Blancpain introduced three new regular models in the Fifty Fathoms line, the Fifty Fathoms Grande Date, the Bathyscaphe Quantieme Annuel and the Bathyscaphe Quantieme Complet.

Let’s take a look at the Fifty Fathoms Grande Date first. Executed in brushed titanium, it is the first watch in the FF line to feature the instant changing big date we know since 2005 when it was first introduced in the Leman Aqua Lung Grande Date.

The Fifty Fathoms Grande Date has a very distinct look to it, which is also emphasized by the numerals 3 and 9 being left out from the dial. It comes on either a sailcloth strap or a Nato strap, which would be my personal choice. A titanium bracelet is not planned as of yet. The watch is a real beauty, not easy to capture in photos, though.

Here are some impressions:

Next in line is the Bathyscaphe Quantieme Annuel, a brave merger between a rugged sports watch and a complicated calendar. Since the Bathyscaphe is meant to be an everyday watch, going with both casual and business attire and being not reluctant to be taken on a dive, it is open to additional features beyond the pure intrument driven ones.

In order to fit the annual calendar module into the case without raising the height of the timepiece, the base calibre was changed from the 5 day automatic 1315 to the 100 hours automatic 1150. The Bathyscaphe Quantime Annuel comes on sailcloth, Nato strap or bracelet, it is executed in brushed steel with a meteor grey dial showing the calendar indications in a logical sequence. This watch is a big winner in my book.

Here are the photos I took of this remarkable watch, including some macros thanks to a loupe system used with my iPhone, highlighting the excellence in detail execution, particularly the sunburst dial:

Last but not least, here is the Bathyscaphe Quantieme Complet, also executed in brushed steel with a meteor grey sunburst dial, available on sailcloth, Nato strap or bracelet.

The complete calendar with moonphase is a Blancpain tradition, which can be found in every model family. So it was nothing but logical to also introduce it in the Bathyscaphe. It is however the one watch among all novelties that I struggle with a bit. The Bathyscaphe’s distinct design element since its launch has been the spacious dial, which appealed to some but not all. I liked it a lot since the very beginning, the dial of the Bathyscaphe Quantieme Complet looks too busy to me. Those that did not like the spacious dial of the Bathyscaphe so far will most probably love this one 😉

The level of detail finesse should be visible from those photos in any case.

I hope you enjoyed part three of my hands-on report with the Blancpain novelties. Now, I promised three parts, but since I ran out of space part four is soon to follow 😉

Cheers
Henrik

 

For further information on the timepieces please visit blancpain.com