Blancpain

 By Bruce Shawkey

I love old watch advertisements. Here's one for an early Blancpain 50 Fathoms, introduced in 1953. This ad is from the mid '50s. There have been numerous iterations of the 50 Fathoms since then. It remains one of Blancpain's most popular models almost 70 years later. Vintage specimens often go for thousands of dollars.

The mention of Rayville in the ad is an interesting twist on Blancpain's history. Rayville is an anagram for Villeret which is Blancpain's hometown. For a more thorough discussion of this, I invite you to see the following link:

Rayville and Blancpain

The model pictured in this mid '50s ad is billed by Blancpain as the "world's first modern diver's watch" though one could argue the UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) watches by Elgin and others made toward the end of WWII were dive watches. I suppose what makes this a "modern" dive watch is the addition of the turnable ring which gives the diver an independent timer to time the duration he is submerged so as not to run out of oxygen. The UDT watches did not have a bezel ring. Further, the 50 Fathoms has always, to my knowledge, had an automatic movement, which further supports the claim of a "modern" dive watch.

The early military-issue models of the 50 Fathoms also utulized a highly radioactive paint for luminouse dials. For the civilian version, the dials for a time carried a yellow dot with the words "NO RADIATION" to put consumers' minds at ease.  These early models with the yellow dot are especially prized by collectors and command a premium.

If you own an early 50 Fathoms, consider yourself fortunate. They are quite scarce and difficult to find in nice condition because so often they were worn hard by their original owners.

Here's another interesting watch from mid-1960s: