When it comes to Fifty Fathoms, you know my taste.... Vintage, big case, Rotomatic Incabloc, 3/6/9/12, Milspecs, No Rad, Barakuda and " Tutti Quanti ".

A bunch of good old " Fifties "...







But that doesn't mean that I have zero interest on modern variations of this legendary Watch, which is said to be ( and it may well be right ) the first real diving Watch, the mother of all our modern diving watches.

I had a lot of affection for the " 50th Anniversary " unveiled in 2003.



I was very happy to see the 2007 iteration.



These 2 " new Fifty Fathoms were a very nice evocation of the Vintage from the Fifties. With more care in the finish, and an excellent movement.

Since then, well, nothing made my heart beat faster, to tell the truth, except in 2011.

That year, Blancpain unveiled a monster, the X Fathoms.

We are very far from the simple look of the Fifty Fathoms from the Fifties and Sixties, very far, for sure.

But I much prefer this version to the so called itérations of the No Rad or Bathyscaphe.

At least, here, you have a modern and very sophisticated, technical version of what should be the Fifty Fathoms of the 21st Century. Nothing unoriginal, at the contrary, a tad mad, almost a " diving concept Watch ", which is better in my opinion, than trying to repeat the history, but in less good.

Let's recall the most significative characteristics of this Watch:

- Titanium case. I can't imagine the weight of this Watch if its case had been made in stainless steel! Good choice, then.

- Super complex articulated rubber strap, whith these very original lugs whose virtue is to allow you to wear the watch. Let's not forget that the case is... 55, 65 mm big! So, these lugs compensate the more tna generous diameter of the case. Astute.

- The automatic movement has a 5 days power reserve, which is important for a diving watch, as a short power resefve would oblige you to wind the watch too often. Its spiral is made of silicon.

- The X Fathoms has two ( ! ) depth scales, one from zero to ninety meters, the second from zero to 15 meters. You also have a maximal depth hand, AND... A retrograde 5 minutes counter, to help you to measure the décompression scales. It is said that it is one of the most precise MECHANICAL depth gauge... Well, I don't think it can compete with a diving computer, but we can say the same about our beloved tic tacs, none of them can rivalize with a simple 50 USD Quartz Watch, in terms of precision....



A draw will explain that much better than in words:



- A Helium Valve and a spectacular depth membrane.



- Less innovative, but mandatory for any modern diving watch, the unidirectional bezel, and a water resistance to 300 meters. On the water resistance, there is better, but is it indispensable?

That being said, the X Fathoms is huge... 55, 65 mm big, and... 24 mm high, those are impressive dimensions. Not for everybody's wrist, even if I would have liked to see it in the real and test it on my normally sized wrist ( 17 cm ).



I love the dial, and I love it even more in the dark. The short minute and hour hands may be perceived as an aesthetical flaw, at least this was my first reaction, but we can also see that detail as a will from the Blancpain designers to put the accent on the depht gauge, rather than on the Time, with this Watch. Maybe....



I appreciate a lot its " technicality " and sophistication. It is not another normal diving watch in an already very rich category, it is something very special, which can hardly be compared with the competitors, the closer I found being the JLC Master Compressor Pro Geographic, which is another monster in size.

Yes, to me, it is a dign heir of the original Fifty Fathoms, an ultimate expression of this icon. It won't be the most consensual one, I am not sure my wrist will accept it due to its size, but at least it provides something new, and very interesting.

What do you think?

Best,

Nicolas This message has been edited by amanico on 2014-11-01 00:09:30 This message has been edited by amanico on 2014-11-01 00:11:06 This message has been edited by amanico on 2014-11-13 09:20:21