The World’s Oldest Dive Watch Is Prettiest When Pink
Blancpain’s legendary Fifty Fathoms watch is getting a slimmer, punchier makeover.
Often credited as the first modern dive watch (beating the Rolex Submariner by a year), the Fifty Fathoms has been reimagined with a fresh, feminine twist that’s equal parts serious tool watch and beach club conversation starter.
The most dramatic shift? Case size. This new edition comes in at 38mm, down from the traditional 42mm, ideal for smaller wrists or anyone leaning into the current wave of compact sport watches.
And yes, it’s technically a “ladies’” model, but let’s be honest, a colorful, downsized dive watch looks great on anyone. Especially when it’s this good.
The real showstopper from the new collection is the pink-on-white brushed titanium version, complete with a mother-of-pearl dial and pink-and-white NATO strap. It’s a colorway you might expect from Blancpain’s Swatch collab, not its mainline collection, which makes the move even more interesting.
If petal pink isn’t your thing, there’s also a smoky black dial in radiant red gold, a more classic nod to the Fifty Fathoms’ military roots. Either way, both versions are still fully capable dive watches, water-resistant to 300 meters.
Whether you’re actually diving off the coast of France or just pretending you are, the legacy runs deep: The original Fifty Fathoms was designed in 1953 for the French Navy’s elite combat swimmers. But let’s be real, most of us aren’t trying to earn a SEAL Trident. We’re trying to make a summer statement, and the pink variant delivers.
Blancpain has seen renewed cultural attention lately thanks to its Swatch collab, which turned the Fifty Fathoms into a colorful, bioceramic crowd-pleaser à la MoonSwatch. Now, it’s bringing some of that color to its mainline selection.
Could this be a preview of more to come, especially watches with bolder, more colorful cases? TAG Heuer’s new Formula 1 line and Hublot’s ever-expanding rainbow catalog might just be the start of a full-spectrum wrist revolution. Only time will tell.
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