The Original Dive Watch Goes All-In on an Ultratough Material

Blancpain just expanded its ceramic Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe line by 50 percent.

a closeup of a blancpain fifty fathoms ceramic dive watch

Published November 12, 2024

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Back in June, Blancpain launched the first-ever all-ceramic version of a Fifty Fathoms diver.

The ultramodern, ultratough take on the original dive watch took the ceramic Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe — which already existed — and added a new full-ceramic bracelet. To celebrate the launch, the brand also debuted an all-new ceramic Bathyscaphe featuring complete calendar and moonphase complications.

While it’s only been a few months since Blancpain debuted what is arguably the best ceramic bracelet in the business, its success is plain as day, as evidenced by the fact that the world’s oldest extant watch brand has just expanded its ceramic Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe line by 50 percent.

a blancpain fifty fathoms ceramic dive watch on a mans wrist — Blancpain is doubling down on its use of ceramic in the Bathyscaphe line with three new models.

Dial It Up

Prior to today’s expansion, the brand made ceramic Bathyscaphes in the aforementioned complete calendar guise with a black, green or blue dial, along with a flyback chronograph version with a green or black dial. The most affordable iteration of the Bathyscaphe in ceramic — the time-and-date model — was only available with a black dial.

But now, Blancpain is giving you more options. The brand has added two more colorways for the basic three-hand Bathyscaphe in ceramic, as it now matches the complete calendar with green and blue dials. Both new dial colors feature a sunray finish and look spectacular when contrasted with their matte black ceramic cases.

For good measure, the brand has also launched the Flyback Chronograph with a blue dial, meaning all three models in the ceramic Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe line are now available in all three colors.

a closeup of a blancpain fifty fathoms ceramic chronograph dive watch — A blue-dial Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback rounds out the now-completed range of ceramic goodness.

The Tough Get Tougher

The ceramic that Blancpain uses for its Bathyscaphe is 25 percent lighter than stainless steel and five times harder, meaning it’s both incredibly comfortable and should stay looking like new basically forever.

Although the material’s use for the case isn’t super novel — several other brands make dive watches with ceramic cases, with Bremont being the most recent to do so — Blancpain’s ceramic bracelet is truly something special.

It boasts a patented construction featuring links held together by cam-shaped pins and connected with titanium screws. The shape of the pins allows for extremely tight tolerances without hindering movement, which allows the bracelet to flow organically. It’s like silk on the wrist.

Perfection Doesn’t Come Cheap

The bracelet is available as an option on any of the nine Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Ceramic models, and given how special it is, that would be my choice. But the bracelet is quite pricey.

The Flyback Chronograph and Complete Calendar each cost $26,000 on the bracelet, while the three-hander goes for $21,300. The same models cost just $18,400 and $13,700 on either a NATO or sailcloth strap, respectively, meaning the bracelet effectively costs $7,600 on its own.

That means the bracelet alone costs more than an Omega Seamaster Diver 300M on a steel bracelet ($5,900), with enough left over to pick up a Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Compression Diver ($1,695). In other words, it’s a very expensive bracelet. But if you want the ultimate dive-watch-bracelet bragging rights, there’s arguably no beating it.