches are concerned, may come in one of two varieties. First, there is the general historic significance a model range may have contributed to humanity: think Speedmaster to NASA or Sub to Comex. Second,…
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