While Blancpain and Bucherer are both founded on expertise and engaged in a quest for excellence, the two Maisons also share a blue connection. As well as being Bucherer’s iconic color, blue evokes Blancpain’s passion and commitment to the marine world, dating back to 1953 when the brand unveiled the first modern diving watch, named Fifty Fathoms. As a complement to this professional instrument mainly intended for use in a subaquatic environment, the Manufacture developed the Bathyscaphe model, which as of 1956 became a civilian alternative suitable for wear in any circumstances, whether under water or on land. Reinterpreted by Blancpain in 2013, the Bathyscaphe has since been enriched with numerous complications, including a flyback chronograph now presented in an original version created for the Bucherer BLUE EDITIONS.
 

On a technical level, the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Bucherer BLUE EDITIONS is driven by Caliber F385, a self-winding chronograph movement. Its technical characteristics include an oscillation frequency of 5 Hz that is perfectly suited to its functions, since it serves to divide each second into one-tenth intervals. This high frequency also ensures enhanced precision. Moreover, Caliber F385 offers the advantage of a vertical clutch ensuring smooth activation of the chronograph and enabling it to operate non-stop, contrary to mechanisms equipped with horizontal clutches. The F385 is naturally equipped with a column-wheel system, as one would expect from a luxury chronograph, notably because it provides a particularly smooth feel when starting and stopping a timing operation. The flyback function ensures that zero-resetting and restarting are instantly executed by a single press on the 4 o’clock pusher. This device proves extremely useful when fast-paced measurements of successive times are required. Water-resistant to 300 meters, as is the watch case, the chronograph pushers can be used when diving without any risk of damaging the movement.
 

These characteristics are naturally teamed with the criteria that swiftly forged the reputation of Fifty Fathoms diving watches, including a dark dial with luminescent indications, a unidirectional rotating bezel with time markings, as well as antimagnetic protection now ensured by the integration of a silicon balance-spring.
 

On the aesthetic side, as its name implies, the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Bucherer BLUE EDITIONS gives pride of place to this rich hue. Its 43 mm case is in brushed blue ceramic, a particularly light and robust material also found on the rotating bezel. The likewise azure dial features a satin-brushed chapter ring highlighting Super-LumiNova®-coated hour-markers and strikes a fine contrast with the sunburst center and the snailed chronograph counters. On the back of the model, visible through a sapphire caseback, the bridges are adorned with snailed surfaces and beveled edges.

The blue-coated 18K gold oscillating weight is engraved with the Blancpain and Bucherer logos, thereby etching into the material these tokens of the trust-based partnership uniting the two prestigious Swiss Maisons.