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MARC HAYEK
Marc Hayek on one of his diving expeditions His grandfather was the legendary Nicolas G Hayek, founder of the Swatch Group and the man revered as the saviour of the Swiss watch industry during the quartz crisis of the 1970s, so Marc Hayek has a strong pedigree in the industry. He is CEO of Breguet, Jaquet Droz and Blancpain, while his mother, Nayla, is the CEO of Harry Winston. Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe CEO OF BLANCPAIN, BREGUET AND JAQUET Droz OCEAN COMMITMENT Hayek is an avid diver and photographer, and the Blancpain Ocean Commitment—a programme that has supported various initiatives to explore, preserve and protect the world’s oceans for more than 60 years—has a special place in his heart. The initiatives supported by the programme include the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas Expeditions, and naturalist Laurent Ballest’s Gombessa Project, an ambitious scientific expedition
to find and study the legendary deep-sea coelacanth.
FIFTY FATHOMS BATHYSCAPHE In 1953, Blancpain developed what is commonly described as the “first modern dive watch,” the Fifty Fathoms. At this year’s Baselworld, Hayek proudly presented the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, a reinterpretation of the original. The 2016 model has a deep blue dial evoking the depths of the sea and is water-resistant up to 300 metres. It is equipped with the Calibre 1315, a movement distinguished for its sturdiness and exceptional chronometric performance.