The second timepiece Blancpain introduces in the year of the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms is capturing the DNA of the iconic dive watch as a professional instrument. This one is entirely made by divers for divers. Let’s get up close and personal with the new Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa reference 5019-12B30-64A.
.
The preview on February 13
The preview of Act 2 celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms was a class act in itself.
In various Blancpain Boutiques around the globe the guests witnessed a live stream from two locations: the Tamataroa mission taking place in the Rangiroa Atoll in French Polynesia, and Paudex, Switzerland. Marc A. Hayek and Laurent Ballesta presented a new timepiece which was envisioned by both of them and took 5 years of development and live testing, including some Gombessa missions.
.
At the end of the live stream Laurent Ballesta handed over the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa in its impressive large PeliCase to a fellow diver in a red dive suit, who then left the scene with it.
Right after the live stream ended, the Boutique welcomed an additional visitor, entering in a similar red dive suit with the impressive PeliCase and the guests were able to get a first live impression of the FF Tech Gombessa. Very nicely done, Blancpain!
.
The background of the Tech Gombessa
The watch is built to support longer dives and saturation dives, where a rebreather system is used. Rebreather systems exist for over one hundred years now, but they were used for dives in professional environments for the most time.
Rebreathers are not necessarily limited to a maximum dive duration of 3 hours, but for the vast majority of technical dives this timespan is sufficient. when usually the filter needs to be changed. In the preview Laurent Ballesta pointed out that the 3 hour indication was clearly the way to go. The ability to measure a dive that long was not yet supported by the functionality of a mechanical dive watch, until now.
.
Just as Jean-Jacques Fiechter responded to requests by the French combat divers and later the US Navy regarding the functionality of the first Fifty Fathoms (anti-magnetic shielding and a moisture indicator), Marc A. Hayek and Blancpain now responded to the requirements defined by Laurent Ballesta.
The mechanism of the FF Tech Gombessa is co-patented by Marc A. Hayek and Laurent Ballesta. Their close relationship formed in 10 years of Blancpain supporting the Gombessa missions, has led to this innovative dive watch. And so, just like in 1953, a Blancpain dive watch again offers a solution that responds to today’s diver requirements with a purely mechanical instrument.
.
The box
Let’s start our exploration of the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa with its impressive box. This PeliCase contains a special watch stand, a travel box, a loupe, the booklet for the watch and the strap extension for dive suits.
The inlay can easily be removed, and when you do that you find additional foam elements to build a different box set up so it can carry all kind of equipment.
.
The aesthetics
Now it’s time to really get up close and personal with the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa itself. This watch is all new in every aspect: a new design, a new color code, a new feeling on the wrist.
.
The titanium grade 23 case of the FF Tech Gombessa is rated to 300m water resistance , it measures 47mm in diameter and 14.81mm in height. It is equipped with a Helium escape valve to support long time saturation dives and the respective decompression needs.
.
We don’t see the usual rounded shapes, more a new, technical design code. The bold center lugs and the trapeze-shaped crown guards give the FF Tech Gombessa a very distinct look.
.
The ceramic bezel indicates the 3 hour time span, and it is of course unidirectional. The bezel shape also follows the aesthetic code of reference 5019 with its pronounced long teeth. From a lateral view the bezel shows its considerable height and strong aesthetics, and it works extremely well with the middle case.
.
The ceramic bezel insert has a convex shape and it tilts towards the dial and the spherical crystal. The indications on the bezel are engraved, filled with luminescent material and than finished with a special lacquer. It is difficult to capture the absolute beauty of this bezel in photos, you need to see it with your own eyes to fully appreciate how beautifully it is executed.
.
The rubber strap is fixed on the backside of the center lugs. This solution makes the 47mm watch wear like a 43mm timepiece, and in an extremely comfortable way.
Just like with the X Fathoms, the integrated strap fits like a glove. Here you see it on my rather slim 16.5cm wrist, and I am very sad to say that the curving of the strap makes it a little too big for me to wear.
.
In comparison here are some wrist shots on a 17.5cm wrist. From the comparison I think the Tech Gombessa needs a wrist circumference of minimum 17cm to be a good fit.
.
To wear the watch over a dive suit you need to use the extension on a separate titanium grade 23 tang buckle. The special shape of the strap flanks ensures a safe connection with the main strap. The design of the rubber strap(s) and the tang buckle is very nice, by the way.
.
The indications
For this new timepiece Blancpain have developed a dial in so-called „absolute black“, absorbing close to 97% of light. It’s matte finish is a beautiful background for large luminescent block shaped numerals and indices, like we have seen with the Act 1 aka Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary as well. These and the minute track are executed in bright orange.
.
The black polished hands are almost invisible against the dial, had they not been equipped with a lot of luminescent material, when viewing it from the front. From lateral view there shape and black polish becomes visible to different degrees, depending on the angle light meets the dial and hands. The SuperLuminova on the hour and minute hands has the same bright orange color as the numerals and indices on the dial.
Colorwise the center seconds hand and the fourth hand, which corresponds with the bezel, are different. They carry natural color SuperLuminova, as does the ceramic bezel.
.
Now let’s take a look how this configuration looks in the dark. The basic time related indications (dial, hour and minute hand) glow in blue, the dive timing elements (fourth hand and bezel) as well as the seconds hand glow in a bright green. The seconds is color wise paired to the dive timing as a confirmation that the watch is running.
.
You notice from these photos that the blue is subdued, so the difference between normal time and dive time indications is even easier and not entirely defined by the color but by their brightness. I need to point out that the watch was put under bright light only for a very short time, so the appearance can be different when the luminescent material is loaded up over an entire sunny day.
.
The functionality
Let’s get into how the fourth hand operates. It is coupled to the main hour hand, only it runs at four times the speed of the hour hand and performs a full three hour circle in 60 minutes.
.
Hour and fourth hand are completely aligned at 12 o‘clock only. The fourth hand then meets the 12 mark every three hours.
To time a dive the bezel diamond is aligned with the current position of the fourth hand, which well then subsequently tell the actual duration of the dive.
.
The movement
The FF Tech Gombessa is powered by caliber 13P8, which is an iteration of the well known and trusted cal 1315. The movement is oscillating at 4 Hz, it has five days of power reserve and is, as many owners of cal 1315 equipped Fifty Fathoms and Bathyscaphe timepieces can testify to, incredibly precise.
The movement finishing is similar to what we usually see with cal 1315, but the 13P8 has a special 18ct gold rotor with an anthracite finish and the Gombessa logo imprinted.
.
Conclusions
I am personally very impressed by the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa. This is an all new interpretation of the iconic Fifty Fathoms, with a purpose that’s rooted in today’s diving environment. And it is an utterly beautiful watch!
The center lugs solution with the strap fixed on the backside is taking the instrument character of the Fifty Fathoms to a new level, while being wearable even on medium wrists despite its nominal size.
.
The color code of the timepiece is another element that sets it apart from anything we have seen so far in the Fifty Fathoms lineup. And the fact that it is not a limited edition is very positive, this watch may be in the catalogue for quite a while. And one very interesting comment by Marc A. Hayek indicates that this new case and design may become a small model family of its own in coming years. He also indicated that the annual production of this watch may be limited to approximately 100 pieces.
And, last but not least, the Tech Gombessa is a watch celebrating not only the innovative character of the Fifty Fathoms since 1953, but also the commendable support of Laurent Ballesta‘s work. Together with the Blancpain Ocean Commitment initiative we witness a high end luxury watch manufacturer supporting a truly good and important cause, which is exceptional.
.
You find the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa here on the Blancpain website. If you want to explore the famous Blancpain X Fathoms, you find a dedicated blog essay here and the very interesting deconstruction by Peter Speake-Marin aka the Naked Watchmaker here in the blog.
Hope you enjoyed this hands-on report on the Tech Gombessa and the photos, unfortunately I could not capture the piece under natural light (yet).
Cheers
Henrik