I’m a big fan of all things fusion and this new collaboration between watchmakers Swatch and Blancpain is giving me sweet surges of serotonin and dopamine. For those of us who are embracing the aquarium lifestyle, the Swiss watch duo has knocked it out of the park combining horology with our reef obsession and doing so at a surprisingly affordable price.
Blancpain is credited with creating the world’s very first dive watch in 1953. At that time, the available dive equipment allowed a diver to dive to a maximum depth of 91.45 meters. As such, they decided to aptly name the watch Fifty Fathoms (91.44 meters). The most recognizable dive watch, the Rolex Submariner, debuted later in 1954.
Fast forward 70 years and we have a commemorative collaboration collection of five mechanical watches: the Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms Collection. Each watch in the collection represents one of the world’s five oceans: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic. I fully expected these to be quartz movements like their MoonSwatch counterpart, so a mechanical movement was a pleasant and welcomed surprise.
Now the obvious choice for design would be to simply go with a basic ocean and reef theme, but Blancpain really stepped up their game and based the color scheme on the most glamorous gastropod: the nudibranchs that inhabit these very oceans! I can’t think of a more perfectly striking and colorful animal to represent our oceans.
The Arctic Ocean model features the Dendronotus frondosus (bushy-backed nudibranch), lending its beige and red colors to the watch and strap. The back features an exhibition case, showing the internal mechanical movement. And thanks to Swatch’s digital printing technology, they’ve managed to paint an ocean theme as well as the featured nudibranch.
The Pacific Ocean model is inspired by the Chromodoris Kuiteri, lending its striking yellow and gold colors to the watch and strap. As with the rest of the collection, the nudibranch is printed on the back.
The Atlantic Ocean models take inspiration from one of my favorites: the Glaucus atlanticus (blue sea dragon nudibranch) which perfectly compliments the stormy seas and raging waves of the Atlantic with its blue and white pattern. What’s fascinating about the G. atlanticus, is its pelagic nature: it floats on its back on top of the water surface. The blue coloration acts as the perfect camouflage against any would-be predators. And while only being 3 cm in length, it’s a savage, feasting on the Portuguese man o’ war while stealing its nematocysts and using them for defense.
The most colorful in the collection, the Indian Ocean model, borrows its theme from the flamboyant Nembrotha kubaryana (variable neon nudibranch or the dusky nembrotha nudibranch). The bright green and orange against the black exudes all the reef vibes, making me wonder what this model will look like under actinics! How cool of an easter egg would that be? I was lucky enough to see this nudibranch on a dive in Zanzibar many years ago. The only other time I’ve seen a nudibranch in the wild was in Eleuthera, and while cool, it was a just pale yellow or white nudi.
What other than icebergs and storms would you expect from the final watch in the collection? Keeping with the theme, the Antarctic Ocean model takes inspiration from the Tritoniella belli, a nudibranch found along the coast of Antarctica. The white and grey color theme represents the icy south perfectly, I would’ve loved to see a little pop of color. As-is it’s a bit too plain for my liking.
A cool feature of this model is the military-spec water contact indicator on the watch face. This was a US Navy specification to alert the diver if any water had penetrated the watch. The indicator turns red letting you know your new dive watch is toast, breathing some color into this theme (although under unfortunate circumstances).
Let’s talk about the strap for a moment. What looks like a normal NATO strap is nothing but. They’re made from recycled fishing nets which Blancpain states have been recovered from the coast, the sea, and the shore, so you can feel good about wearing them. I love seeing more and more companies taking our oceans seriously and finding ways to reuse plastic waste.
An automatic Swiss dive watch with nudibranchs and an eco-friendly NATO strap for $400? Sign me up!
