Very cool. Thanks for posting.
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| Author: | Yaffle [ Fri Nov 05, 2010 10:01 am ] |
| Post subject: | Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
Normally I stay in the vintage section, but I thought I might post this here if anyone's interested in vintage divers, particularly the Fifty Fathoms. A couple of months ago Blancpain put a call out for vintage FF owners to lend their watches for a retrospective exhbition of this watch. A couple of my watches were selected and I was invited to the opening ceremony. They have gathered around eighty different vintage Fifty Fathoms, including many super rare watches. The exhibtion is currently running in Paris in their Boutique if anyone is over there. Attachment: BobMaloubier.jpg Bob Maloubier, Stephan Ciejka (watch Historian) and Alain Delamuraz(Blancpain Head of Marketing). Bob Maloubier was one of the founders of the French combat divers in the Fifties and a key designer of the watch. Attachment: EarlyFF.jpg A selection of the first fifty fathoms produced.Attachment: FF55.jpg Another early Fifty Fathoms.Attachment: Milspec.jpg A collection of Milspec, military issued Blancpains.Attachment: TornekRayville.jpg A selection of Tornek-Rayvilles.I think Blancpain have done a great job with this exhibition and have really tried to put it together with care and passion. |
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| Author: | bozman52 [ Fri Nov 05, 2010 12:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
That's very cool. I'd love to see Breitling showcase the Navitimer like this. -Craig |
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| Author: | br549 [ Fri Nov 05, 2010 12:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
Very cool. Thanks for posting.
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| Author: | boogiebot [ Fri Nov 05, 2010 1:37 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
where is Altair...i bet this would be right up his alley. thanks for posting this. looks really interesting. you always here about the history of brands and watches but to see the line put together in this manner is amazing. |
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| Author: | Novacastrian [ Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
You've got to love a classic diver. Black dial, black Bezel, rugged. I love that. |
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| Author: | H2F [ Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
Love it! Any chance for a closeup pics of the rarest pieces? |
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| Author: | Altair [ Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
Looks amazing! Would love to go but unfortunately cant  I am a huge fan of the FF, both modern and vintage, here is a review I did with soem hisstorical background: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21550 |
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| Author: | ricardo [ Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:34 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
An amazing showcase of a historically significant timepiece. I would love a current model Fifty Fathoms, never mind a vintage one. You must be very proud to be a prt of this. |
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| Author: | Yaffle [ Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
Thanks for all the kind words. Altair, what a great review, I really enjoyed your approach in placing this "tool" watch amongst the other tools of the combat divers. You mention a book that references the watch, could you say what this was? Here's a small selection of the watches to give an overview of the models. All of the pre-1970's Fifty Fathoms are rare, and very hard to find in good condition. Attachment: 1_FiftyFathoms.jpg These are two of the first models produced around 1954/5, the one on the left with the inverted 30 is believed by some to be of the very first production run.Attachment: 2-Lip_1955.jpg LIP was a french distributor who sold the watch commercially in France from I believe 1954, this one dates to that period. Originally the watch would have been sold in divers shops along with other equipment.Attachment: 3-1960Milspec.jpg The Milspec is around 1960 and is believed to be produced to US NAVY military specification. The disc is designed to change colour if water penetrates the watch.Attachment: 4-1965AquaLung.jpg The No Radiations sign came in in the middle of the Sixties, this one is an AquaLung which is a US model sold through divers shops.Attachment: aqualung651.jpg
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| Author: | Yaffle [ Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:20 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
Attachment: 5-1965TornekRayville.jpg The Tornek Rayville is one of the most legendary military issued divers. It was produced only for the US military and in a tiny production run around 1965. The same with the US NAVY.Attachment: 6-USNavy1970.jpg Attachment: 7-Bund1975.jpg The "Kampfschwimmer" was also produced only for the military in this case the German Bundeswehr in the mid 1970's.Attachment: 7-Bund21975.jpg This 1000 feet was also used by the German military with some being sold for civilian use as well.In 1958 the US Experimental diving unit tested a number of watches, including the Rolex Submariner and the Fifty Fathoms. Here's an exert from that document. Attachment: blancpain_image.1959206.jpg There were many more models and variations, but these I think give a good overview of the most famous versions. |
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| Author: | Yaffle [ Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:27 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
One more. This has a a different bezel and was used on both the Milspec and No Radiations versions. Again circa late Sixties. Attachment: Milspec-2.jpg The exhibition travels to China after this and then onto the US in January. |
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| Author: | Tim S [ Thu Nov 11, 2010 6:37 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
ricardo wrote: An amazing showcase of a historically significant timepiece. I would love a current model Fifty Fathoms, never mind a vintage one. You must be very proud to be a prt of this. I couldn't have said it better myself. Great post! |
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| Author: | H2F [ Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:46 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
Wonderful pics! Love the 1000m & the test review letter! Thanks for posting! |
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| Author: | Noodia [ Sat Nov 13, 2010 2:43 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Vintage Fifty Fathoms Expo |
Impressive exhibition report with many terrific photos. Thanks for sharing, best, Laurent |
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