Blancpain goes ultra-luxe with the latest Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet and Chronographe Flyback models by housing the watches in full red gold
You’d probably think twice about wearing the new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscape Quantième Complet and Chronographe Flyback for your next diving expedition—and that’s totally fine with the Swiss luxury watch brand.
To be fair, both watches promise to be up for it if they are ever called upon to brave the elements. Boasting 300m water resistance, high legibility with Super-LumiNova infused indicators for dark conditions, and trademark unidirectional bezels that help measure remaining dive times, they hail from a pedigreed lineage that stretches back to the first Fifty Fathom dive watch that Blancpain created for the French naval diving unit back in 1953.
But there is also the gleaming new element that would make you apprehensive about putting these watches through their paces. Their shiny new 18k red gold cases and bracelets, to be fair, render them too pretty and precious to be subjected to the unforgiving conditions of underwater exploration. The bracelets with hand satin-brushed links, especially, demand fussing over—assembled with a patented system of traverse pins that ensure that the watches hug the wrist with unmatched suppleness.
And there’s also the small matter of their horological gravitas. The Quantième Complet and Chronographe Flyback brim with fine watchmaking refinement—the former featuring a practical and sophisticated complication that displays the day, date, month and moon phase, while the latter is armed with a feature that lets you measure elapsed timing with an instant reset function.
Those familiar with the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms collection will no doubt be assured of the Quantième Complet and Chronographe Flyback’s underwater capabilities. But there is no denying that their potential may be better served on dry land, and preferably in more agreeable conditions.
