Blancpain

A few weeks ago Blancpain surprised us with the Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC for Hodinkee. Only 3 1/2 years after the release of the Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MilSpec this is the second 40mm FF limited edition with the characteristic moisture indicator on the di...  

Thanks for sharing, enjoyed it a lot! I prefer painted white hands during the day but polished hands work better in low light conditions in my humble experience. I also think a matte grainy dial is more appropriate for a vintage reissue. Just out of curio... 

... while it is reminiscent of the vintage bezel, that one had a different modus operandi: push down and turn. Cheers Henrik

No date, case finish, bezel design - wow, it is super. I have never owned a Blancpain, I know little about the lines of watches or history. But just as a watch guy, the Hodinkee version is so much more appealing to me.

It is very detailed and well covered. One thing for sure, I actually appreciate the 2017 piece more than before because you pointed out the differences. The date window aside, aesthetically the 2017 piece is quite nice. It’s more refined than the 2020 pie... 

Here is the original. And an earlier one... ...  

A very informative post!

Thank you!

Both beautiful. Prefer the Hodinkee overall but may like the hands and bezel more on the 2017. Not sure of brushed vs. polished. The latter is beautiful but the brushed is lower key and quite nice. Do you have a favorite Henrik or are they like children t... 

They're both beautiful, congratulations, and enjoy them both! I'm surprised I couldn't work up the courage to pull the trigger on the 2020 version when it was announced. I've liked the FF for many years but always thought the newer versions were a little ... 

I have been thinking about them

Amazing comparison! You made me realize the complete list of nuances between the two Mil-Specs. I appreciate both for different reasons, so it would be hard to choose if one had to. Happy start of the year, All the best, Alex

Great work and your blog site is excellent. IMHO I prefer the 2017 version but like the Barakuda the most out of their 40.3mm versions. For me the polished case and bezel work better on the 2017 model. That Jean Rousseau nato is perfect for the Milspecs. ... 

Henrik, Thank you for the lovely and informative post. Given my 15.5cm wrist and my infatuation with blancpain history in the last 18 months, i waited for a while for a new 40mm diver to be issued and pulled the trigger on the 2020 version. Such different...  

... but it was easy to switch to spring bars immediately. If the strap is not too thick, straight spring bars surely work. With the tropic I personally also use slightly curved spring bars. Cheers Henrik

Thank you for the information dear Henrik. I had one more question which was around the Blancpain official tropic. Right now I have the tropic strap from TROPIC but its a bit too long and I wanted to call up the boutique and other the tropic strap from Bl... 

I was "shocked" to hear the release of Hodinkee Milspec. I was skeptical but I am glad that I ordered the one. As it turned out, both are different and attractive in their own ways. I like, and going to keep both. Cheers, Chow PS: did they use different A...  

... interestingly the FF MIL-SPEC for Hodinkee shows the blue hue we were used to with the Leman series, and which was gone for quite a while now. Cheers Henrik

Hour hand seems too long for my liking, otherwise all good. ...