BLANCPAIN Fifty Fathoms BARAKUDA

When you think of those iconic, old school Blancpain diver’s watches – you think 1950s, right?

That’s when the FF was born but in this new model Blancpain take us on a journey back to the swinging 60s with an absolutely killer of a watch, a limited edition diver known as the Fifty Fathoms Barakuda.



The 500-piece 2019 edition retains all the design features of the OG version while making the most of Blancpain’s technical innovations, resulting from decades of experience in dive watches.

The watch is based on a model used by the German Bundesmarine in the 1960s, who were supplied with Fifty Fathoms models via Barakuda – a company specializing in the production of diving equipment.



Alongside the watches intended for the military, Barakuda introduced the German market to a civilian model adopting a distinctive style, notably featuring the use of two-tone rectangular hour-markers, white-painted fluorescent hands, as well as a highly visible date display at 3 o’clock.



Some of them were fitted with a tropical-type rubber strap that was very popular with divers at the time and particularly renowned for its durability as well as its wearer comfort. This is used in a modern form on today’s watch.

The new Fifty Fathoms Barakuda faithfully reinterprets the aesthetic codes of this timepiece from the late 1960s.



Its black dial is punctuated by large red and white hour-markers coated with old radium type SuperLumiNova.

The likewise luminescent pencil-shaped hands are white-lacquered, while the date – a key element of the original model – returns to its favorite position in a prominent window.



Blancpain has teamed these vintage attributes with its emblematic unidirectional bezel featuring a scratch-resistant domed sapphire insert, an innovation unveiled by the brand in 2003.

The satin-brushed Stainless steel case of this new watch, water-resistant to 300 meters, has a diameter of 40mm, a size reserved for Fifty Fathoms timepieces in limited series.



It houses the 1151 self-winding movement with twin barrels that are wound via a cut-out rotor, in reference to some of the collection’s antique watches.

Thoughts? I think Heart summed this watch up perfectly – ‘’ ooh barracuda!’’