To protect we first need to love, and to love we first need to know! Faithful to its longestablished commitment to help protect the oceans, Blancpain teams up with the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs, and DivePhotoGuide.com, to present Oceans, an underwater photography exhibition at the UN in New York. Oceans is on display through August.

In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly decided that, as of 2009, 8th June would be designated by the United Nations as World Oceans Day. Many countries had already been celebrating World Oceans Day following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

The official designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans. The oceans are essential to food security and to the health and survival of all life, power our climate and are a critical part of the biosphere. Under great pressure from humans, there are nevertheless bright spots that give hope, such as marine reserves where fishing is prohibited and marine life is making a spectacular comeback. The exhibition is designed to reach a large audience and illustrate the oceans' regenerative capacity as well as the fact that a healthy ocean delivers benefits for the economy and society.

The sixteen widely renowned photographers* whose work is featured, are all related to Edition Fifty Fathoms. This Blancpain exclusive collection is a yearly publication dedicated to the underwater world with the award winning work of fifty of the best divers and photographers worldwide.

In addition to the photographs, two short videos are on display as Blancpain supports several major scientific expeditions to assess the status of the oceans and to study its inhabitants. Visitors will discover in avant-première exclusive footage of the Coelacanth, one of the most important zoological discoveries of the 20th century, from Laurent Ballesta's Gombessa Project, as well as a thrilling presentation of National Geographic's Pristine Seas Expeditions with Blancpain, an exploration, research, and media project to find, survey, and help protect the last wild places in the ocean.

Photographers
* Kurt Amsler (Switzerland), Laurent Ballesta (France), Daniel Botelho (Brazil), Frederic Buyle (Belgium), Ethan Daniels (United States), Stephen Frink (United States), Marc A. Hayek (Switzerland), Doug Perrine (United States), Norbert Probst (Germany), Dr. Enric Sala (Spain), Maurine Shimlock & Burt Jones (United States), Mark Strickland (United States), Masa Ushioda (Japan), William Winram (Canada), Keri Wilk (Canada).

Blancpain & the underwater world

Driven by a spirit of innovation since its founding in 1735, Blancpain boasts a longstanding link with diving since 1953, when the Manufacture developed the first modern diving watch: the Fifty Fathoms. This mechanical model, so-called because it offered water tightness to 50 fathoms (around 91 metres), defined for the first time the specifics of a true diver's timepiece. Today, the Fifty Fathoms collection remains the reference in the world of diving watches and combines watchmaking know-how with strict diving safety standards.

Blancpain’s commitment to the ocean is today displayed in a desire to make this vast and mysterious universe better known. Convinced that we can only respect and protect what we love, and can only love what we know, the Swiss watchmaking brand supports several major scientific expeditions including National Geographic's Pristine Seas Expeditions with Blancpain and Laurent Ballesta's Projet Gombessa.

For a few years now, the Manufacture also supports Gianluca Genoni, the multiple-recordbreaking Italian freediver. Each year Blancpain releases Edition Fifty Fathoms, a publication dedicated to the underwater world and distinguished by the quality of its photographs. In 2012, Blancpain was lead sponsor of the first World Oceans Summit organised by the Economist.

Visit the exhibition:

United Nations Visitor Center (First Avenue at 43rd St)
June 5-August 16
Opening hours: 10:15 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday
Visitors must have purchased a UN Guided Tour ticket online to access the Visitor Center and
see the exhibition: http://visit.un.org/wcm/content/site/visitors/lang/en/home/to_see_and_do/guided/group_reservations#2013group