Replica watches: With an innovation co-developed by Marc A. Hayek, Blancpain President and CEO, and Laurent Ballesta, founder of the Gombessa project, “Tech Gombessa” makes it possible for the first time to measure dive times of up to three hours.
Blancpain opens a new chapter in the history of the first modern diving watch by presenting a model designed to meet the requirements of today’s technical diving. With an innovation co-developed by Marc A. Hayek, Blancpain President and CEO, and Laurent Ballesta, founder of the Gombessa project, this “Tech Gombessa” instrument makes it possible for the first time to measure up to three hours of immersion. Its launch commemorates the tenth anniversary of Gombessa, an initiative that Blancpain helped create by becoming a founding partner of the project since its inception in 2013.
It also marks the launch of a new line in Blancpain’s collection of diver’s watches.
Seventy years ago an icon was born: the Fifty Fathoms. The watch that would revolutionize watchmaking by becoming the first modern diver’s watch was conceived by a passionate diver, Jean-Jacques Fiechter, then CEO of Blancpain. A pioneer in a discipline that was in its infancy, he understood the urgent need to measure time underwater. The instrument that he designed to meet his own needs was immediately adopted by the oceanic community, becoming an infallible ally of elite divers and underwater explorers. By improving diving safety, Fifty Fathoms contributed to the development of the sport and promoted the discovery of the marine world.
The year 2023, which marks the 70th anniversary of Fifty Fathoms, also resonates as a reboot of its birth with the arrival of an innovative anniversary diver’s watch. Since the 1950s, diving has undergone a great evolution, notably characterized by an evident prolongation of immersion times. While the 1953 Fifty Fathoms met the requirements of Jean-Jacques Fiechter and more experienced divers of the day, those now capable of spending several hours underwater have new requirements for time measurement.
This is precisely the case for the current President and CEO of Blancpain, who is also an avid scuba diver and has been accustomed to highly technical closed-circuit diving for several years. Drawing on the valuable heritage of the 1953 Fifty Fathoms, but also and above all on his own experiences, the CEO embarked on the design, together with diver, photographer and underwater biologist Laurent Ballesta, of a new mechanical instrument. It was meant to meet the needs of all extreme divers, starting with members of Gombessa Expeditions, whose research work involves long-duration deep dives.
With the support of Blancpain, these deep sea adventurers have joined forces on the multi-year mission in Tamataroa.
Dedicated to studying the behavior of the great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, in French Polynesia, this project is led by a committee of passionate deep-sea divers, including Marc A. Hayek and Laurent Ballesta. The observation and collection of information on this species continued through technical dives in the Rangiroa atoll, with the aim of contributing to the implementation of management measures that promote its conservation.
It is in this context that the latest addition to the Fifty Fathoms collection was first introduced: the Tech Gombessa watch designed to measure the duration of technical dives of up to three hours or exits from a saturation system. Conceived five years ago by the two divers, this High fake watch has been extensively tested.
In 2019, after a year of conceptualization, Blancpain began development of the project, starting from the two key elements represented by the movement and the unidirectional rotating bezel. Unlike conventional diver’s watch bezels, the bezel of the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa has a three-hour scale. It is linked to a special hand that completes a full revolution in three hours and whose material and color, a white luminescent layer with green emission, match those of its markers. This device co-invented by Marc A. Hayek and Laurent Ballesta is a world first for which a patent has been filed. It is the heart of the 13P8 automatic movement, based on the same criteria of reliability and robustness that have made the Fifty Fathoms the definitive diver’s watch for 70 years.
With the combination of bezel and movement defined, it was time to tackle the exterior of this new timepiece designed to plumb the depths.
The brief was clear, but sticking to it was tricky: the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa had to look like a Fifty Fathoms and display different technological attributes. Therefore, Blancpain designers opted for a black ceramic bezel inlay, instead of the traditional sapphire,
which they decided to give a stronger curve and lean towards the dial. The readability of the latter is optimized by a spherical glass that eliminates any visual distortion.
To ensure the best possible readability in the dark, the dial has a new finish: absolute black, whose structure is
capable of capturing almost 97% of light. In the same way, the indices are made up of block-shaped luminescent
appliqués, this time in orange with a blue emission, color codes collected in the hour and minute hands to
differentiate the information related to the time from the times of immersion.
Grade 23 titanium was chosen for the case. Recently introduced to the Blancpain collections, this metal,
also known as ELI (Extra Low Interstitial) grade 5, is the purest type of titanium available. It is distinguished by its exceptional strength and anti-allergy properties, while being remarkably light. This material ensures that the watch is comfortable to wear
and guarantees an almost unalterable feel on the wrist despite the 47mm diameter. This is especially true as the watch features,
for the first time at Blancpain, central lugs attached from the inside of the case and integrating the strap.
Waterproof to 30 bar (approximately 300 meters), the case is equipped with a helium valve.
During saturation diving in a hyperbaric chamber, helium manages to leak into the watch. During the decompression phase, unscrewing the valve makes it
easier to evacuate the helium (manipulation that does not affect the water-resistance of the watch). The notches on the helium valve are identical to those on the winding crown
and time adjustment allowing simultaneous adjustment of the hour, minute and dive time hands. As with all Fifty Fathoms perfect replica watches, the crown is screw-down
and associated with a crown guard that now features a new trapezoid-shaped design ensuring visual consistency with the lugs.
Nothing has been left to chance on the back of the watch either. The bottom of the case center is beveled instead of the rounded bass shape that characterizes other Fifty Fathoms models. The notches used to screw down the caseback have also been reworked, in the same spirit of robustness. The anthracite-coloured oscillating weight, stamped with the Gombessa Expeditions logo,
presents an innovative shape dominated by three large openings through which the movement can be admired. The black rubber strap is screwed to the back of the lugs. It has an internal titanium reinforcement, which guarantees an ideal shape in the long term,
and is combined with an extension to wear the watch over a technical diving suit. The buckle with its extremely wide
and ergonomic pin has been designed to strengthen the hold of the watch on the wrist and to facilitate the fastening of the extension.
The Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa comes in a special PeliTM presentation box that is waterproof, shock resistant, reusable and configurable.
The case houses a rest for the watch, strap extension, a travel bag, a magnifying glass, as well as a set of dividers
and cutting tools that offer the ability to compartmentalize it for any future use.
While all the details of the Tech Gombessa seem to have come together seamlessly,
they have in fact involved numerous adjustments as a result of a multitude of tests in real life conditions. Marc A. Hayek personally tested several different prototypes of the watch during his dives. The same goes for Laurent Ballesta and the divers from the Gombessa Expeditions, who tested the watch throughout its evolution. Four prototypes were worn on the wrists of aquanauts during a test period of almost 50 days
at a depth of 120 meters as part of the Gombessa V and Gombessa VI missions.
Carried out in the Mediterranean in 2019 and 2021 respectively,
these expeditions combined saturation diving with closed-circuit rebreather diving for the first time. After living for a full month on both occasions in a 5m2 hyperbaric chamber
from which they emerged daily to explore the depths,
the divers tested various versions of the helium valve.
The Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa watch has been able to satisfy the most demanding demands of Gombessa divers,
who have adopted it as the official watch of their expeditions. Its launch honors the 70th anniversary of Fifty Fathoms
and puts the stamp on ten years of collaboration between Blancpain and Laurent Ballesta,
whose Gombessa project was born in 2013 thanks to the involvement of the Manufacture as a founding partner. The arrival of this instrument in the Fifty Fathoms collection also inaugurates a new line, the Fifty Fathoms Tech,
which will encompass all Blancpain replica watches dedicated to technical diving.
