The Breitling Watch Source Forums

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.
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.A selection of the first fifty fathoms produced.Another early Fifty Fathoms.A collection of Milspec, military issued Blancpains.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.

That's very cool. I'd love to see Breitling showcase the Navitimer like this.

-Craig

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Chronomat 01- Sierra Silver/Steel
Navitimer 01- Limited Edition #1337/2000

Very cool. Thanks for posting.

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.

You've got to love a classic diver. Black dial, black Bezel, rugged. I love that.

Love it! Any chance for a closeup pics of the rarest pieces?

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a few Pams...

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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Certified watch nut.

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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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.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.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.
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.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.

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.The "Kampfschwimmer" was also produced only for the military in this case the German Bundeswehr in the mid 1970's.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.
There were many more models and variations, but these I think give a good overview of the most famous versions.

One more. This has a a different bezel and was used on both the Milspec and No Radiations versions. Again circa late Sixties.
The exhibition travels to China after this and then onto the US in January.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Great post!

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Happines is Good Health and a Bad Memory.
"Ingrid Bergman"

Wonderful pics! Love the 1000m & the test review letter! Thanks for posting!

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a few Pams...

Impressive exhibition report with many terrific photos.
Thanks for sharing,
best, Laurent