The BlancPain X Swatch Collaboration
Another collaboration from the Swatch Group…This time its between Swatch and BlancPain. Its all about the oceans and colours!
When Swatch did a collaboration with Omega and released the MoonSwatch, it created one of the most polarising moments in the watch world, but it also brought a lot of new watchbies into the watch world. Fast forward to 9th September 2023 and Swatch released another collaboration, this time with BlancPain, specifically focusing on the Fifty Fathoms model.
This time, the models come in five iterations each representing the different oceans namely Artic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and Antarctic Ocean. While the case is bioceramic, the watch is definitely comes with a better build quality considering this can be used up to 50 fathoms (300ft). It comes with a case diameter of 42.3mm, thickness of 14.4mm and lug-to-lug distance of 48mm. It also has a unidirectional bezel and the dials come with colour variations in line with the oceans that they represent. The hands and hour-markers come with Grade A Super Luminova and finally, the watch is finished off with a NATO strap made out recycled fishing nets.
The different colours are beige (Artic Ocean), yellow orange (Pacific Ocean), blue (Atlantic Ocean), green (Indian Ocean) and ice white (Antarctic Ocean). The watch is priced at 400 USD and while this may seem a bit steep, this seems to be a much better watch compared to the previous collaboration and of course, it comes with the Swatch Sistem51 automatic movement as well as diving capability. Still, I would ask if you would go for it? For me, yes, I would, this is fun and something different to add to my collection. My choices would be the Indian Ocean which is sentimental for me as I have spent a lot of my childhood swimming in those waters, and Pacific Ocean which is connected to Australia where I spent the important years of my adulthood.
