Spotlight: Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Desert Edition

I have long been a fan of the Fifty Fathoms, a watch with an incredibly rich history and an archetype diving watch. Having been fortunate enough last week to get hands on with the latest special release, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Desert Edition, it seems only right to make it the focus of a Watch Affinity Spotlight feature article.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Desert Edition

In May of this year, we published only our second Spotlight feature article exploring the rich history of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, the original divers watch which first appeared in 1953. The first Bathyscaphe models followed shortly afterwards in 1956, providing a smaller option that would be better suited to everyday wear, whilst compromising nothing of the dive watch functionality. This continued quite happily until the quartz crisis reared its head in the late 1970s.

The 1970s was a hugely influential era in watchmaking, spawning iconic pieces such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in 1972, and Patek Philippe’s Nautilus in 1976. The same decade remains influential even today, with many contemporary pieces celebrating the era by championing the designs of yesteryear. Indeed in 2018, Blancpain added a limited edition (500 pieces) 1970s inspired day-date Bathyscaphe to the collection, with a distinctive retro feel to it.

This new Desert Edition is cut from the same cloth, the similarities are clear to see when you put them side by side:

The first question you might (and not unreasonably) ask, is why a dive watch has a desert edition, after all, diving is not especially an activity that one might associate with some of the hottest, driest areas on Earth!

The Bathyscaphe Desert Edition has been created to commemorate a landmark achievement by a man named Ernest H Brooks II. Brooks was a pioneer of underwater photography and spent almost two decades alongside the legendary Jacques Cousteau. In 1962, Brooks undertook a dive in a geothermal pool in Death Valley, Nevada, known as Devils Hole, which stretches to more than 120m deep. On this dive, Brooks was able to photograph the Devils Hole Pupfish which is found nowhere else on Earth – it was declared an endangered species in 1967, and by 2013 there were only 35 left (conservation efforts are steadily improving the situation, with the population now up to 187 as of 2018 – you can read more about this here)

Released to commemorate this dive, the ‘Desert Edition’ name starts to make more sense, and we can better understand the link between the desert and a dive watch!

As you will have already noted, the case and functionality of the Desert Edition is the same as the 1970s Day-Date, with hours minutes and seconds, along with the day-date function. The brushed stainless-steel case is 43mm in diameter and 14.25mm deep, which certainly gives it some wrist presence. The Desert Edition also contains the same movement as the 1970s Day-Date, calibre 1315DD. This automatic calibre is on show through a sapphire caseback, and vibrates at 4Hz with 37 jewels, and 3 barrels which offer an impressive 120 hours (5 days) power reserve to drive the hours, minutes, seconds and day-date complications, all wound by a white gold rotor.

With the Desert Edition, the novelty can be found on the stunning dial and a new sail-canvas strap, both contributing to a lighter colour palette than the previous 1970s Day-Date, much more akin to the tones one might expect within a desert environment. The dial features a sunburst finish which graduates to a slightly darker colour as we reach the perimeter, creating a subtle fumé effect. The dial takes on a multitude of appearances, too, the colours constantly dancing between different tones depending on how the light hits the dial.

The large hour markers and the chapter ring at the perimeter of the dial go a long way to evoking the 1970s vintage vibe, along with the rectangular hands. The hands themselves, the small circle on the seconds hand, and the orientation triangle at 12 o’clock are all treated with a luminescent material.

The bezel around the outside is a uni-directional steel bezel with brown ceramic insert, another change in the colour palette from the 1970s Day-Date, but this choice certainly works better with the overall aesthetic of the Desert Edition – I think a black ceramic insert here would detract too far from the vibe created by using the more earthy tones.

In Summary

I don’t expect for one moment that this look will be for everyone, but for me, I really like it. I prefer a bigger watch so the 43mm case size feels comfortable on my 17cm wrist. There isn’t an awful lot of difference between this Desert Edition and the 1970s Day-Date from a couple of years ago, but I find that learning of the story behind the Desert Edition and what it means does give the watch perhaps an additional layer of meaning behind it.

Personally speaking, I would probably look to pair the Desert Edition with a different strap, somewhat ironically probably something similar to what is on the 1970s Day-Date edition. But all things considered I think that this is a great looking watch with a story behind it that deserves to be told.

The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Desert Edition, reference 5052 1146 E52A, is available now.

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