Blancpain Marks 70 Years of Bathyscaphe With a 300-Piece Steel Diver
Blancpain has issued a 300-piece Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe 70th Anniversary limited edition, a steel diver that looks back to a 1968 reference rather than the 1956 original. Hodinkee coverage dated 20 August 2026 placed the watch in last week’s most-read introducing stories.
From 1953 to a civilian counterpart
The Fifty Fathoms line began in 1953 as a professional dive watch. The Bathyscaphe followed in 1956 as a smaller civilian counterpart as recreational diving spread. The name was revived in 2013 and has stayed in the modern Fifty Fathoms catalogue. The 70th-anniversary piece does not copy the first 35mm Bathyscaphe. It copies the 1968 steel watch at 37.4mm.
According to Hodinkee, the vintage Blancpain logo, sunburst meteor-grey dial, and 18K white gold baton hands and indexes are taken from that 1968 reference. Super-LumiNova is mixed to a warmer, aged tone. The steel bezel extends into a ring at the base of a box crystal, another 1968 cue. The insert is ceramic with lacquered numerals in place of the original black Hesalite.
Case, movement, and edition data
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Reference | 5103 1110 63A |
| Diameter / thickness | 37.4mm / 12.3mm |
| Lug-to-lug | 46.5mm |
| Water resistance | 300m (30 bar) |
| Crystal | Sapphire box, sapphire caseback |
| Calibre | Manufacture 1150, automatic |
| Reserve / frequency | 100 hours / 3 Hz |
| Oscillating weight | Open-worked 18K gold, 1953 Fifty Fathoms motif |
| Edition / price | 300 numbered pieces, $18,300 |
| Strap | Chocolate calf leather |
The 1968 watch had a closed caseback. The anniversary model opens the back to show calibre 1150, 26.2mm across and 3.25mm thick, with a silicon hairspring and 28 jewels. Warranty is five years. The watch is available now on the leather strap in a hard case.
Why 37.4mm is the story
Modern dive watches often sit at 42–45mm. Blancpain chose the 1968 diameter instead of scaling up. Thickness at 12.3mm and 300m resistance keep it in tool-watch territory. Bezel geometry—the steel ring that meets the crystal—is a fit problem aftermarket builders know well when they change inserts and crystals on Seiko cases. Material and inner diameter have to match; a bezel insert fit guide maps that trade-off on more accessible platforms.
Rated depth is a factory figure. After a crystal or caseback swap, the rating is no longer valid until the watch is tested. That is as true of a $200 mod as of an $18,300 limited diver. A water-resistance testing outline is the practical counterpart to a catalogue 300m claim.
Anniversary Bathyscaphes sit beside a large aftermarket culture that copies the same 1950s–60s dive language: rotating bezels, gilt-style lume, and compact steel cases. The Blancpain piece is a manufacture product with a 100-hour calibre. The design vocabulary is shared. The 70th edition simply freezes one 1968 page of that vocabulary at 300 pieces.
FAQ
Does this mark 70 years of Fifty Fathoms? Fifty Fathoms launched in 1953. The 70th here is for Bathyscaphe, which arrived in 1956. The limited edition draws on a 1968 Bathyscaphe, not the 1953 professional Fifty Fathoms.
How many are made? 300 individually numbered pieces at $18,300, on a chocolate calf strap, with a five-year warranty.
What movement is inside? Blancpain manufacture calibre 1150, automatic, 100-hour reserve, 3 Hz, silicon hairspring, visible through a sapphire caseback that the 1968 watch did not have.