Blancpain x Swatch: The Epic Collaboration
Blancpain is one of the oldest standing Swiss watch manufacturers. Known for their Fifty Fathoms collection, Blancpain watches are extremely popular among scuba divers. These luxury watches can withstand extreme water resistance making them suitable for divers. The two companies collaborated to introduce a fun take on these dive watches.
With the help of Bioceramic material, they were able to achieve a much lower and more affordable price point. The Scuba Fifty Fathoms collection is available at Swatch stores for a retail price of AED 1,500.
Why collaborate?
Using the Bioceramic material, Swatch collaborated with Omega last year to pay tribute to the Speedmaster collection. In this collection, they launched watches named after different planets as Speedmasters were officially being used by NASA scientists.
This collection made everyone excited as people were able to get a look-alike to the Speedmaster for just under AED 1,000. With limited stock available at a time and rising demand, the watches were trading for much higher in the secondary market.
This collaboration was all the watch industry was talking about for almost a year. These watches are still in demand, and there is still a craze for pieces like the MoonSwatch Neptune. That said, this did a lot of good for the PR of both the watch manufacturers.
Those who couldn’t buy the MoonSwatch opted for other Swatch models. Those who did buy them wanted to walk another few steps in the mall to the Omega showroom to get an actual Speedmaster. Hence, it was a win-win situation for both the brands.
Looking at this collaboration’s huge success, Blancpain also wanted to hop on the train. This is where they also decided to collaborate with Swatch. Where they took things up a notch is that they decided to opt for an automatic movement instead of the quartz one seen on the MoonSwatch collection.
Things that make this collection stand out
Swatch has used the Bioceramic material for the Scuba Fifty Fathoms collections. This helps the watch feel extremely lightweight on the wrist. It is almost as if you are not wearing any watch at all. And when you do realize you are wearing one, you look at it, and it looks like no other watch. This is again possible due to the use of Bioceramic. This material allows Swatch to experiment with different colors for the case.
This is further complimented by a contrasting bezel, a matching Nato strap and a subtle yet colorful dial. Lastly, these watches are powered by the Sistem 51 automatic movement. It is called the Sistem 51 because it has been made using only 51 parts including the only central screw. This anti-magnetic movement offers a power reserve of up to 90 hours.
In terms of the names of these watches, they are not just named after five different oceans for no reason. They are a depiction of one of the five stunning and vibrantly colored nudibranchs discovered in every one of the Earth’s five oceans.
All of these watches feature a 42.3mm case and a lug-to-lug distance of 48mm. These watches are water resistant up to 91 meters. The case of these watches sits on a Nato strap made from recycled fishing nets removed from the sea.
Five Oceans – Five Watches
Just like the MoonSwatch collection was inspired by the planets, the Scuba Fifty Fathoms collection takes inspiration from the oceans. There are five watches available. All these five pieces come with an open caseback that flaunts a laser decoration of the actual body of water along with the nudibranch.
- Arctic Ocean
- Indian Ocean
- Pacific Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Antarctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean model features a beige-colored case and a matching dial. This is paired with an orange bezel and a matching nato strap. This color scheme is inspired by the Dendronotus Frondosus nudibranch. The same has been printed on the movement, which is visible from the open case back.
Indian Ocean
Painted in a dark green shade, the case sits on a black nato strap. The watch features a green dial with a smoke effect towards the edges. To complement all this, the watch gets a black rotating bezel. The colors for this one were taken from the Nembrotha Kubaryana nudibranch.
Pacific Ocean
Inspired by the Chromodoris Kuiteri nudibranch, the Pacific Ocean model features a vibrant yellow case paired with a black bezel and a black nato strap. To give it the perfect contrast, the watch features a white dial with black smoke effect around the edges. Personally, I like this one the most.
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean model takes its inspiration from the Glaucus Atlanticus nudibranch. It features a blue case paired with a blue bezel and a blue nato strap. There is a nice contrast going around and this is definitely one of the most subtle-looking ones in this collection.
Antarctic Ocean
The Antarctic Ocean model features a ice-white case with a matching dial as it draws its inspiration from the Tritoniella Belli nudibranch. In order to give it a nice contrast, Swatch has made the bezel grey and has added a grey nato strap.
