Desert Storm

A diver’s watch takes on the drought-stricken landform as Blancpain’s quintessential Fifty Fathoms

Bathyscaphe Day Date Desert Edition is dressed in a desert colour dial of sandy beige in this 500-piece

limited edition inspired by a 1970s number. Evoking a spectacular dive into the Devils Hole, an unlikely geothermal pool located in the barren Death Valley, it was here where Ernest H Brooks II, pioneer of underwater photography and contributor to the Edition Fifty Fathoms project, made a splash in 1962. Endemic to this subterranean habitat, the endangered cyprinodon diabolis, commonly known as the Devils Hole pupfish,thrives in warm,oxygen poor water. Brooks was the first who captured this hardy fish species on film.Perpetuating a similar pioneering spirit, the Desert Edition eschews the traditional aesthetic codes of the Fifty Fathoms. The gradated sunburst dial preserves remarkable clarity

and richness reminiscent of the swirling shades of rocks. The dial is punctuated with a chapter ring

housing Arabic numerals, which mark the fiveminute intervals, recalling the inner rotating ring of the 1970s watch. The 43mm steel-encased watch is enhanced with a unidirectional rotating bezel with a brown ceramic insert and Liquidmetal hour markers. Underneath a vintage exterior is a resolutely modern in-house movement. It comes with five days of power reserve, apart from magnetic resistance.