BLANCPAIN – Fifty Fathoms BARAKUDA Steel 40 Limited Edition
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Travelling back to the end of the 1960s with a limited edition
of the Fifty Fathoms Barakuda
Blancpain is revisiting one of its diving watches from the end of the 1960s, the Barakuda. The 500-piece 2019 edition retains the features of the original version while making the most of the technical innovations resulting from Blancpain’s longstanding experience in the field of scuba diving.
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When first launched in 1953, the Fifty Fathoms was the only diver’s watch that met the many requirements of specialised divers. Frogmen from several of the world’s largest marine corps rapidly incorporated it as a fundamental element in their standard-issue gear. The French were the first to equip themselves with Fifty Fathoms models for their underwater missions. Other military elites followed, including the German Bundesmarine in the 1960s.
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The latter were supplied with Fifty Fathoms models via Barakuda – a company specialising in the production and marketing of technical diving equipment. Alongside the watches intended for the military, the company 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 timepieces in this series 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.
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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 Super-LumiNova®.
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Original 1953 Fifty Fathoms watch
The likewise luminescent pencil-shaped hands are white- lacquered, while the date – a key element of the original model – returns to its favourite 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.
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The satin-brushed steel case of this new watch, water-resistant to 300 metres, has a diameter of 40 mm, a size reserved for Fifty Fathoms timepieces in limited series. It houses the 1151 self-winding movement, whose sporty usage in this model naturally does not dispense it from high-end finishes. The twin barrels are wound via a cut-out rotor, in reference to some of the collection’s antique watches. This now atypical geometry formerly served to enhance the suppleness of the oscillating weight in order to protect the movement from potential impacts.
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Paired with a tropical rubber strap identical to that of the historical models, the Fifty Fathoms Barakuda embodies a perfect combination of vintage design and advanced technicality. The 500 watches composing this exclusive series are sure to delight experienced divers, collectors, history buffs or simply lovers of fine mechanics.
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Collection: Fifty Fathoms
References: 5008B-1130-B52A - Rubber strap
Model: BARAKUDA Steel
Case
Stainless steel satin-brushed
Unidirectional satin-brushed steel bezel, sapphire insert
Diameter: 40.30 mm
Thickness: 11.23 mm
Between horns: 20.00 mm
Back: Sapphire crystal
Antimagnetic properties
Water-resistant: 30 ATM/300m/1000ft
Dial
Black dial
Date and seconds
Liquidmetal® large red and white hour-markers
"Old radium» indexes in Super-LuminNova®
Date 3 o'clock
Functions
Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date
Movement
Calibre 1151
Self-winding Ultra-slim
Diameter: 27.40.mm
Thickness: 3.25 mm
Power reserve in hours: 100 hours
Jewels: 28
2 mainspring barrels
| Glucydur free sprung balance with gold regulation screws | |
| Secured movement |
Strap
Rubber strap
Pin Buckle engraved with the BLANCPAIN logo.EDITION
Limited edition 500
New Model - 2019
*Each bar corresponds to a 10-metre water column.
* Blancpain reserves the right to modify this model and its technical characteristics.
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Press release - 2018
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Blancpain S.A.
Le Rocher 12
1348 Le Brassus
Suisse
International PR: Aude Rosati
Tel. (+41) 21 796 3636
Fax (+41) 21 796 3637
E-mail: pr@blancpain.com
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