Are there sounds in the sea
Fifty Fathoms deep?
Sea Music : W. J. Turner (1884 –
1946)
In 1952, the French government created an elite team within
the Navy called the ‘Nageurs de combat’ (combat swimmers). Headed by Captain Bob Maloubier, the new team’s missions included underwater intelligence, sabotage
operations and clandestine port attacks.
Underwater diving was still in its infancy at this point, so
Maloubier and his team had to design their diving equipment from scratch. This
took two years, and involved new diving suits, fins, goggles, and a watch. The
team was equipped with diving watches, but Maloubier was not satisfied,
so in conjunction with Lieutenant Claude Riffaud, he set about designing a better one.
Their design was first submitted to Lip, whose ambivalence was summarised by
their comment that his design was "a portable clock without any
future".
The irony of this decision by Lip was not too far away.
Undeterred, Maloubier and Riffaud convinced Jehan-Jacques
Fiechter at Blancpain, himself a keen diver, to produce the watch, which they
named the ‘Fifty Fathoms’. A fathom is a unit of length used as a depth
measurement in English-speaking countries, corresponding to a depth of 1.829
metres. Fifty Fathoms equates to 91.45 metres, the depth one can reach with
traditional diving equipment. Jehan-Jacques was the nephew of Betty Fiechter who, with André Leal, had purchased Blancpain in June 1933. Betty had assisted
in running Blancpain since 1915, and under the Fiechters, the Manufacture flourished.
The final Fifty Fathoms that went into production was not
the exact design that Maloubier and Riffaud had presented, as Fiechter used his
own diving experience to make some adaptations. These included a screw-down
caseback with a double ‘O-ring’ system, and a humidity indicator at 6 o’clock
(blue if the air in the case was dry, pink if water had penetrated the watch
case).
Blancpain were unable to sell their watches directly to the
French navy, and had to make their way to the Nageurs de combat via
Spirotechnique, who were the official suppliers of scuba diving equipment to
the French armed forces. Established in 1946, La Spirotechnique, which later became
‘Aqua Lung’, had its origins in 1942-43, when Jacques Yves Cousteau and
engineer Emille Gagnan, who was working for L'air Liquide, a French company specialising
in compressed gas, created the first scuba regulator.
Now we come to the (amusingly) ironic part. At the time, Lip
was a dominant player in the French watch market. Blancpain was an unknown.
This meant that Blancpain and Lip had to sign a marketing and distribution deal
to get an foothold in the French market. In 1954 the Fifty Fathoms watches were
launched, with both Lip and Blancpain markings on the dial. One wonders whether
there were any animated discussions at this time at Lip about opportunities
lost.
Within a decade of its launch, Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms had
been adopted by a few specialist oceanographic exploration and research
organisations. Most famously, Jacques Cousteau selected the Fifty Fathoms as
the dive watch of choice for his 1956 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winning ‘Le
monde du silence’ (The Silent World).
From the early 1950s through the 1970s, the Fifty Fathoms
became popular amongst the military, and used by the armed forces of Israel, Germany,
Sweden, Norway, Denmark,
Poland, Finland and the U.S. When the Americans were
looking for a dive watch, there was a ‘Buy American’ policy, whereby American
manufacturers were given a 25% price advantage over non-American competitors.
Fortunately for Blancpain, Allen Tornek, who had met Jehan-Jacques Fiechter through
their common interest in diving, took an interest in helping out. To get around
the various restrictions, the Tornek-Rayville company took the Fifty Fathoms
and rebranded it for the U.S.
military under two names “Blancpain Tornek” and “Rayville Tornek” (‘Rayville’, a phonetic anagram of Villeret,
was the name used by Fiechter for some of Blancpain’s production). About 1000
Tornek-Rayville Fifty Fathoms were produced, most of which were destroyed by the
Navy at the end of the commission, so they are particularly sought after
nowadays.
To understand the history of Fifty Fathoms is arguably a
lifetime’s worth of work given the list of companies involved, the number of
iterations (estimated at around 100) of design/ movements/ size, and the fact
that there have been both military and civilian versions.
In late 2010 and through to 2011, Blancpain launched a
travelling worldwide exhibition of the history of the Fifty Fathoms.
Starting at their boutique at Place Vendôme, Paris, it was a Fifty Fathoms/
dive watch enthusiasts’ dream, an incredible exhibition over sixty watches
retracing its history and a truly once-in-a-lifetime chance to see such a group
together.
Mostly consisting of historical models owned by collectors
but also covering the latest models, this beauty, belonging to a distinguished
collector friend of JPVFX’s, formed part of this important exhibition.
A rare early Fifty Fathoms Rotomatic Incabloc from 1954-1955
(possibly pre-dating the Rolex Submariner), this watch is 41mm with a thickness of
12mm. In a stainless steel case with a screw down case back, it is anti-magnetic
and has a bi-directional bezel. The dial is a glossy gilt, and the indices and
baton hands are radium-coated. The movement is Cal A. Schild 1361N,
rhodium-plated with 17 jewels, line lever escapement, monometallic balance,
shock-absorber and self-compensating flat balance-spring.
Invented in 1934 and manufactured by Incabloc S.A.,
the Incabloc shock protection system is the trade name for a spring-loaded
mounting system for the jewel bearings that support the balance wheel in a
mechanical watch, to protect the wheel's delicate pivots from damage in the
event of physical shock.
The early Fifty Fathoms watches are very difficult to find
nowadays, and poor condition is often an issue. There is really something
particularly amazing about vintage tool watches like this one that somehow,
after over half a century, manage to still have a brightness and clarity to
them.
I admit that I’ve wanted a vintage Fifty Fathoms for little
while. I really wouldn’t mind this one …
Yes you read correctly - a note signed for the 50 Fathoms owner by Captain
Bob Maloubier himself
Call me old fashioned, but I’ve never managed to get my head
around rose gold Fifty Fathoms, tourbillon Fifty Fathoms etc etc etc. I
understand the desire to develop and innovate models that have become
synonymous with your brand, but when a watch was created as a proudly
utilitarian dive watch, I can’t help but think that something is lost when it
is turned into an unnecessarily elaborate timepiece.
[AP]
