Join HSNY on Monday, October 1, 2018 for a lecture on Fifty Fathoms: The Conception and Evolution of the Modern Diving Watch, by Jeffrey Kingston, Author & Lecturer for Blancpain Watches.
Jeffrey Kingston
Today, many take diving watches for granted. Perhaps this is because few are actually used for diving. Conference room wear is the modern norm.
But in the aftermath of World War II, things were different. The experience of the war set many of the world’s militaries on the path of developing combat diving corps. At the same time there were a miniscule number of amateur diving clubs that came into being giving birth to the notion of sport diving. Both groups had common cause for much of their equipment. Prominent on the list was a timing instrument to keep track of elapsed time underwater.
In sharp contrast with other types of watches that followed designs and conventions developed over two centuries, as the decade of the 1950’s began, there was no precedent to follow for the construction of dive watch. The creation of a dive watch would be a white sheet of paper project.
This lecture will follow the inspired story of Jean-Jacques Fiechter, then CEO of Blancpain and a passionate diver, on his development of the Fifty Fathoms and his innovations that made the watch a reality. The history will include the chapters involving the French, the German, and the US Navy.
Read the full story here!