Blancpain Remixed an Iconic, Highly Technical Diver into a More Versatile Daily Watch

For over 70 years, Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms has held a place among the world’s most iconic dive watches. It’s also seen several dozen different iterations of varying styles and capabilities over its lifespan.

For instance, the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa ranks among the brand’s most technical interpretations. Now, the brand has dropped a brand-new, limited-edition reimagining of that watch.

This revision — the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Ocean Commitment IV — maintains much of the Gombessa’s capabilities but with several stylistic and functional swaps. The result is a far more daily wear-friendly, modern, versatile watch.

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Sea change

As mentioned, the inspiration for this new watch — the Tech Gombessa — is a highly technical, extremely capable, beefy diver. Its case measured a whopping 47mm and featured an intimidating three-hour unidirectional rotating dive bezel.

Its reimagining sees that bezel swapped for a more classic 60-minute diving scale with a black ceramic insert. It also gets two millimeters shaved off its size. At 45mm wide (and 14.1mm thick), it’s still on the large side of the spectrum but is much more wearable than its predecessor.

The TOC IV also sees a movement swap — a caliber 1315A automatic instead of the original’s caliber 13P8 automatic — visible through its presentation caseback. Apart from a slightly higher component count, the movements are largely identical. This includes their 4 Hz frequency, 5.65 mm thickness, 35 jewels, 120-hour power reserve, and so on.

This watch was also built to benefit the Blancpain Ocean Commitment program. Specifically, funds will be allocated to the Blancpain x Sulubaaï Marine Research Center in the Philippines to support ocean conservation and research objectives.

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Familiar waters

While the TOC IV has seen several drastic changes that set it apart from the Tech Gombessa, it still retains a lot of its predecessor’s beloved features.

For instance, the case is still made from grade 23 titanium. This material is slightly lighter and stronger than its more ubiquitous sibling, grade 5 titanium. It’s also more corrosion-resistant — ideal for harsh saltwater usage.

It’s also still rated for depths of up to 300m, has a conical-shaped sapphire crystal, and boasts an “Absolute Black” dial that absorbs 97% of light. That dial color offers excellent contrast against its hands, indices, lume and other markings.

Furthermore — like its predecessor — the case features a helium release valve on one side, a screw-down crown on the other and an integrated rubber strap with a titanium clasp.

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Pricing and availability

As the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Ocean Commitment IV is limited to only 100 examples, interested buyers must schedule an appointment with the experts at one of the brand’s boutiques.

The price of this rarified diver is set at $21,300.

Blancpain

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Ocean Commitment IV

• $21,300 at Blancpain

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