Blancpain Fifty Fathoms: The Story So Far

Sixty-five years of setting the bar for dive watches.

(May 23): It helps that the boss is for real. Back in the 1950s, Blancpain had an avid diving fan in then-CEO Jean-Jacques Fietcher. While water-resistant watches were already a norm by then, with the likes of the Rolex Oyster, Omega Marine and Hamilton Sea Bees constantly improving on the said feature – and particularly throughout World War II where conditions demanded improved functionality – proper dive watches were still uncommon. Nevertheless, Fietcher instructed the company to develop a tool-watch that he himself could use on his leisure dives.