The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms was one of the original dive watches to emerge from the race to wristwatch water-resistance in the early 1950s. By 1956, when recreational diving started to emerge as a hobby, Blancpain followed up with the Bathyscaphe, a daily-use version of the pro dive watch with a smaller diameter but similarly impressive water resistance. Today it can withstand 300 metres of depth.
Since then, the Bathyscaphe has evolved in many useful forms, but perhaps one of the most fascinating is the peculiar combination of complications in the Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune. A moonphase isn’t the first thing you need a bead on when you’re SCUBA diving; nor, for that matter, would you need an at-a-glance reference to a complete calendar. One isn’t likely to be underwater thinking, “Oh, it’s Wednesday May 27th, and there’s a lemon shark!” Yet somehow the two functions seem perfectly at home on this dark-hued diving watch, especially with the black ceramic case and bracelet, which gives the nighttime sky dial a seductive evening vibe.
It’s the first time Blancpain has applied ceramic to any of the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe models, and—as far as we’re aware—it’s the first ceramic annual calendar moon-phase dive watch ever brought to market.
High-tech ceramic is an ideal material for any sports watch, and particularly diving. It is impervious to encounters with coral reefs, salt water and frigid temperatures. Ceramic is also easy to wear: although it’s nearly five times harder than stainless steel, it’s also 25 per cent lighter. But these advantages come at a cost. Ceramic is hard, and that makes it hard to work with. Diamond tools are required for the delicate and meticulous process of honing the components into finished shapes with desired finishes. Every facet of the case, bracelet links and buckle are individually finished by experts in Switzerland, and Blancpain tells us that only two watchmakers at the manufacture are qualified to assemble the links of the ceramic bracelets, all by hand.
The exacting process of assembling the bracelet requires the links to be perfectly adjusted according to tight tolerances so that they are neither too loose (making for a rattly loose bracelet) nor too tight (which would lock the ceramic joints). The links are held together by cam-shaped pins to make them wear-resistant and comfortable. The cam system is patented, and unique to the watch market.
We tried the watch on and can attest to the incredible feeling of quality from the bracelet. The cam-shaped link attachments cause the bracelet to bend in an almost intuitive manner around your wrist, and the ceramic feels exceptionally luxurious, which—frankly speaking—is not true of all ceramic timepieces with bracelets. Those tight tolerances keep the bracelet from rattling, which, with ceramic, sounds a bit like plastic to our ears.
The moonphase complication, powered by calibre 6654.P4, is symbolic for the brand. When Blancpain introduced a mechanical moon phase movement in the early 1980s, it was the brand’s way of demonstrating that a complicated mechanical timepiece was the product of extraordinary expertise that quartz could never replace. The stylised Blancpain moon phase came to symbolise the revival of mechanical watchmaking. At one point, Blancpain even offered a fun ladies’ model with the moon wearing long eyelashes, and the brand’s ad campaign at the time bragged: “We’ve never made an electronic watch, and we never will.”
Caliber 6654.P4 has two mainspring barrels for a 72-hour power reserve, and the silicon balance spring makes it anti-magnetic, which allows the caseback to be open so you can confirm the hallmarks of a high-watchmaking movement finish, including bevelling, circular graining and snailing.
The Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune in black ceramic with blue dial is priced at RM118,400. Variants are also available with green and black dials.
