MadAboutNoRad
Blancpain revives one of its cult classics, the Fifty Fathoms “No Radiations”
As we navigate the 21st century,we’ve come a long way from toying around with toxic chemicals, particularly radium,which was once used by women as a tonic and even applied on skin like makeup—all in the name of beauty. A 2018 film titled“Radium Girls”depicted this period in history, where women were employed by factories to paint watch and clock dials with the radioactive substance.The use of the poisonous material was thankfully ended by 1968.Blancpain quickly addressed this by issuing radium-free watches with dials displaying a bright red and yellow trefoil symbol,which,in a way,served as a public service announcement that marked them as safe to wear.Several decades later,we see this replicated in its latest tribute,Fifty Fathoms“No Radiations”. While the watch is placed among the lineup of numerous Fifty Fathoms editions,this timepiece slots itself in a significant time in history,one which follows the decade of its original creation.The Fifty Fathoms serves as a benchmark as one of the most renowned diving watches in the world.The signature aesthetics were first and foremost a crucial function for divers and in turn,its coveted reputation has garnered it as one of the brand’s icons.
The First
The Fifty Fathoms was born out of necessity.In Blancpain’s latest documentary,aptly titled“Fifty Fathoms”,then co-CEO Jean-Jacques Fiechter told the story of a group of diving enthusiasts he was a part of and how they would spend their weekends and holidays diving in the French Riviera.It was through a personal encounter that he experienced low oxygen levels during an untimed dive.He was,ironically,stuck between a rock and a hard place,and had to figure out the best decision for his survival.It was a race against time to combat the increasing pressure,and while he emerged unscathed,the hasty exit spurred him to make diving relatively safer. The answer was to ultimately make a diving watch,as timing was essentially what he needed.But how would it work? How would it look? The ones worn by everyday gentlemen weren’t much inspiration—slim dress watches with their dainty cases and flimsy leather straps couldn’t survive the deep cold waters.Not to mention the small dials and lack of illumination that were guaranteed lost causes. So Fiechter took to the drawing board and developed several details for the ideal dive watch.This included formulations of a new caseback design and crown winding system which he had both patented.He also added luminosity and a bezel design so clever that it still retains its overall function today.
Fifty Fathoms “No Rad”
While it was the French Navy divers who first sported Blancpain’s diving watches,it was the German frogmen that were first issued the timepiece with a“No Radiations”-stamped dial in the Fifty Fathoms RPG 1,which ismorecolloquiallyknownas“BUNDNoRad”. Today,the reissued model preserves the important details.Save for the updated crown guard,the lumed patina (made faux through colored SuperLuminova) and sapphire glassbox are exactly how they were.
It is also worth noting that this tribute piece has been downsized to a 40.3mm case,in comparison to the first iteration issued in 2010 that was in a 45mm size. The watch comes with a tropic-styled strap that completes what the watch evoked in the‘60s.The rubber strap sports similar ridged details and punctures akin to those fixed on the early No Rad models.The stainless steel case provides water resistance of up to 300 meters and houses the calibre 1151 self-winding movement.Five hundred units have been made and at the time of writing,all allocated units in Singapore have already been spoken for.That’s cult watch behavior,no less.