Last year Swatch partnered with Omega to launch 11 pieces in the celestial-themed watches in the Bioceramic MoonSwatch Collection. It created a type of watch frenzy that’s seldom seen, a type of frenzy that saw not just watch lovers form snaking lines outside of Swatch stores to land a piece, but also non-watch lovers doing whatever they could do get their hands on any model. It was an unprecedented marketing move which, even today, more than a year later, people are lapping up.
Today, in what is possibly a bid to recreate that success, a Blancpain X Swatch collaboration has been unveiled. The Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms Collection of five ocean-themed watches which commemorates the 70th anniversary of the latter's legendary Blancpain Fifty Fathoms scuba diving watch. The creations have been released in five colours that have never been seen on any original Blancpain Fifty Fathoms — blue (Ref. SO35A100), yellow-orange (Ref. SO35P100), beige (Ref. SO35N100), green (Ref. SO35I100), and white (Ref. SO35S100), which are inspired by the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Indian, and Antarctic Oceans in that order.
The 42.3mm timepieces are crafted with Bioceramic, a patented hybrid of two-thirds ceramic and one-third biomaterials derived from castor oil developed by Swatch, and which is a Swatch mainstay. Fittingly, the cases feature the ‘Swatch’ logo on the side of the case. Each model of the collection is incorporated with the shared Blancpain X Swatch logos on the dial and crown; at 6 o’clock is the Scuba text, the classic Fifty Fathoms script. There is a unidirectional bezel, and the fume dial features a date window between 4 and 5 o’clock and Arabic hour markers at 12, 3, 6, and 9, and hands coated with white lume.
In wanting to stay true to Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms dive watch legacy, the timepieces are water resistant up to a precise 91 metres, which is what 50 fathoms equates to. Furthermore, Blancpain’s commitment to not including quartz in its watches finds expression in the fact that the timepieces are fitted with the automatic Calibre SISTEM51 equipped with the Nivachron™ antimagnetic balance spring, boasting about 90-hours power reserve. The exhibition case back allows one to see a laser-etched detailed printing of a nudibranch – a sea creature indigenous to the particular ocean associated with the watch.
There are however style departures in the beige-and-orange Arctic version and the white-and-grey Antarctic one. Both have vintage circular, bar, and triangular hour markers, and the brand logo has a vintage lettering. The Arctic version also has a No Radiation logo above 6 o’clock (inspired by Blancpain’s popular model), and the Antarctic model comes with a SCUBA logo written on the bottom half that acts as a moisture indicator. Both the models exclude the date window.
"Without Swatch, the Swiss watch industry would simply not have survived and enjoyed such a wonderful destiny. This collection is a source of pride for me,” says Blancpain President and CEO Marc A. Hayek. “We owed it to ourselves to work with this brand that is as much a pioneer as we are – a reality vividly proven with this collection. Swatch has brilliantly reinterpreted our iconic model, in its own way, with its own vision. As a keen diver myself, I really appreciate the attention to detail in this collection and the many references to the Fifty Fathoms. The fact that it is water-resistant to a depth of 91 metres – corresponding to exactly 50 fathoms, a nautical unit of depth – is a fantastic nod."
Completing the watches is an aesthetically matching NATO strap made from recycled fishing nets removed from the ocean floor. All the models are not limited editions and are priced INR 33,000 (approx.)
Images Courtesy: Blancpain X Swatch
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