BLANCPAIN – Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 2 Tech Gombessa

BLANCPAIN – Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 2 Tech Gombessay Titanium 2023

70th Anniversary
Act 2 – Tech Gombessa

Blancpain continued the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms from the Rangiroa Atoll in French Polynesia, where the Tamataroa mission is taking place. Blancpain opened a new chapter in the history of the first modern diver’s watch by unveiling a new model designed to meet today’s technical diving requirements. Featuring an innovation co-developed by Marc A. Hayek, President & CEO of Blancpain, and Laurent Ballesta, founder of the Gombessa project, this instrument named “Tech Gombessa” makes it possible for the first time to measure up to three-hour immersion times.

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Its release commemorates the 10th anniversary of Gombessa, an initiative that Blancpain helped create by becoming the founding partner of the project from its inception in 2013. It also marks the launch of a new line in Blancpain’s diver’s watch collection.

Seventy years ago, an icon was born: the Fifty Fathoms. The watch that would revolutionise watch-making by becoming the first modern diver’s watch was conceived by a passionate scuba diver, Jean-Jacques Fiechter, then CEO of Blancpain. A pioneer in a discipline that was in its infancy, he understood the imperative need to track time while underwater. The instrument he designed to meet his own needs was immediately embraced by the oceanic community, becoming an unfailing ally of elite divers and under-water explorers. By enhancing safety in diving, the Fifty Fathoms contributed to the development of the sport and promoted the discovery of the ocean world. 

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The year 2023, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, also resonates as a reboot of its birth through the arrival of an innovative anniversary diver’s watch. Since the 1950s, diving has experienced a major evolution, notably characterised by an obvi-ous extension of immersion times. While the 1953 Fifty Fathoms met the requirements of Jean-Jacques Fiechter and the most experienced divers of the time, those now capable of spending several hours under-water have new requirements for time measurement.

Such is precisely the case with Blancpain’s current President & CEO, who is also an avid scuba diver and has been accustomed to highly technical closed-­ circuit dives for a number of years. Drawing on the invaluable heritage of the 1953 Fifty Fathoms, but also and above all on his own experiences, the CEO embarked on the design – alongside diver, photo­ grapher and underwater biologist Laurent Ballesta – of a new mechanical instrument. It was intended to meet the needs of all extreme divers, starting with the members of the Gombessa Expeditions whose research work involves long-­duration deep dives. With Blancpain’s support, these deep-sea adventur-ers have joined forces in the multi-year Tamataroa mission. Dedicated to the study of the behaviour of the great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, in French Polynesia, this project is led by a committee of passionate deep-sea divers, including Marc A. Hayek and Laurent Ballesta. Observation and information gathering regarding this species continued through technical dives on the Rangiroa Atoll, aimed at contributing­ to the implementation of management ­measures promoting its conservation.

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It is in this context that the latest addition to the Fifty Fathoms collection was presented for the first time: the Tech Gombessa watch designed to measure the duration of up to three-hour-long tech dives or exits from a saturation system. Conceived five years ago by the two divers, this watch has been extensively tested. In 2019, after a year of

conceptualisation, Blancpain began the develop­ ment of the project, starting with the two key elements represented by the movement and the unidirectional rotating bezel. Unlike the bezels on conventional diver’s watches, the bezel on the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa has a three-hour scale. It is linked to a special hand that completes one full turn in three hours and whose material and colour – a white luminescent coating with green emission – match those of its markers. This device invented jointly by Marc A. Hayek and Laurent Ballesta is a world first for which a patent has been filed. It is the heart of the 13P8 self-winding move-ment, based on the same criteria of reliability and robustness that have made the Fifty Fathoms the ultimate diver’s watch for 70 years.

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Once the combination of bezel and movement was defined, it was time to tackle the exterior of this new watch designed to plumb the depths. The brief was clear yet meeting it proved tricky: the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa had to look like a Fifty Fathoms while exhibiting distinct tech attributes. Blancpain’s designers therefore opted for a bezel inlay in black ceramic – instead of the traditional sapphire – which they decided to endow with a stronger curve and tilt it towards the dial. The latter’s legibility is opti-mised by a spherical crystal that eliminates any visual distortion. To ensure the best possible readability in the dark, the dial has a new finish: absolute black, whose structure is able to capture almost 97% of the light. In the same vein, the hour-markers are formed by luminescent block-shaped appliques, this time in orange with blue emission – colour codes picked up on the hours and minutes hands to differentiate between time-related information and diving times.
 
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Grade 23 titanium was chosen for the case. Recently introduced to the Blancpain collections, this metal also known as grade 5 ELI (extra low inter-stitials) is the purest type of titanium available. It is distinguished by exceptional strength and anti-­ allergenic properties, while being remarkably light. This material ensures that the watch is comfortable to wear and guarantees a barely-there feel on the wrist despite the 47 mm diameter. This is especially true since the watch features – in a first for Blancpain – central lugs attached from the inside of the case middle and integrating the strap. Water-resistant to 30 bar (approximately 300 metres), the case is equipped with a helium valve. During saturation diving in a hyperbaric chamber, helium manages to seep into the watch. During the decompression phase, unscrewing the valve facilitates the evacua-tion of the helium (a manipulation that has no effect on the watch’s water resistance). The notches of the helium valve are identical to those of the winding and time-­setting crown that enables simultaneous setting of the hours, minutes and dive-time hands. As with all Fifty Fathoms timepieces, the crown is screwed down and associated with a crown guard that now features a new trapeze-shaped design ensuring visual consistency with the lugs.

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Nothing has been left to chance either on the back of the watch. The lower part of the case middle is bevelled rather than the rounded ‘bassine’ shape characterising the other Fifty Fathoms models. The notches used to screw in the case back have also been reworked, in the same spirit of robustness. The anthracite-coloured oscillating weight, stamped with the Gombessa Expeditions logo, features an innovative shape dominated by three large openings through which to admire the movement. The black rubber strap is screwed to the back of the lugs. It has an internal titanium reinforcement, guarantee-ing ideal long-term shape, and is teamed with an extension for wearing the watch over a tech-diving suit. The buckle with its extremely wide and ergo-nomic pin has been designed to reinforce the hold of the watch to the wrist and to facilitate fastening the extension.

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The Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa comes in a special Peli™ presentation box that is water-resistant­ and shock-resistant as well as reusable and config-urable. The case houses a rest for the watch, the strap extension, a travel pouch, a magnifying glass, as well as a set of dividers and cutting tools offer-ing the possibility­ of compartmentalising it for any future use.

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While all the details of the Tech Gombessa appear to have been smoothly combined, they have in fact involved numerous adjustments result-ing from a multitude­ of tests in real-life conditions. Marc A. Hayek personally tried several differ-ent prototypes of the watch during his dives. The same is true for Laurent Ballesta and the divers of the Gombessa Expeditions, who tested the watch throughout its evolution. Four prototypes were worn on the wrists of aquanauts for an almost 50-day trial period at a depth of 120 metres as part of the Gombessa V and Gombessa VI missions. Conducted in the Mediterranean in 2019 and 2021 respectively, these expeditions combined saturation diving with closed-circuit rebreather diving for the first time. Having lived for an entire month on both occasions in a 5 m² hyperbaric chamber from which they emerged daily to explore the depths, the divers tested several versions of the helium valve.

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The Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa watch has been able to satisfy the most demanding require-ments of the Gombessa divers, who have adopted it as the official timepiece of their expeditions. Its launch honours the Fifty Fathoms’ 70th anniversary and sets the seal on ten years of collaboration between Blancpain and Laurent Ballesta – whose Gombessa project was born in 2013 thanks to the involvement of the Manufacture as founding partner. The arrival of this instrument in the Fifty Fathoms collection­ also inaugurates a new line, the Fifty Fathoms Tech, which will encompass all Blancpain watches dedicated to technical diving.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection: Fifty Fathoms

Model: Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 2 Tech Gombessa

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Ref.   5019-12B30-64A 

Case
Satin-brushed Grade 23 titanium
Unidirectional 3-hour scale bezel with black ceramic inlay tilted towards the dial with white luminescent markers with green emission
Helium valve
Diameter:  47.00 mm
Thickness: 14.81 mm
Between horns:  24.00 mm
Spherical sapphire crystal
Antimagnetic properties 
Central lugs attached from the inside of the case middle
Water-resistant: 30ATM/300m/1000ft
Dial
Aabsolute black dial
Luminescent orange block-shaped appliques with blue emission
Functions                
Hours, Minutes, Seconds
Movement
Calibre 13P8
Self-winding Ultra-slim   

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Diameter: 30.60.mm
Thickness: 5.65 mm
Power reserve in hours: 120 hours
Jewels: 35
4 mainspring barrels

Glucydur free sprung balance with gold regulation screws

Secured movement

Components: 204
Strap
Integrated black rubber strap with extension 
Titanium clasp engraved with the BLANCPAIN logo.

🔴 Price : 26,300 CHF💰

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Press release - 2023
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Blancpain S.A.
Le Rocher 12
1348 Le Brassus
Suisse
International PR: Lucie Notar
Tel.  (+41) 21 796 3619
Fax (+41) 21 796 3637
E-mail: pr@blancpain.com
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Wempe – Marine Chronometers by Tim Heywood Edition

 

WEMPE Glashütte – Maritime Instrument Marine Chronometers by Tim Heywood Edition 2023

Glashütte (Saxony), January 26, 2023 – The production of marine chronometers is part of Wempe’s watchmaking tradition. Since 1905, the company has equipped seagoing vessels with these special timepieces, whose great precision is unaffected by rough seas and ever-changing temperatures. 

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Wempe’s “unified chronometer,” housed in a classic case, has been manufactured (and continuously refined) for the last 80 years. In the latest edition, Wempe now brings nautical tradition and state-of-the-art yacht design together thanks to renowned British ship designer Tim Heywood, who has created striking new marine chronometers available at the end of January 2023.

Timepieces that shaped world history

Tim Heywood is fascinated by the history of marine chronometers, whose introduction in the 18th century enabled safe navigation at sea through the precise determination of longitude – which, among other things, formed the basis for long-distance travel and worldwide trade.

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The marine chronometer’s seemingly simple functionality is based upon its ability to steadfastly indicate the precise time at its home port. Underway, the ship’s crew can see any deviation from noon as precisely set and measured while in port and use this information to calculate the vessel’s position. However, such timepieces are hard to design and construct, and it took centuries to perfect them. Today, the word “chronometer” is used to describe a precise time-piece that must prove its accuracy in a test center specifically designed for chronometer testing. Wempe maintains one of these test centers in Glashütte’s former observatory, where the company has also been building marine chronometers since 2010.

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“These timepieces are aimed at a discerning public aware of the importance of chronometry,” explains Kim-Eva Wempe (60). “They also underscore our expertise and legitimacy in making state-of-the-art marine chronometers.”

The perfection of tradition

The basic movement of the unified chronometer — Type 05 — has proven itself for decades thanks to continuous improvement. For the current Type 06 chronometer movement, every component was redesigned and adapted to cutting-edge manufacturing techniques implemented between 2017 and 2021. This is a major reason for the chronometer’s maximum rate variation of only 0.3 seconds per day while maintaining 56 hours of power reserve. This extraordinary precision is also due to the elaborate chain-and-fusée assembly that ensures that the energy supplied to the gear train by the mainspring as it unwinds always remains constant. The energy is transmitted via an intricate chain that slowly unwinds from a cone called the fusée.

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Gimballed within a cube of fine wood and featuring traditional typography against a light-colored dial, the CW800017 chronometer can be found in the collections of all Wempe showrooms worldwide. Bernhard Stoll (63), CEO of Wempe’s watch division, says, “The purchasers of these timepieces also appreciate the historical instrument look because it represents the highest level of precision.”

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The elaborately decorated Type 07 three-bridge movement represents a new generation of technology. Here, each part of the movement was recalculated in Wempe’s workshops; for the balance wheel, for example, the engineers opted for a classic bimetallic construction, albeit with a galvanic coating.

A legend in a new look: A Tim Heywood design for Wempe Marine Chronometers

The Type 07 manufacture movement can be found in two chronometer models designed by world-famous yacht designer Tim Heywood (72), who combines watchmaking heritage with modern composition. Over the past several decades, in which Heywood has created a distinctive look for mega yachts, his process has involved developing a comprehensive overall concept. “I literally start with a blank sheet of paper. The shape of the hull and the large superstructures, as well as the individual lights, are created in consultation with the client,” he explains. 

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Designing a single piece of equipment, like that which Wempe asked him to do, was unusual, but Heywood approached the task the same way he does for his major projects: He wanted to be proud of the final result. A particular challenge inherent in the design of marine chronometers is the fact that they must fit into very different environments; Heywood has certainly mastered this challenge. “The chronometers look as good on traditional boats as they do on a modern yacht — and they fit in with the owner’s country home as well as his city apartment,” he says.

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Kim-Eva Wempe is also very satisfied with the collaboration. “Tim Heywood’s designs link our watchmaking tradition ideally with the requirements and expressiveness of modern shipbuilding.”

A blue dial and polished meridians

Heywood has equipped the new chronometers with a bold blue dial featuring state-of-the-art typography, while two openings at 4 and 8 o’clock respectively provide glimpses of the movement. The borosilicate glass on the dial side is cut from a solid block.

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Radiating out from the center are twelve meridians — the first chronometers were created to determine exactly these imaginary time boundaries — which continue on the wide, curved glass found on the back.

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The gimbal of the gold-plated brass case looks much like an abstract sculpture when the timepiece is wound with the movement facing upward.

The Wempe Marine Chronometer Cube by Tim Heywood: Symbol of a safe journey

Designer Tim Heywood’s goal was for the chronometer to remind its owner of the wealth of nautical traditions regardless of current location. The dark brown case, which can be ceremonially opened using its three folding doors, contributes to this. 

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The solid corpus is created by laser sintering at Metrica, another specialist in individualized yacht fittings. The case includes a gold-plated time zone map in the lid as well as sixteen coats of varnishing and hand polishing to give the “Cube” a deep glow and make it seaworthy. This chronometer will be available starting from January 26, 2023, at a price of $57,460.

Wempe Marine Chronometer Coco de Mer by Tim Heywood: A nautical work of art

The British designer is known for the soft organic lines of his designs invoking feminine shapes. He points out that ships are, after all, the only objects referred to using feminine pronouns in the English language. However, there is also another reason why Heywood chose the feminine curves of the exotic Coco de Mer nut after which to model this limited chronometer edition of 50 pieces: 

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The humble coconut variation can traverse enormous distances at sea unscathed, making it a perfect symbol for marine chronometry. The triple-doored case of the Coco de Mer is also manufactured by Metrica using laser sintering. The top of its lid is coated with bronze while the inside boasts gold leaf. Sixteen layers of varnish are manually applied to the body, which is then polished by hand. This marine chronometer is limited to 50 numbered pieces and will be available from January 26, 2023, at a price of $91,825.

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About Wempe
The Wempe name is synonymous with fine timepieces and jewelry. This family-owned company, which
is based in Hamburg and was founded in 1878, is headed by Kim-Eva Wempe (who was born in 1962)
and has 32 branches in cities all over the world, including New York, Paris, and London. The company
has been closely connected for generations with the renowned watch manufactures of Switzerland and
Germany. Wempe produces its own Glashütte I/SA brand wristwatch chronometers in Glashütte,
Saxony, and its own By Kim brand jewelry in Schwäbisch Gmünd. In addition, Wempe operates the
largest independent watch workshop in Europe and has been certified as a “Best Place to Learn” in
Germany since 2015.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 

 
Collection   Maritime Instrument

Model:  Marine Chronometer Cube by Tim Heywood

Reference Number CW800018  

Facts
Movement: Wempe
Oscillating system: 14,400 semi-oscillations per hour (240 per minute)
Dimensions (chronometer): 151.3 (h) x 142.4 (w) x 157.8 mm (d)
Dimensions (case): 215 (h) x 248 (w) x 250 mm (d)
Escapement: Earnshaw detent escapement
Power reserve: 56 hours
Chronometry: Tested according to former norms; maximum rate deviation of 0.3 seconds per day
Functions
Hour, minute, second, power reserve
Controls: Winding system and winding key
Case
Gold-plated brass; outer casing of special composite material;
temperature- and climate-stable, 16 layers of varnish
Crystal: Borosilicate glass
Dial
Blue, Arabic numerals
Hands: Stainless steel, polished/straight graining; Heywood design

Limited Edition 50 pieces 

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Model:  Marine Chronometer Coco de Mer by Tim Heywood

Reference Number CW800019   

Facts
Movement: Wempe
Oscillating system: 14,400 semi-oscillations per hour (240 per minute)
Dimensions (chronometer): 151.3 (h) x 142.4 (w) x 157.8 mm (d)
Dimensions (case): 209 (h) x 212 (w) x 239 mm (d)
Escapement: Earnshaw detent escapement
Power reserve: 56 hours
Chronometry: Tested according to former norms; maximum rate deviation of 0.3 seconds per day
Functions
Hour, minute, second, power reserve
Controls: Winding system and winding key
Case
Gold-plated brass; outer casing of special composite material;
temperature- and climate-stable, 16 layers of varnish
Crystal: Borosilicate glass
Dial
Blue, Arabic numerals
Hands: Stainless steel, polished/straight graining; Heywood design

Limited Edition 50 pieces

 

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Press releases - 2023
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Contact
Nadja Weisweiler
Head of Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 40 33 44 8-847
E-Mail: nadja.weisweiler@wempe.de

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