After a successful collaboration with Omega, Swiss watch company Swatch is back with another luxury collab that’s making watch collectors drool. This time, they’re teaming up with Blancpain to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the original divers watch, Fifty Fathoms.
Jacques Cousteau, a famous oceanographer, created the Aqualung during war times in occupied France, inspiring the Fifty Fathoms divers watch. Thanks to the Aqualung, divers could stay underwater longer, but they needed to be able to keep track of time while diving for their own safety.
In 1952, the French Special Forces were looking to create a combat diving unit, and commercial watches of the time just weren’t working for divers. Captain Robert “Bob” Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud decided they needed to make something that would work for them. They began working with Blancpain, since their CEO was an avid diver, and by 1953, the Fifty Fathoms was born.
The SCUBA line is Swatch’s non-limited line of watches inspired by the original Fifty Fathoms and offers the same features that the original Blancpain watch had, including:
- Superior water resistance
- Outstanding legibility
- Mechanical movement
- Secured rotating bezel
- Anti-magnetic protection
Swatch is offering five new models, each named after one of the five oceans. On the back of each watch, there is an illustration of a marine creature native to the ocean the model is named after. For Swatch lovers, the Arctic Ocean model has a special red trefoil symbol on it.
The new line goes on sale this weekend, in stores only, with only one watch available per shopper.
Discover more at swatches.com.
