Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 1 Series II 5010B-1130-NABA Blancpain Watch Review

Hi, this is Tim of The 1916 Company. Welcome and thanks for logging on. If you love this watch, email me, Tim Aosso, at the1916company.com for purchase pricing and availability questions regarding this watch. Today, we discuss the latest Blancpain 50 Fathoms. This is the 5010 reference launched in 2024. 42.3 millimeters in diameter in grade 2-3 titanium. More on that in a moment. The watch measures 14.6 millimeters thick for measuring just the case lug to lug, 48.5 millimeters, 53.2 from end link to end link. That's the total distance across the wrist with a quirky 21.5 millimeter spacing between the lugs and the use of hex screws and bars to fix the bracelet to the case a more expensive way than spring bars, but also more premium and secure. I'm happy to see it. Taking a look at the clasp now, it's a twin trigger release and a double fold, so both triggers have to be pressed to open it up. It can't fly open inadvertently. Throw it on the wrist. My wrist is 16 centimeters circumference. I think this wears beautifully. I would say that it wears great on a 16 centimeter circumference wrist, maybe even 15, but I'll let you be the judge of that. There's your cuff shot for the sleeve. Here's your down the barrel, which shows you that the lugs are inboard of the edge of my wrist, and then here's the over the top, which tends to exaggerate the width of the watch across the wrist. So, grade 23 titanium, very similar to grade 5. Grade 5 is 6-4, so it's 6% aluminum, 4% vanadium. I believe that with grade 23, the percentage of vanadium goes down, and what happens is that it makes it more corrosion resistant, which is why, among other things, it's used as the preferred grade for medical inserts. It's also less bioreactive for that reason. So, grade 23, basically just as hard and resilient as grade 5, but even just a little bit less to react with body fluids, oils on the skin, and less likely to form an oxide layer. So, taking a look at the bracelet, it's a lot like the X71. You can see the interlink of the components creates very little lateral play, a little bit like the Chopard Alpine Eagle. This is one of the tightest bracelets I've encountered, which is not to say it's stiff. It feels great. It moves perfectly in this dimension, just not in this dimension, which is exactly how you want it to be resilient. Every single link you can see on the underside is removable. The countersink design making it very solid, but you can see that there are gaps between the center links, so it will ventilate well on a hot day. Taking a look, we have a Blancpain logo, and then a reminder that once upon a time, Blancpain was founded in 1735, though the modern company was re-established in the 80s under Jean-Claude Buvert. We have the characteristic modern 50 Fathoms case design, and so we've got the name and profile, but we have a satin finish. I think one lesson Blancpain learned from the previous 5015 reference is that muted satin finishes work well on really big watches. We have a sharp, fine knurling. You can see it's brushed outboard, but then media blasted inside. 120 click with a very positive feel and sound. Line up the bezel index with the hybrid broadsword syringe style minute hand, and you can see the benefit of having a sapphire bezel cap, which is that the whole bezel can be loomed. So it's much easier to read than a simple bezel pearl, which forces you to kind of do dead reckoning. Here you can read every single five minute increment and even the first 15 minutes individually. You'll also notice one of the reasons why they don't replace an index or numeral on this watch with the date window is that you get all of the indices and numerals when it is dark, making it easier to form a reference point. And the second hand is loomed, which should be a rule on dive watches, but for some reason isn't universal. You can also see the sapphire cap, which has been a feature of the 50 Fathoms since the 2003 50th anniversary model. It is cambered. So it looks much more expensive than the simply flat sapphires on watches from IWC, Bremont, and Grand Seiko over the years. The dial does feature a little date and there is a quick set for that date, but Blancpain now notes that there is a secured mechanism in the caliber. So it won't allow you to damage it by trying to use the quick set at night. Here you can see the quick set in action and here you can see hacking seconds where the seconds hand stops. Turn it all over and you can see a rotor that's designed to echo that used on the original 50 Fathoms, which was launched in the 1950s. It's made of 18 karat gold, but it's both blackened and natural tone. We have a combination of media blast satin and then on the edge mirror beveling. It looks great. Automatic winding, three barrels, 120 hour power reserve, four hertz beat rate, six position adjustment, 35 joules. It features a free sprung balance for shock resistance and precise adjustment and an anti-magnetic silicon hairspring. Though the finishing is mechanically applied by a high-tech process, this applied finish, as you can see, creates very convincing broad rounded and mirrored bevels, which I adore. And I also like the beveling within the jewel and screw sinks, the polishing of the screw heads and the snailing across the bridges. It's a very different look than Cote de Genève. And in my opinion, it's more suited to this utilitarian style watch. You can also see solarization of the ratchet wheel atop the barrel, which I absolutely adore. And again, those bevels are just so impressive. Six position adjustment is one more than a standard chronometer, which is five. And these watches are well-known to run to better than one second per day. 300 meters water resistant, and I know 300 is not a thousand. Just press the I believe button, everyone does it. But this really is my favorite family of dive watches. Reach out to Tim also at the1916company.com for purchase and pricing details.