Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda for Only Watch 2019

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda for Only Watch 2019 

This unique timepiece reinterprets the aesthetic codes of the original from the late 1960s, while making the most of the technical innovations stemming from Blancpain’s longstanding experience.
 
When first launched in 1953, the Fifty Fathoms was the very first modern diving watch. Frogmen from several of the world’s largest marine corps rapidly incorporated it as a fundamental element in their standard-issue gear. The French were the first to equip themselves with Fifty Fathoms models for their underwater missions. Other military elites followed, including the German Bundesmarine in the 1960s. The latter were supplied with Fifty Fathoms models via Barakuda – a company specialising in the production and marketing of technical diving equipment. Alongside the watches intended for the military, the company introduced the German market to a civilian model adopting a distinctive style, notably featuring the use of two-tone rectangular hour-markers, white-painted fluorescent hands, as well as a highly visible date display at 3 o’clock.
 
SPECIFICITIES
 

Model name:

Fifty Fathoms Barakuda for Only Watch / 5008C-1130-B64A
 

Case:

Round steel case, 40 mm diameter. Sapphire case back. Unidirectional rotating bezel. Water-resistant to 30 bar (300 meters).

Dial:

Black dial

Calibre:

The 1151 self-winding movement features twin barrels that are wound via a cut-out rotor, in reference to some of the 1960 collection’s watches. Silicon balance spring. 100-hour power reserve.

Bracelet:

Tropical rubber strap

Dimensions:

Diameter 40.3 mm

Thickness 13.23 mm

Specificities:

The black dial is punctuated by white hour-markers in Super-LumiNova® with blue luminescence, like the hands and bezel. "Only Watch” engraved on its oscillating weight.

Estimate:

CHF  13,000 - 20,000

EUR  12,000 - 18,000

USD  13,000 - 20,000