Although Blancpain has been celebrating Valentine’s Day for more than two decades, the Manufacture had never yet honoured it with a Fifty Fathoms model. It is now doing exactly that with the 2023 release of a limited-edition Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe emblazoned with the emblems of love: the colour red and the heart symbol – Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Valentine’s Day 2023.
Love and Fifty Fathoms go hand in hand at Blancpain. This collection of diver’s watches was born of the Brand’s passion for the underwater world, which it has cherished since the early 1950s. It therefore makes total sense to dedicate a Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe model to Valentine’s Day. The timepiece that the Manufacture is unveiling today to celebrate 14 February is for all lovers who, like Blancpain’s executives when diving, lose track of time when they are enthralled.
With its satin-brushed steel case measuring 38 mm in diameter and water-resistant to 30 bar (approximately 300 m), the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe “Valentine’s Day 2023” is made to brave waves of strong feelings. Its unidirectional rotating bezel with ceramic inlay and Liquidmetal™ hour-markers is an indispensable asset for immersing oneself in the depths of love. The luminous, immaculate white bezel matches the dial graced with 3, 6, 9 and 12 numerals and a minutes track in soft pink. This delicate colour also rims the luminescent heart positioned like a signature at the tip of the seconds hand. The universal symbol of love also sets the finishing-touch to in-house Calibre 1150, which is nestled behind a sapphire crystal case back revealing its robust architecture and refined decoration.
Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe “Valentine’s Day 2023” is thus characterised by a blend of impetuosity and gentleness. These apparent opposites expressed on both the front and back of the 99 timepieces composing the limited series represent the very essence of love.
Blancpain is proud of its history dating back to 1735, making it the world’s oldest watch brand. Over the centuries since its foundation, the Maison has maintained its commitment to innovate and has constantly pushed the limits of watchmaking. At Blancpain, the expression “Innovation is our tradition” is a fundamental guiding principle.
The attachment to innovation is reflected each year in the development of new timepieces with innovative calibres, often a world’s first. Most recently, in a little more than 10 years, the quest for innovation resulted in the creation of 43 new, in-house, exclusive and varied calibres or movements, which includes: the Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel, the Tourbillon Carrousel, the Carrousel Répétition Minutes and the Tourbillon Volant Heure Sautante Minute Rétrograde. Thanks to constant innovation and complete control over the manufacturing process, Blancpain has absolute freedom of creation. In-house design and manufacturing of a significant part of the components and tools; manual assembly of each movement by a single watchmaker; fully handcrafted refined finishes, even down to the last detail: the strength of the Manufacture lies in our capacity to create timepieces that are at once innovative and respectful of the Swiss watchmaking tradition. This philosophy is reflected in each of the models and all of our collections, like the classic Villeret pieces, the emblematic Fifty Fathoms diving watches, the elegant Women models or the exceptional Métiers d’Art watches.