INTIME

THE HISTORY OF THE
FIFTY FATHOMSBY JEFFREY S. KINGSTON

ow did Blancpain come to create theH

itary applications. In the aftermath of World

stay the supply of oxygen). A second, andFifty Fathoms, which almost at once

War II, at the initiative of two heroes of theperhaps somewhat less obvious need wasachieved the status of an icon and which has

Free French Forces, Captain Robert “Bob”

timing for navigation purposes. After run-defined the qualities of fine diving watches

Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud,ning tests of the watches then available on

for the entire industry ever since? Like mostthe French military created what many con-the market, Maloubier concluded that none

great achievements, the Fifty Fathoms wassidered to be its most select and closed

were up to the task. Thus, he decided tothe product of passion. In this case the pas-group, the combat divers. The mission ofundertake the conception of a timing instru-sion of Jean-Jacques Fiechter, Blancpain’s

this elite group of frogmen was undersea

ment that would target the needs of military

CEO from 1950 to 1980. Fiechter was a diver,intelligence gathering and acts of sabotage

combat diving. Mauloubier drew up detailed

and for him the creation of a great divingsuch as attacks in sea ports or destruction ofspecifications for his diving watch andwatch was more than a routine new productships, all accomplished by teams of divers

farmed them out for bidding. Unfortunately,

introduction – it was the opportunity to bringoften working at night.

the reception from industry was decidedly

together two of the driving pursuits of his

Beyond their diving tanks, scuba regula-cool, with one of the commercial directors oflife, watches and the sea. Thus, whentors, masks, flippers and suits, Maloubier

the firm LIP even commenting that such aapproached by the French military, it was theand Riffaud understood the importance of

timepiece “would have no future”.

project for which he had been waiting.

robust and reliable diving instruments, ofIt seems at the time the watch industry

Although today, the popularity of diving

which there were three: a compass, a depth

was focused elsewhere, in particular on

watches extends far beyond the sea – being

metre and a diving watch. The watch waswatches for aviation. Diving watches werede rigueur in 50th floor conference rooms forcentral to many of the key tasks confronting

too far removed from this realm.

business meetings in suit and tie – the roots

the divers. Of course the timing of the dive

Finally, however, the two French naval offi-of diving timepieces spring from serious mil-

was an essential (it would not to do to over-cers came into contact with Mr. Fiechter of1953

1953

1953

1953/55

1953/55First model of the FiftyFathoms. Diameter 42mm.

LIP model Fifty Fathoms,released in 1953.

Another LIP Fifty Fathoms
model. Diameter 41mm.

LIP Fifty Fathoms withhumidity indicator on thedial.

Very rare French military
diving school model.

04 | 05

President John F. Kennedy meets US Navy Seals, wearing Fifty Fathoms Rayville Tornek diving watches.

Bob Maloubier, circa 1955, wearing his Fifty Fathoms.

INTIME

Blancpain. With Fiechter’s personal passion
for and fascination with diving, he needed
little convincing. Blancpain quickly agreed todevelop the timepiece for the Ecole desnageurs de combat (Combat Diving School)
which Maloubier and Riffaud commanded.
Maloubier describes his first meeting with
Blancpain:“Finally a small watch company, Blancpain,
agreed to develop our project which envisioned a watch with a black dial, bold large
numerals and clear markings: triangles,circles, squares; a rotatable exterior bezel
which repeated the markings of the dial. We
wanted at the start of a dive to be able to set
the bezel opposite the large minute hand inorder to mark the time. We wanted each of
the markings to shine like a star for a shepherd.”
Fiechter, an experienced diver, had his own
ideas. First, he decided that the rotating bezel
which the specifications called for, should be
refined so that it would rotate in only one
direction. Thus, at no time could a diver inadvertently turn the bezel so as give an indication that the dive started later than it had; anyFirst model of the Fifty Fathoms.

mistakes would shorten a dive rather thanlengthen it beyond the air supply. Of course
he knew that the watch had to be waterresistant. To ensure that the case itself would

LIKE MOST GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS, THE

be highly water-resistant, Fiechter elected
to incorporate a screw-on case back. To avoid

FIFTY FATHOMS WAS THE PRODUCTa patent on screw-down crowns he conceived
a double “O-ring” system. Further he realised

OF PASSION, IN THIS CASE THAT OF JEAN-JACQUES

that manual winding risked wear on thewaterproofing system for the crown, so he

FIECHTER, BLANCPAIN'S CEO FROM 1950 TO 1980.

decided that the movement would have

1960

1960

1960

1960

1965–70

US Navy model.

US MIL-SPEC Navy model.
Large size: 41mm.

Small-size civilian model.
35mm.

Civilian model sold by LIP.

Large-size civilian model.
41mm.

06 | 07

to feature automatic winding, minimising theat the time enjoyed a relationship withnumber of times that the crown would need

Jacques Cousteau, selling his inventions

to be pulled out. Finally, he felt that protec-including his famed diving regulator valve.

tion from magnetic fields was required for aThrough this connection Cousteau learned

timepiece which would be used in the harshof the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms watch, select-conditions of combat. Combining his specifi-

ing it for use in the historic dives chronicled

cations with those of Maloubier/Riffaud,in the film “Silent World”, both an Oscar

Fiechter had his design goals.

winner and winner of the Palme d’Or at theIt is remarkable that the set of characteris-Cannes Film Festival in 1956.

tics which Blancpain and the French Navy

Meanwhile other navies followed the leadjointly developed in 1953 have ever sinceof the French in selecting the Blancpain Fifty

defined the finest diving watches: highFathoms for their divers. The Israeli, Spanish,water resistance, robust protected crownGerman and US navies were all key

systems, automatic winding, black dials withBlancpain customers.

clear luminescent markings, uni-directional

It was not always easy to achieve this wide

rotating bezels with timing markings, anti-military acceptance. For example the US mil-magnetic protection.

itary placed a variety of obstacles in the way

There was one last touch which Blancpainof any non-US watch producer. Under theadded to the design. At the six o’clock posi-then existing “Buy American Act” Americantion on the dial, a humidity indicator wasproducers were given a 25% price advantage

added. In the form of a small circle, the indi-over foreign competitors. The jewels used incator showed blue if the air in the case was

the watch had to be sourced from a supplierdry. If water had penetrated, the colour wouldin Missouri. Fortunately for Blancpain, therechange to pink, as a warning.

was an advocate for the Fifty Fathoms whobelieved in the watch, Allen Tornek. Tornek

Anniversary Edition Fifty Fathoms from 2003,a highly sought-after collectors’ piece.

B

lancpain’s pioneering effort was named

had become an acquaintance of Jean-the “Fifty Fathoms” after the British mea-

Jacques Fiechter through their common

surement of 50 fathoms, or approximately

passion for diving. When he learned of the91.45 metres, which was at the time consid-

US military’s bid for tenders, Tornek imme-

ered the maximum depth which a diver could

diately thought of Blancpain. However, toachieve with the oxygen mixture then in use.

meet the requirements of the bidding

For both commercial and administrative

process, he had to deal with the labyrinth ofreasons, the French Navy elected to pur-laws standing in his way, such as the Missourichase all of its diving equipment, including

source for jewels. Tornek’s solution was

the Blancpain diving watches, through a sin-straightforward; he simply bought thegle source, Spirotechnique, located on theMissouri jewels and, finding them inferior,left bank in central Paris. This same businessthrew them away. Tornek won the bidding

1965–70

1965

1968

1970

1965–70

Civilian model with antiradiation symbol on the dial.

German military model.

Large-size civilian model,with date.

Civilian model, 37mm.

Large-size civilian model.
Outfitted withinternal shield case.

INTIME

process, and delivered the watches to the US

diving watches, it achieved similar success inmilitary under two names, “Blancpain

the civilian arena. At the time, mechanical

Tornek” and “Rayville Tornek” (Rayville was adivingwatches were not considered an horo-name used by Jean-Jacques Fiechter for

logical luxury. They were serious instruments

some of the Blancpain production).

and part of the required kit for any diver.

Like many of the military watches, theLogically, then, diving watches were princi-Tornek series complied with particular military

pally not sold in fancy jewellery stores, butspecifications. Indeed, the Tornek series

instead in the same shops where a diverwatches bear the label “MIL-SPEC 1” on thewould source his tanks, scuba regulator, suit,dial. One element commonly found in the mil-face mask and other diving equipment.

itary specifications dealt with the luminosity of

Accordingly a substantial percentage ofthe dial and bezel markings. In the US case, as

Blancpain’s historic production of the Fiftyin the case of many other military units, it wasFathoms was sold under the name of therequired that the Fifty Fathoms use radioactive

diving shop supplying the rest of the diving

material, such as Promethium 147, so that theequipment. Perhaps the most famous ofindications would “glow” in the night condi-

these shops sold products under the nametions envisioned for many dives. These MIL-

“Aqualung”. “Aqualung” was the nameSPEC materials were fearsome, even by theJacques Cousteau bestowed upon his line ofrather casual standards of the day that applieddiving equipment, centred on his pioneering

to radioactive elements. The cases bore an

development of the first truly useable scuba

inscription reading “DANGER. IF FOUND

air regulator. Cousteau’s Aqualung regulator

RETURN TO NEAREST MILITARY FACILITY”.

can rightly be credited with giving birth toBlancpain recognised that it needed a way

modern scuba diving. And the diving watch-

to distinguish its military Fifty Fathom pro-es sold in his stores were Blancpain’s bearing

duction from its civilian production, and thethe label “Aqualung”.

particular problem it had in mind was the use

Not only were the Blancpain Fifty Fathomof radioactive coatings. To demark civilian

watches the inspiration for all of the diving

watches, that of course used no radioactive

watches that have copied its list of features,products of any kind, Blancpain seized on thein some ways they can be seen as trend set-idea of a special dial legend. Using the uni-ters for the large-size watches that are soversal symbol for radioactivity, the threefashionable generally today. The style of thesemi-triangles arrayed around a circle,

50s dictated that wrist watches had to beBlancpain indicated the absence of suchsmall. It was the norm that men’s watches

products by using the red strike through thewere but 32 – 34mm in diameter. This size,

symbol and placed this legend in a prominent

appropriate for a dress watch, did not suit

place, above 6 o’clock, on the dial.

the mission for a serious dive watch. WhereAs the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms establishedlegibility was critical, as the saying goes, size

itself as the worldwide standard for military

matters. So the Fifty Fathoms broke with theFrench military diver, circa mid-1960s.

A “thank you” letter written by the Captainof the sailing vessel “Saint Briac”, whoused Fifty Fathoms timepieces for navigation
on a round-the-world sail.

1975

1975

1975

1975

1975

Large-size 1975 model withcalibre AS 2063 movement.

Model with calibre
R 586 movement.

Large-size model withmonobloc case back. 42mm.

Model with calibre
AS 1902/03 movement.

Rayville large sizewith CD 2873 calibre.
Crown at 4 o'clock.

08 | 09

Version of the Fifty Fathoms
presented at the 1968 SalonNautique (Diving Show).
Note the anti-radiation
dial marking.

fashion of its time and offered large diameters to improve legibility.
Over the years, Blancpain offered a host of
styling variants of the Fifty Fathoms. Some
had cushion style cases, others stick markers
in place of triangular ones, some with morepointed hands than others. However, in all
instances they shared the same DNA adhering to the general specifications laid out by
Maloubier and Fiechter in 1953.
More recently, the Basel fair of 2003 saw
the debut of the 50th Anniversary version of
the Fifty Fathoms. Offered in three limited
series of 50 pieces, these highly sought-after
special edition timepieces brought touchesof luxury to the classic recipe that had soendured for 50 years. The bezel for the firsttime was fashioned out of sapphire. Not
only did this bring a sheen which no othermaterial could match, it was practical as wellbecause of its scratch resistance. The movement was updated as well with the use of
the calibre 1150 offering a 100-hour power
reserve. Finally, Blancpain offered an ingenious strap attachment system, so easy andfool proof, that Blancpain’s CEO Marc A.
Hayek during a dive with Robert Maloubier
launching the watch in Thailand, demonstrated a strap change under water. All theAnniversary pieces sold out in an instant andtoday they command a hefty premium on
the used market.
So the Fifty Fathoms of 2007 traces a richlineage over more than half a century. And
the passion that gave birth to the line andOVER THE YEARS, BLANCPAIN OFFERED A HOST

its uncompromising adherence to the needsof the world’s most demanding divers

OF STYLING VARIANTS OF THE FIFTY FATHOMS.

Iendures.

199920002007

2007

2007

The Fifty Fathoms Trilogy
Edition on bracelet. Strap andgold versions were available.

The Concept 2000
Fifty Fathoms.

The Fifty Fathoms
Automatique houses thenew sturdy self-winding
Calibre 1315.

The Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon
crafted in gold is equippedwith the automatic Calibre 25A
with 8-day power reserve.

The Fifty Fathoms
Chronographe Flybackhas water-resistantpush buttons.