THE HOME OF WATCH CULTURE
Another month, another MoonSw... oh wait a second.
There's more to Blancpain in 2023 than just their headline-stealing collaboration with Swatch.
The 70th anniversary celebrations of the Fifty Fathoms continues with a charity auction supporting ocean conservation.
In the early 1950s, Blancpain’s CEO Jean-Jacques Fiechter was diving off the coast of Cannes when he lost track of time. It almost proved a…
Crafted from 9K bronze gold, this is a luxurious, retro-inspired Fifty Fathoms that unites both Blancpain's heritage and the Maison's innovative present (and future).
Blancpain famously claims that "since 1735 there has never been a quartz Blancpain watch. And there never will be.” Just how true is that?
Blancpain's iconic dive watch receives the MoonSwatch treatment.
The Blancpain Ladybird Colors collection has been expanded with this rainbow gradient reference. It comes with five colours of alligator leather straps, so you can…
Seventy years ago in 1953, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms became the first modern dive watch that was readily available to consumers. Tackling the practical requests…
Looking for a singular resource on all the watch finishing techniques you should ever be familiar with? Look no further, as we try to list…
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa presents a world-first three-hour timing bezel The “absolute black” dial captures almost 97% of the light to make the lume…
Two dive watches have long battled for the title of the original diver’s watch: the Rolex Submariner and the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Technicalities can drag…
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when golfing and broadcast legend Sir Nick Faldo recently ended his final broadcast as CBS’ golf analyst…
In 1953, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms became the first modern dive watch that was readily available to consumers. Tackling the practical requests of French Navy…
Blancpain’s Air Command series is getting two new options for the range in titanium and red gold. They’re smaller than the previous 42mm-plus sized versions…
Chewing on an ice cube on the stern of the Reef Magic, I contemplated my life choices covered in cold sweat, my breakfast coming back…
This week, Blancpain invited our new(ish) staff writer Borna to the Great Barrier Reef to showcase their latest endeavours in the Ocean Commitment initiative. Having…
Welcome to The Icons, a series where we take a horological deep dive into the most legendary watches of all time. We’ll delve into the…
Fifty Fathoms. It’s a reference to an antiquated British unit of measure of approximately 91 and a half metres, but in the realm of horology,…
Whether due to the pandemic, or the nuances of sourcing pieces at retail, many watch buyers look to buy from a distance online in favor…
Recently an email dropped into my inbox with the header: “Tornek-Rayville: An icon resurfaces”. It detailed the reboot of the semi-mythical watch brand that supplied…
Getting frustrated wondering if you’ll ever get to see the endlessly delayed new James Bond film, No Time To Die? Well, count yourself lucky that…
When it comes to watches, I am continuously torn between the two extremes of my personality. On one side there’s my inner OCD stress-head who…
If you love dive watches, Jeffrey Kingston is a name you should be familiar with. He literally wrote the book on the first early dive…
What before COVID was a regular, and totally normal, occurrence – meeting up at a bar with friends to drink gin and talk watches –…
Limited editions of Blancpain divers are hot commodities in today’s marketplace, so when they are announced it’s best to act fast if you’re looking to…
The Swiss maisons are at it again, bringing their entire arsenal of craftsmanship to celebrate the Chinese New Year. As we all know, the Chinese…
Some chapters of our sexual lives are best left behind – so why aren’t erotic watches dead and buried? This question sprung to mind last…
There’s a strong argument that the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms was the first real diver’s watch of its kind… and that’s because it was. It’s also…
Many, many people out there view the ubiquitous Rolex Submariner as the forefather of all amphibious timepieces. And they’re dead wrong. In fact, the first…
It is no secret Gael Monfils is an absolute superstar on the tennis court. He is known for his lively and exciting matches where his…
“Is it East versus West/Or man against man?” That was the question memorably posed by Survivor in the smash hit from the Rocky IV soundtrack,…
To recap: Zenith’s latest release, the uber stealthy Chronomaster Revival ‘Shadow’, has had us thinking about all the other great all-black timepieces that have been…
The development of quartz technology essentially removed the need for the Swiss mechanical watchmaking industry. And yet, both the Swiss and quartz watches are still…
It’s a surprisingly vexed question. You get voted into office as a Prime Minister or President, and suddenly the public’s attention turns to your wrist.…
The perpetual calendar watch is among the most useful complicated watches, as well as one of the most mechanically sophisticated – and it truly comes…
Editor’s note: The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is, in the context of a fit-for-purpose dive watch, the original. Nothing like it had come before, and because…
Valentine’s Day is a tricky one, because there can sometimes be tremendous pressure to pick the love of your life the perfect gift. You know,…
2019 has seen the rise of many, many trends in watchmaking — steel sports watches with integrated bracelets, bronze cases, limited editions … you get the…
I’ve certainly had less turbulent years. In 2019, I quit a stable job, hurled myself into start-up life and lived with my in-laws for 10…
Editor’s note: Blancpain have been looking into their rich trove of dive watch archives to great success recently, reviving a number of classics that we…
With Only Watch 2019 now just a mere 11 days away from kicking off, we thought we’d take a look at Blancpain’s Only entrant –…
Every year in watchland we’re treated to a fresh crop of heritage reissues — modern interpretations of designs of yore. It’s a market category that’s…
The Fifty Fathoms is a stalwart of the dive watch, dating back to 1953. And, as you might expect, the watch has seen a few…
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms looks like a lot of other watches out there, and there’s a reason for that. The Fifty Fathoms was first. It…
Editor’s note: Blancpain has one of the best dive watch archives around, thanks to the fact that they were one of the primogenitors of the…
Yes, we’re somewhat getting ahead of ourselves here, but with the abject misery of Australia’s particularly dismal winter now in the rearview mirror, it’s time…
Generally speaking, watch collectors fear three things: brick walls, unforeseen service costs, and the vagaries of international shipping. I’m not sure about points one and…
Editor’s note: Dive watches tend to be simple affairs, but not always. Justin embraces complexity (and calendars) in his review of the Blancpain Bathyscaphe Quantième…
For as long as time has been indicated with hands on a dial, horologists have been hunting for different ways to communicate time. Contemporarily, this…
Editor’s note: The other day I was spending some time at my local Blancpain stockist, and I found my eyes consistently being drawn to the…
These are the conversations we all keep having lately. Much like our beloved Sandra Lane, I’m equally sick of the steel Rolex and Patek hype…
Editor’s note: The Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC, aside from being a damn good-looking dive watch, serves as a reminder that brands can reissue…
For the second year running, Breguet, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz and Glashütte Original — The Swatch Group’s top-tier brands — are showcasing their latest and greatest…
One of the surprise highlights from the recent Swatch-stravaganza that was Time to Move was Blancpain’s Air Command – a really neat reissue of an…
So, typically in these ‘recommended reading’ posts we link to a good watch-related read that’s — you know — on the internet. Today we’re doing…
Increasingly, I’m finding myself drawn to watches that are understated, unassuming expressions of classical perfection. Which goes a long way to explaining why I was…
When we were shown the new Blancpain products at Time to Move, we expected to see Fifty Fathoms and Villeret. We did not expect a…
Like it or not, the origin story of Blancpain’s famous diver is inseparable from that of naval warfare. The development of the original watch was…
In the underwater realm of dive watches, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is an undisputed master. Initially released in 1953, this prototypical dive watch was instrumental…
If the increasingly frantic targeted ads in my Instagram feed for fancy underwear and/or chocolate are anything to go by, Valentine’s Day is just around…
The story in a second: A classy calendar for the life aquatic. Expanding on a dive watch collection — especially one with such a rich…
They say legends aren’t born, they’re made. And the immortal story of the archetypal diver’s watch, Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms, is as legendary as they come.…
Editor’s note: Let’s be honest, there are a few fashion mistakes from the ’70s that are best left forgotten. But it wasn’t all platforms and…
The idea of a ‘birth year’ watch is nothing new, though after a recent discussion I came to realise that it poses an interesting question.…
Breguet, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz and Glashütte Original, representing the Swatch Group’s top tier watch brands, have teamed up to show off their latest and greatest…
Editor’s note: Observed every year on June 8, World Oceans Day seeks to honour, help protect, and remind us all of the exceptional need to conserve the…
Today is World Oceans Day, a day that has, since 1992, celebrated our marine environments, and raised awareness for the need to preserve them. It’s…
Editor’s note: Speculation is, by definition, risky. But it’s also fun. And here at T+T we don’t speculate on shares or cryptocurrency — no, we…
Matt Farah is the host and producer of The Smoking Tire YouTube series, The Smoking Tire podcast, and a host on /DRIVE on NBC Sports. Matt…
Today we chat to banker and self-described vintage watch hoarder Jack Wong, who’s not so anonymous online as @jackwongyf. From where we’re sitting, the Jack…
John, AKA @barnfindwatches, is a family man and a certifiable watchaholic. In his spare time, he runs the sales organisation for a small software company…
Blancpain has an excellent history in dive watches, and among the most coveted are the military-issued pieces. In this already hyper-specialised niche, the MIL-SPEC I…
If you love dive watches but don’t love the wrist-dominating size that typically goes along with the genre, you’ll want to pay close attention to…
Dive watches, almost by their very definition, tend to be oversized creatures from the deep. Historically the reasons for the chunky cases and gargantuan proportions…
BASEL BUILDUP: To celebrate the sartorial whirlwind who sadly departs Time+Tide today on maternity leave, we couldn’t resist revisiting our Content Director Ceri David’s genius idea…
Blancpain are definitely on Santa’s nice list this year, for their serious efforts in ocean preservation. And by bringing a variant of an instant, but…
It’s one of the original (if not THE original) dive watches – the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. And since its introduction in 1953, it has proved…
The story in a second Blancpain has upped the ante on last year’s excellent Ocean Commitment watch, with a second – even bluer – limited…
[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/192993206″] There are a few things everyone in the Time+Tide office can get behind 100 per cent: coffee, classic ’70s rock and blue watches. In…
It’s usually the most innocuous part of the night. The official speeches are out of the way, the bar once again beckons, and the speaker…
The watch you’re looking at isn’t a Richard Mille or Hublot creation. No folks, this is made by Blancpain. And who would have expected a…
Editor’s Note: It’s distinctly miserable weather here in Melbourne at the moment, so what better way to beat the winter blues than with a perfect…
Dear DC Comics, Even though Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hasn’t been wowing critics, we applaud that you’re finally giving the Justice League the…
Last year we spent a lot of time talking about, and looking at hi-res pictures of, the Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe Flyback Chronograph. There was something…
In the month before his 70th birthday celebration, Stephen Urquhart has retired as the President of Omega, the Swatch Group’s leading brand, which is estimated to…
The Basel Lookbook, in which our friend and fashion advisor Ceri David casts an eye over the best releases of Baselworld and suggests what might…
Editor’s Note: Since 2008 Blancpain has been publishing the world’s best underwater photography in Edition Fifty Fathoms, each year showcasing 12 pictures from four leading photographers…
Ocean Commitment is Blancpain’s signature program that aims to raise awareness and help preserve the marine environment, through exhibitions, scientific expeditions and special watches like…
Editor’s Note: In the middle of last century, the exploration of the ocean’s hidden depths became possible due to two key developments: reliable underwater breathing…
The story in a second: With one of the most impressive ceramic cases we’ve seen, the only problem with this Blancpain is that it’s…
Overnight the leading lights of the watch industry gathered for its night of nights – the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). It’s essentially the…
Patina is fast becoming a meaningless word in watchmaking. This is because it has been highjacked by marketing and R&D departments. Patina is now shorthand…
The highlight of the Blancpain Ocean Commitment event at Icebergs in Sydney was a speech from underwater photographer and marine biologist Laurent Ballesta, who, it must be…
UPDATE: Stay tuned for live social media coverage of tonight’s Blancpain’s Ocean Commitment event – expect epic photography and epic watches. In 1953 Blancpain launched…