Introducing The Blancpain Ref. 5007 Fifty Fathoms, In 38MM

The first Blancpain Fifty Fathoms I can remember seeing and wanting was the 50th Anniversary model, which was launched in 2003 in a 40.3mm steel case, and with, for the first time, a sapphire bezel; I thought it was a spectacularly beautiful watch and like many first loves it set my tastes in stone for the Fifty Fathoms ever after. In subsequent years, the Fifty Fathoms models would proliferate into a dizzying variety of styles, but the basic design has never lost its appeal, though the watch has tended to be on the larger size, with regular production models starting at 42mm in diameter – this is not such an absurd size, either for a dive watch or for the Fifty Fathoms; the first FF model, in the early 1950s, was 41mm in diameter, and a larger diameter for a dive watch is a practical feature as well, assisting as it does in legibility.

History notwithstanding, there has been in recent years an increased demand for a Fifty Fathoms in a smaller case, partly for wearability reasons, and partly because modern tastes have swung back to embrace smaller watches in general. Earlier this month, Blancpain introduced two new Fifty Fathoms watches, in 38mm cases, but they were, so says Blancpain, specifically aimed at the ladies’ watch market – both have mother-of-pearl dials (which is a tough, durable material – if it’s tough enough for an oyster or an abalone, it’s probably tough enough for you, but stereotypes die hard) and one of them was in shades of shocking hot pink that seemed deliberately designed to provoke outrage among tool watch purists.

However, it’s only been a few days since that launch and Blancpain has just announced what dyed-in-the-wool pragmatic dive watch were saying they really wanted – a new 38mm Fifty Fathoms, which will join the 42.3mm and 45mm models in the Fifty Fathoms Automatique family. The new ref. 5007 38mm watches are available in steel, grade 23 titanium (a highly corrosion resistant and high strength titanium alloy, which is the most common one used for medical implants, just in case your FF starts to grow on you, hahahahaha) and 18K red gold. Sunburst blue and black are your only dial choices.