Even so, the iconic rotating bezel in its conventional format allows for just up to an hour’s timing at depth. Today’s specialized divers can invest significantly for a longer period than that underwater thanks to shut circuit rebreather engineering, the advanced SCUBA structure that recycles respiratory gases as an alternative of dispersing them. For divers who insist on the worthy of of obtaining an analog backup ought to the electronic engineering fall short (as all who depend on know-how know as well well it can), just one-hour timing doesn’t cut the mustard.
The Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa, named just after the Gombessa sealife monitoring project whose chief, revolutionary diver, and photographer Laurent Ballesta has been associated in the watch’s development, extends that analog restrict to three hours. The enjoy features an additional hour hand, which could be as opposed to a GMT hand on a vacation look at: Though a GMT hand rotates more than 24 hours to deliver a 2nd time zone reading, the hand on the Tech Gombessa can make a 3-hour rotation against bezel markings divided into a few a person-hour sections.
An critical observe is that this is not a stopwatch. (Due to obtaining a number of details wherever drinking water ingress can take place, stopwatches commonly do not like remaining submerged at depth). The more hour hand by itself are not able to be established: It is in regular rotation, and dive timing is designed by aligning the bezel with anywhere the hand transpires to be at the get started of the dive.
As a technical answer (which Blancpain has, of program, patented), it’s expedient just about to the issue of being lo-fi, in comparison at the very least to the conspicuous around-engineering involved with rival watches. So too is the 300-meter depth score, which, while enough for technical diving, is in reality modest inside of the style of expert-spec luxury dive watches.
Photograph: Blancpain
The selling price, on the other hand ($28,000 or £24,700), is everything but, as is the watch’s visible impression. A hulking 47 mm in diameter, the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa is held lightweight many thanks to its Quality 23 titanium case, which characteristics a specially streamlined design to integrate the strap by way of a solitary, central lug arrangement. The indexes on the dial are lower from blocks of luminous materials, which stands out all the extra towards a dial of “absolute black,” a material whose construction absorbs 97 p.c of gentle, when the bezel inlay is formed from black ceramic.
The check out, which also options a helium escape valve (a attribute for saturation dive watches designed by Rolex for releasing gas trapped inside the look at) at 10 o’clock on the situation, is run by a brand new Blancpain movement, Calibre 13P8, which offers an admirable five-working day electric power reserve.
Even if the Tech motif highlighted on the dial—in a fairly jarring ’80s font—may be a thing of a misnomer, the real innovation of Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa could be coming up with a new operation that has real actual-earth application, however market that may perhaps be.