We’re out of oceans, but that hasn’t stopped Blancpain and Swatch from releasing a new Swifty-Fathoms. The original Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty collection debuted in early September, with a lineup of five bioceramic timepieces that riff off the lauded Swiss manufacture’s legendary dive watch design.
You’ll also enjoy:
The Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty Fathoms Has Arrived
The 13 Best Field Watches Are Ruggedly Charming
The Useless Profundity Of A Moonphase Watch
The initial release comprised five watches; one for each ocean on Earth. And despite a dearth of remaining oceans on our home planet, that hasn’t dampened Swatch and Blancpain’s plans, with the latest release looking to la luna. The new all-black Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty Ocean of Storms nods to the Oceanus Procellarum (Latin for ‘Ocean of Storms’), a vast lunar mare (or ‘sea’ of sorts) that occupies over 10% of the surface of the moon. Despite its moniker, the Oceanus Procellarum is not actually an ocean, rather a basaltic plain formed by lava.
While we’ll take the ostensible oceanic inspiration, the latest release seems to tap into consumer desire for a Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty that has a more direct visual link to its muse, the Blancpain Fifty-Fathoms. Where the original five watches were dressed in bold colourways (think yellow, blue, orange, cream, and green), making their Swatchified nature evident, the Scuba Fifty Ocean of Storms is essentially a bioceramic Fifty-Fathoms.
In addition to the black bioceramic case and bezel, the Ocean of Storms receives an upgraded dial, swapping the subtle fumé gradient of the initial releases for an elegant sunburst black dial; reflecting contemporary Fifty-Fathoms which feature the same effect. Hands and hour numerals and indices are in white, while the depth rating and the tip of the seconds hand feature orange accents. Overall, the dial layout takes on a contemporary tone, with three, six, nine, and 12 applied Arabic numerals and triangular hour indices, with the current Blancpain logo at top (some previous models used a vintage logo).
Like its stablemates, the Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty Ocean of Storms is presented on a striped NATO strap, this time a two-tone black-and-white version.
And if you were missing the nudibranchs of the former variants, fear not; despite the not-actually-an-ocean Ocean of Storms not technically playing host to any sea slugs, the timepiece has been given one anyway. The Okenia Luna sits atop the rotor of the Swatch-produced SISTEM51 movement.
The non-limited Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty Ocean of Storms is priced at $655AUD and is available in select Swatch physical stores.
Enjoyed this article? Check out our Ultimate Guide To Watches here; covering everything from the types of watch movements to watch styles and complications.
Words by Henry Blake
