How could you possibly follow up the storm caused by the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch collaboration in 2022? Easy, find another premium timepiece maker and put a spin on a dive watch legend. That’s exactly how Swatch planned its next move with the most anticipated watch launch of the year. This time, Swatch has got in bed with Blancpain for a refresh to the Fifty Fathoms timepiece.
Teasing for the latest product line involved images of water to elude to the potential collaborator. Blancpain – maker of the Fifty Fathoms, commissioned by an elite team of French frogmen in the 1950s and regarded as the first modern dive watch, seemed the perfect fit to bring high end diving timepieces to the mainstream. Given an entry-level Fifty Fathoms will set you back £13,500, a £300 plastic version would surely prove a hit, right?
The magic formula has worked again and the Swatch x Blancpain Fifty Fathoms has yielded five new watches in this collaboration to echo the set of 11 collectable MoonSwatches. These five new watches take its naming convention from the five mighty seas:
- The Indian Ocean (green Bioceramic case and crown)
- The Atlantic Ocean (blue Bioceramic case and crown)
- The Pacific Ocean (yellow-orange Bioceramic case and crown)
- The Arctic Ocean (beige Bioceramic case and crown)
- The Antarctic Ocean (ice white Bioceramic case and crown)
Indian Ocean 
Atlantic Ocean 
Pacific Ocean 
Artic Ocean 
Antarctic Ocean
You’d be forgiven for assuming that all Swatches – including the MoonSwatch – are typically quartz (battery) powered. However a decade ago in 2013 Swatch introduced an automatic watch collection with mechanical movements – the Sistem51. The new Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty Fathoms is powered by a Sistem51 mechanical movement that is water resistant to 91 metres, 300 feet or 50 fathoms. It is also made from bioceramic materials and all the watches are 42.3mm in diameter, 14.4mm thick and come presented on a NATO-style strap.
The collection is non-limited – except by hyped-up demand – and is available worldwide via selected Swatch stores now, priced at RRP £340.
