Blancpain Updates the Iconic Fifty Fathoms Diver in an Unexpected Way

We’ve never seen this feature on any Blancpain dive watch before now.

black blancpain dive watch viewed from the side

Published June 27, 2024

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Updated June 27, 2024

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The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is typically credited as the first modern dive watch, having first debuted on the wrists of French Navy divers in 1953.

The iconic dive watch has come a long way since then and now reigns as one of the most lauded luxury divers on the market. Blancpain’s modern Fifty Fathoms exists in numerous forms, with the Fifty Fathoms Automatique showing the clearest lineage to the mil-spec originals.

But Blancpain also makes an alternate version of the Fifty Fathoms called the Bathyscaphe, which traces its roots to 1956 when it was unveiled as a smaller Fifty Fathoms diver better suited to casual everyday use.

Today, the Bathyscaphe largely lives in the shadow of the more popular Fifty Fathoms Automatique, but today Blancpain is shining a spotlight on its under-the-radar dive watch collection by launching a fully ceramic version, marking the first time we’ve seen a ceramic bracelet on any Fifth Fathoms watch.

Blancpain Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune Ceramic

$26,000 at Blancpain

A Seriously Impressive Bracelet

A Bathyscaphe watch in black ceramic had already existed, but it was only available on a strap — never a matching bracelet. Now that Blancpain has created its first ceramic bracelet, it’s up to the rest of the industry to catch up.

Blancpain is a high-horology brand, and it doesn’t cut corners. The brand’s new ceramic bracelet is highly impressive, as it boasts gorgeous brushing throughout with each component being individually hand-finished with diamond-tipped tools. Just two watchmakers at Blancpain’s manufacture are qualified to assemble the new bracelets.

The bracelet also has the same engineering as the Bathyscaphe’s acclaimed metal bracelets. The links are held together by cam-shaped pins, and everything is connected via titanium screws. This patented system allows the bracelet to flow in an organic way despite incredibly tight tolerances while also incorporating evenly spaced venting between the links.

black blancpain dive watch — The new ceramic bracelet, seen here on the standard ceramic Bathyscaphe, features the same patented engineering as the model’s metal bracelets.

The black ceramic utilized for the new bracelet is five times harder than stainless steel while being 25 percent lighter. Blancpain has added the ceramic bracelet as an option to the existing black ceramic Bathyscaphe three-hander and Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback models.

But that’s not all. There’s also a brand-new Bathyscaphe model to properly introduce the ceramic bracelet to the Fifty Fathoms lineup.

The Do-It-All Diver

The new watch is the Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune, which brings complete calendar (day, date and month) and moonphase complications to the line for the first time in a ceramic case. (Blancpain also makes titanium and steel versions.)

The 43.6mm case in black ceramic perfectly matches the new ceramic bracelet, but if you want to save a little coin, the watch is also available on a NATO or sailcloth strap. Three dial color options are available for the new diver in green, blue or black, each with a beautiful gradient sunray finish.

blancpain dive watch with green dial — The green dial variant is the only version to receive a ceramic bezel uniquely color-matched to the dial. The blue and black variants both have black ceramic bezel inserts to match the case and bracelet.

The watch is powered by the in-house Cal. 6654.P4 automatic movement, which has an anti-magnetic silicon hairspring, twin barrels providing 72 hours of power reserve and can be adjusted at any time of day without causing damage. Its hand-applied decoration and 18K black gold rotor are on full display beneath a sapphire caseback.

With its combination of classic high-end complications, 300m water resistance and full black ceramic construction, the new Fifty Fathoms is a lesson in contrasts that could function in basically all situations. It’s simultaneously a sleek, robust, nearly scratchproof sports watch and a high-horology dress watch, and it looks dynamite.

The only drawbacks to the new all-ceramic Bathyscaphe to my eye are its size and its price. The watch clocks in at 43.6mm, which is quite massive. I had hoped that after Blancpain finally launched the Fifty Fathoms Automatique in a smaller 42mm case earlier this year that the brand had come to its senses and would start trending smaller across the board, but it looks like they’re not there yet.

white blancpain swatch watch on a wrist — Simply shaving the 43.6mm case down to 42mm, like on the Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty Fathoms, would make the new Bathyscaphe wearable for a lot more wrists.

Next is the price. Blancpain is a high-luxury brand, but I still sometimes get sticker shock from its prices. The Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune on the ceramic bracelet retails for $26,000, which is over $7,000 more than the stainless steel version on a braclet, and more than a $6,000 increase over the titanium version. On a strap, it’s an easier-to-swallow $18,400.

The watch is well out of my price range, but if you’ve got that kind of scratch and the wrist to support a 43.6mm case, then I’d imagine this new Bathyscaphe is plenty tempting.