Technical Pioneers. How a navy’s checklist became the template for every dive watch that followed.
Blancpain traces itself to 1735 and Jehan-Jacques Blancpain’s workshop in Villeret. What made it a pioneer of the wristwatch, though, was a meeting after the Second World War between its CEO and two French naval officers.
The problem
Captain Robert Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud were building a combat-swimmer unit for the French army. The frogmen worked at night on espionage and sabotage, and needed a watch to time dives so they did not outstay their oxygen. Finding nothing on the market that suited, they went to Jean-Jacques Fiechter, Blancpain’s CEO from 1950 to 1980 and a diver himself.
The invention
The brief was clear: a black dial with large numerals and bold markers, and a rotating bezel to line up with the minute hand at the start of a dive. Fiechter added the details that made it durable. The bezel turned one way only, so an accidental knock could only make a diver think he had less time. The case back screwed down, the movement was self-winding so the crown seldom needed opening, the case resisted magnetism, and a small humidity indicator at six o’clock turned from blue to pink if moisture got in.
The early models
Blancpain delivered about 20 watches for testing, and the Fifty Fathoms appeared in 1953. Its name came from its depth rating of 50 fathoms, around 91 metres. It reached the market the following year. It also built on an earlier first: in 1926 Blancpain had partnered with John Harwood to market an automatic wristwatch, and for a time traded as Rayville, a phonetic anagram of Villeret.
How customers reacted
The first customers were the divers who had asked for it, and their approval was written down: Lieutenant Riffaud wrote to the watch’s distributor, Spirotechnique, to say the combat divers were satisfied. Other militaries followed, with accounts naming the Israeli, Spanish and German navies, and the watch reached the US military through a version later called Milspec. Jacques-Yves Cousteau wore it for the dives in The Silent World, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and an Oscar in 1956, and that made it known well beyond the navy.
How it evolved
The story did not run smoothly. One history notes the watch almost did not make it out of the 1970s, and it needed a revival in 2003 to return. For its 60th anniversary in 2013 Blancpain added the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, which is now the core of the line, in steel, titanium and ceramic. Blancpain is also fond of pointing out that it has never made a quartz watch.
Why it matters: a dive watch now means a rotating bezel, a sealed case, a legible dial and luminous markings. The Fifty Fathoms put them together first, at least on the evidence of the brand and the historians who cover it.
Key facts
| Founded | 1735, Villeret |
| 1926 | Partnership with John Harwood on an automatic wristwatch |
| Fifty Fathoms | Launched 1953; to market 1954; rated to 50 fathoms |
| Who asked for it | Captain Robert Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud, French combat divers |
| Who built it | Jean-Jacques Fiechter, CEO 1950 to 1980 |
| Key features | One-way bezel, self-winding, screw-down back, antimagnetic, humidity indicator |
| Revival | 2003; Bathyscaphe in 2013 |
Buying guide – Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe 38 mm steel
| Price (US) | USD 12,500 (US retail price as quoted by dealer Jaztime; the 43 mm steel is quoted at USD 13,700; confirm with Blancpain) |
| Price (Switzerland) | The ceramic 43.6 mm automatic was CHF 12,600 when WorldTempus published its Bathyscaphe line-up in March 2025 |
| Price (India) | We could not find a published INR list price. Ask a Blancpain boutique or authorised retailer |
| If you import it | USD 12,500 is about ₹11.9 lakh at roughly ₹95 to the dollar. Customs adds about 49.15% (20% basic duty, 4% additional duty, a surcharge on those, then 18% IGST), so the landed cost is about ₹17.7 lakh before shipping and insurance |
| Availability | Permanent collection; sold through Blancpain boutiques and authorised retailers |
| Buy | blancpain.com (brand site; use it to find a boutique or authorised retailer) |
Sources: WorldTempus, “The Origins of the Fifty Fathoms” (21 March 2025); Time and Watches; Teddy Baldassarre’s Fifty Fathoms guide; Phillips auction notes; WatchSwiss; Blancpain press release of 27 April 2013; Jaztime dealer listing (US retail price). Customs rates from India’s customs tariff via EximPe; exchange rate approximate; the duty estimate ignores shipping, insurance and any import licence. Firsts are as claimed by these sources. Images: Blancpain, via WorldTempus; no media kit was available to us.
