Jacques Cousteau and the Blancpain "Fifty Fathoms"

Let's go back to 1953: Blancpain introduces the Fifty Fathoms watch, the world's first diving watch. It was originally developed for the French military's combat diver unit, allowing swimmers to measure their dive time and thus estimate the remaining oxygen levels in their tanks.

The name comes from the watch's water resistance of up to 50 nautical fathoms – 91.45 meters. Since then, it has been the trusted watch of Commander Jacques-Yves Cousteau and other famous oceanographers , adventurers, and military divers. Special units of the US, French, Israeli, and German navies have already used it on secret missions for their respective countries. Thus, the Fifty Fathoms definitely knows the depths of the oceans better than any of us.

Underwater explorers quickly discovered the benefits of the watch. Blancpain equipped all the actors in the film "The Silent World" (1956), which used underwater footage to showcase the diversity and beauty of the ocean depths. Directed by Louis Malle and co-written by Cousteau, the film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year.