What brands come to mind when thinking of Iconic diving watches? Rolex submariner? Panerai Luminor? Omega Seamaster?
All these brands have made great diving watches and continue to do so today. But there is a little known fact about diving watches which our readers should know about: The inventor of the diving watch in the early 1950s along with Rolex was Blancpain.
You see Blancpain was asked by the French marines (to be precise divers called the elite ‘frogmen’ headed by Maloubier) to create a reliable diving watch and thus the now Iconic Blancpain Fifty Fathoms was born in 1953.
The Fifty Fathoms was produced in various forms, among which were the Aqua Lung (main picture above with the explorer dial variation). The Aqua Lung was among the earliest models and today are very collectible. Other variations included the Milspec (made for the Pakistani army among others), the Tornek Rayville (made for the US market) and the Bund (made for the German army) and the LIP. The Milspec and Tornek Rayville are especially sought after today and models in good condition are extremely expensive making early Rolex Submariner references (excluding the big crown versions) look like bargains.
Why are early Blancpain diving watches so sought after by collectors?
Well for one they are beautiful. Secondly Blancpain made watches for the Polish, German, American, Pakistani, French, and Norwegian military which gave the brand credibility. Thirdly it also helped that Jacques Cousteau (the legendary underwater explorer) loved his Blancpain Fifty Fathoms.
The success of the Fifty Fathoms lasted for almost 28 years until 1980 when Blancpain, the ‘brand’, ran into troubles. Blancpain re-introduced the Fifty Fathoms back in 2008 to pay tribute to the legendary divers watch. This year the Fifty Fathoms turns 60 years and Blancpain can be proud of creating a legend.
Credit for information on the Milspec and Tounek Rayville models go to Mr. Nicolas Fondaneche of PuristsPro.
