Three years after the Fifty Fathoms, Blancpain turns their attention to the Bathyscaphe’s 70th birthday with a heritage revival from 1968.
When you talk about the dive watch, it’s hard not to talk about Blancpain. Since 1953, they’ve laid claim to a remarkably rich heritage within the space. I am, of course, talking about the brand’s iconic Fifty Fathoms collection, born that same year, which went on to define the characteristics of the dive watch subgenre to this day. But while these watches were and are still remarkable, one issue always remained: they were just too damn big.
So, three years later, Blancpain would release the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, commonly referred to mononymously as the Bathyscaphe. It was smaller, thinner, and far more wearable than its professional-grade counterpart, but still delivered on all the rigour that its big brother set.
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms would go on to celebrate its 70th year in circulation in 2023, but now it’s finally the Bathyscaphe’s turn. For 2026, the brand has unveiled a throwback limited-edition reissue, harnessing a design from watchmaking’s golden age and repurposing it for the modern-day customer.
Compact Nostalgia
Measuring 37.4mm in case diameter, 46.5mm lug-to-lug, and 12.3mm thick, the new Blancpain Bathyscaphe 70th Anniversary is more compact than the rest of its peers in the catalogue. That even includes the 38mm Fifty Fathoms introduced in 2025, making the new Bathyscaphe the smallest watch currently in the Fifty Fathoms roster. It is slightly thicker than its reference point, a heritage model from 1968, but that’s largely attributed to its higher water resistance rating.
Interestingly, the case is made predominantly of polished steel, which ups the extravagance of the watch whilst perhaps drawing the ire of dive watch purists online. Polished surfaces, as prevalent on the new Bathyscaphe, are prone to scratches and smudges, which are the last things you’d want visible on your watch as you go about your day.
Another inclusion on the 70th Anniversary edition is that of a brown leather strap. It matches the dial quite nicely and dresses up the watch significantly. Yet, the robust 300m water resistance rating seems a bit unnecessary for a watch that gives you plenty of reasons to stay away from tough seas. Still, commemoration is everything, and the calfskin strap and polished case help to appropriately celebrate the legacy of this watch, further cemented by the box sapphire crystal mimicking the original’s Plexiglass.
Sepia-Coloured Glasses
Further tributary design cues continue as Blancpain leverages the vintage character of the Bathyscaphe 70th Anniversary. The sunray-brushed meteor grey dial echoes tones of brown, evoking the early stages of tropical patina as black paint on an old watch degrades. Accompanying the dial are bold, rectangular indexes, applied with white gold alongside a similarly blocky handset.
The second hand breaks things up with a triangular tip, as does the three o’clock date window, while the lume has been appropriately nostalgically tinted in beige. Another blast from the past can be seen with the dial text, which uses the early 20th-century typeface without the JB logo. The logo was introduced by Jacques Piguet and Jean-Claude Biver in the 1980s.
A printed minute track rounds the periphery of the dial, in line with the contrasting unidirectional bezel in black ceramic. The combination of elegant elements and decisive ageing has created a watch that overall feels both new and old at the same time, apropos for a heritage reissue but a hard line to tread. Yet, Blancpain has done an excellent job championing the individual elements of the Bathyscaphe that made it so famous in the first place.
Forever After
But while the nostalgia factor isn’t lost on the dial side, turning the watch around reveals the technological advancements made since the heritage design saw store shelves. Within the open caseback is the Cal. 1150, Blancpain’s in-house automatic movement that combines compact dimensions and surprising longevity. Beating at a steady 3Hz (21,600VpH), the watch’s power reserve maxes out at 100 hours.
It’s an incredible reserve for such a small movement, thanks in large part to the Cal. 1150’s double-barrel architecture. As you might have picked up, it’s the same movement that Blancpain used to power their 38mm Villeret line, indicating its esteemed tenure within the brand.
Finishing remains similar but no less spectacular, with fine snailed, or colimaçonnage, bridges and polished chamfers that lend a more industrial character. Where it differs from the Villeret models, though, is in its rotor: opting for a more closed-off rotor than the signed one evident on the Villeret.
Initial Thoughts
As an adult, have you ever watched a movie, tuned into a TV show, or played a video game that you loved as a kid? Looking back at that medium, do you believe it to have looked much better when you were a child? That’s because your brain was filling in the missing details with imagination. But when the remaster of said medium comes around, it can sometimes look exactly like the way you used to remember the old one.
Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe 70th Anniversary edition is in the same vein. The watch’s design feels both carefully preserved and extensively reworked, transforming it into the watch everyone believes the original to be now. Thus, the brand has made one of its most compelling tributes to heritage yet: both to its own history and to the history of the dive watch industry as a whole.
Reference & Specifications
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Reference | 5903 1110 063A |
| Dimensions | 37.4mm case diameter x 46.5mm lug-to-lug x 12.3mm thickness |
| Case | Stainless steel |
| Dial | Sunray-brushed brown/grey with beige accents |
| Crystal | Sapphire |
| Caseback | Open, sapphire |
| Movement | Automatic Cal. 1150 with date complication |
| Power Reserve | 100h |
| Beat Rate | 3Hz / 21,600VpH |
| Water Resistance | 300m / 30bar |
| Strap/Bracelet | Brown leather strap with steel pin buckle |