NEW MODEL: The Blancpain Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe Flyback Chronograph

Felix Scholz

Let this be a full and frank admission. Like Vladimir Putin we have a (increasingly well documented) thing for Blancpain. Unlike Vladimir Putin we have never, and will never, give one away to a Russian factory worker as a sign of power.

Throw in the fact that this particular Blancpain release – which combines many of our favourite things: a blue dial, a chronograph, a Fifty Fathoms – is in honour of a good cause, the Pristine Seas Expedition, saviour to over 1.6-million square kilometres of ocean and you have us swooning so hard it looks like we’ve just come up from the depths without any decompression stops.

The only slightly dismaying thing about this watch? It’s a limited edition. And we don’t mean limited to 250,000. Only 250 of this deep blue beauty will be made.

The Blancpain Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe Chronograph is a slightly modded version of the already well celebrated Bathyscaphe Flyback Chronograph released earlier this year. This version adds a shimmering blue starburst dial, a ceramic bezel and, a case that, even though it looks like brushed steel, is acutally ceramic. It looks amazing in photos and we just hope that we’ll see it in wider use down the track.

Blancpain-ocean-commitment-bathyscaphe-case — Close up of the case on the new Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe – it looks like steel, but it’s actually matte grey ceramic. Had us fooled.

But this watch isn’t just about the watch so to speak – it’s an edition designed to assist with raising awareness for the Blancpain Ocean Commitment (which has a fantastic interactive site to explore) an initiative which sees Blancpain raise awareness and funds (including a portion from each of these watches) to donate to organisations dedicated to scientific exploration and preservation of our marine environment. Oh, and Blancpain have also announced an epic book – a comprehensive history of the Fifty Fathoms chronicling the iconic dive watch’s 60 year history. The book itself is limited to 3000 copies but the good news is, if you buy the watch, you get the book for free.

If that hasn’t inspired you to either a; care about marine ecology or b; buy a Blancpain Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe (though we suspect they’re already all sold) – check this video and it might just change your mind.

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