Blancpain, the luxury Swiss watchmaker, is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its iconic Fifty Fathoms dive watch with the launch of a new model, the Tech Gombessa Fifty Fathoms. This groundbreaking diver was co-developed by Blancpain CEO, Marc A. Hayek, and renowned marine biologist and deep diver, Laurent Ballesta, who founded the Gombessa Expeditions.
The Tech Gombessa Fifty Fathoms marks a significant milestone, as it has been seven decades since the first Fifty Fathoms hit the market. It also commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Gombessa project, which is a marine research team that has undertaken various expeditionary dives to explore some of the ocean’s foremost biological mysteries. Blancpain has been a major partner for Gombessa since its debut in 2013, and the collaboration has continued to strengthen over the years.
Modern Day Jacques Cousteau
Laurent Ballesta is regarded as the modern-day Jacques Cousteau, a pioneering deep diver, and an award-winning underwater photographer. He has gained worldwide recognition for his exceptional skills in capturing the ocean’s hidden beauty through his lens. With 28 consecutive days spent underwater, Ballesta has an in-depth understanding of life beneath the waves. Five years ago, Blancpain approached their long-term brand partner with a specific question, seeking his expertise in deep diving, “Could a new complication be useful for modern dives?”
Recreational diving is a popular pastime, but technical diving is a different moster. It requires greater depths, mixed gases, rebreathers, or even extended saturation dives, making it potentially dangerous. However, for Ballesta and his team at the Gombessa Project, this is just another day at the office. Their goal is to study some of the rarest and most elusive marine creatures and phenomena. They wore four prototypes of the Tech Gombessa watch during an almost 50-day trial period at a depth of 120 meters as part of the Gombessa V and Gombessa VI missions in 2019 and 2021. During these expeditions in the Mediterranean, the team used saturation diving and closed-circuit rebreather diving for the first time.
Ballesta’s dive computer tracked his entire dive, including all the necessary statistics to keep him safe while breathing helium-enriched oxygen at pressure and depth. Before entering the water, Ballesta set the three-hour bezel on the Tech Gombassa to time how long he was in the water specifically. Using a rebreather allowed him to spend more time underwater as exhaled CO2 was cycled, cleaned, and turned into oxygen again, with almost no bubbles that could disturb the marine life he was photographing. The dedicated three-hour hand on the watch was always running, and he only had to spin the bezel to align it for the start of the dive.
While presenting the watch, Ballesta casually mentioned that he once dove for 24 hours using three different rebreathers and could push that time to nine hours per tank with “careful breathing.” When asked about the ideal dive watch, Ballesta pondered the question before stating, “the idea of a traditional watch for modern diving didn’t work together until I realized it’s not about the depth, it’s the duration.”
A True Modern Diver’s Watch
After rigorous testing, Blancpain’s Tech Gombessa Fifty Fathoms has made significant refinements to the original Fifty Fathoms dive watch. The new model features an integrated rubber strap with a central lug system and big block luminous orange indices, making it easier to read in low-light conditions. The black dial has an “absolute black” finish, absorbing 97% of light, and a touch of the original Fifty Fathoms design in the bakelite-esque bezel, which has been subtly adjusted to allow for easier grip underwater while wearing gloves. The bezel also features luminous numerals to track the dive counter and seconds hand.
The Tech Gombessa Fifty Fathoms continues the technological legacy of the Fifty Fathoms line, which was considered the first modern diver when it debuted in 1953. The new model features a refreshed professional design and construction, optimized for modern professional divers. The 47mm case is made from Grade 23 titanium, making it lightweight on the wrist, and features a new lug style that allows the case to integrate seamlessly with the rubber strap. The watch has a water resistance of 300 meters and is equipped with a manual helium escape valve and a screw-down crown with a subtle crown guard for visual consistency with the lugs.
The watch is powered by the Blancpain caliber 13P8, an automatic movement based on the original caliber 1315, with a 120-hour power reserve due to its three barrels. The movement is visible through the exhibition sapphire caseback, with Blancpain’s logo on the mainplate and Gombessa’s on the skeletonized rotor.
Blancpain’s Tech Gombessa Fifty Fathoms is available at Blancpain boutiques and authorized retailers, with pricing at 28,500€. This innovative and functional dive watch is a testament to Blancpain’s commitment to excellence in both design and technology. For more information please visit blancpain.com.
Brand: Blancpain
Model: Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa
Reference Number: 5019-12B30-64A
The Case
Diameter: 47mm
Thickness: 14.81mm
Case Material: Satin-brushed Grade 23 Titanium
Dial Color: “Absolute Black”
Indexes: Luminescent orange block-shaped appliques
Lume: Blue lume emission, also white markers with green luminous emission on the bezel
Water Resistance: 300m
Strap/Bracelet: Integrated rubber strap with included dive extension
The Movement
Caliber: 13P8
Functions: Hours, minutes, central seconds, and a three-hour hand
Diameter: 30.6mm
Thickness: 5.65mm
Power Reserve: 5-day power reserve
Winding: Automatic
Jewels: 35
Additional Details: Helium escape valve, central lugs, spherical sapphire crystal.
Pricing & Availability
Availability: Estimated 3rd or 4th Quarter of 2023
Limited Edition: No
Price: 28,500€
