Being a BP fan is falling in love with the back catalog/history and then spending each year being disappointed that corporate doesn't release the watch the literally every BP fan wants (40.5mm, no engraving on the side, no date option) as the basic 50 Fathoms model.

Can’t believe they haven’t released a regular edition Fifty Fathoms in 39-40mm yet.

After calling 60 “young” Christian is definitely my favorite “20 something old soul”. I’m the one that spent his 60th birthday in Barcelona wearing my “new” omega from 1950. Thanks again Christian!

We all love Rolex, omega, etc. Simply place a Blancpain fifty fathoms in your right hand any other in left, place them close together and look close at the entire watch, then loop them. The fifty fathoms will be far superior in ever way. The first dive watch and the king of all divers.

Funnily enough I am walking into an AD to buy an FF this week. Possibly the only guy in Europe doing that this week but it is happening.

I have a Bathyscaphe Flyback Chrono Diver. I traded a 41 Sub for it at the peak of the market and made some money. I wanted a cool, tough, luxury stealth watch. I have it on bracelet (looks like a tank tread), and the sail cloth strap and BP nato. This video has gotten me fired up about it again. Thanks!

Blancpain is a high horology brand that is at least one tier above Rolecks, which is essentially a mass produced, tool watch company (well recognized, yes, but overhyped). The level of Fifty Fathoms’ finishing, movement specs, history and class can never be beaten by the sub. Even the Bathyscaphe is better watch than the subs.

Blanpain is so underrated, it has so much history and its such an icon. Mr Biver saw its potential

Such a versatile jacket? Such a versatile Michael!!! Little sidebars showing your extensive knowledge of other topics, like clothes and textiles, adds so much depth to these older episodes! I’m now going back through your video roll to watch any videos I’ve missed over the years with Michael! Kudos!

The last time I was in a Blancpain AD I was in Las Vegas. I love the blue face with the blue sapphire bessel.

BP is tragically mismanaged, especially the Fifty Fathoms. I was at an AD a few weeks ago and absolutely nothing in the BP case appealed to me. I was thinking maybe it appeals to an older buyer? Keep in mind I'm GenX saying that, so I'm not all that young. Thanks for bringing up this topic. If only BP seemed to care.

I love my Blancpain FF Bathyscaphe ceramic in blue! It runs for 6 days (specs say 5 days) and is one of my most precise watches too l, better than my Rolex. It's a spectacular watch.

Christian and Michael: no one watching this will ever buy a Blancpain 50 Me: on my way to buy my first BP

I love my Blancpain FF, with the cost of a gray market Rolex sub, it was actually cheaper to buy the FF!

Blancpain - brilliant watches made by a company more interested in watchmaking than marketing. For enthusiasts, by enthusiasts.The FF is the ultimate diver - a Patek level watch, for secondary Rolex money. If they dropped the price/quality of their watches, they'd encroach on Omega - it's Omega's job to mass-produce and compete with Rolex. Blancpain sits in that high-end JLC to Patek level. As for the 45mm FF, it wears small - more like a 43mm.

I hate to admit it but the clickbait titles featuring Rolex without featuring other brand works. It always goes back to the crown, doesn't it?

Blanpain, Rolex, and Zodiac were the original dive watches as we know them. It's interesting that back then the Zodiac was about the same price as Rolex. Same with Blanpain. How things have changed! Squale made cases for BP. Those are cool affordable watches with loads of heritage. Glycine came out with the original GMT. Another affordable, quality watch with tons of history.

Blancpain FF won the US Navy trials where the Submariner was found to fail the reliability standard! And I will buy one, I love it. But agree with your take on the fact that they could take on Rolex directly but don’t, and that’s a shame. I disagree that BP needs investment in the technology department because they are one of the best movement makers in the Swatch catalogue. Omega used Blancpain to help develop the insane new movement on the Speedmaster Chime. Omega is no slouch in the movement world, but they needed BP to get that complicated.

Many brands beat Rolex. All the ones you can actually buy at retail or less.

Blancpain has been on my radar for years because of the awesome styling, heritage, and stealth mentioned here. But no, I could buy one tomorrow and every day I choose not to because it doesn’t do enough for me in any dimension moreso than many other watches I might get. But hey, maybe when I’m 60.

These watches are incredible. Maybe someday blancpain will come around to some of these ideas.

Love Blancpain. I'm really considering the BP Trilogy FF. The red headed step child of the line could use some love.

In Los Angeles I have seen multiple blankpain billboards in west LA.

What do you guys think about Sinn? :) especially the 556i and the 104? :)

EVERYTHING beats rolex

Another great video. I like BP FF. I think they need to 1/ follow the Breitling Superocean and Longines Heritage Diver playbooks. Market aggressively, offer in a wider variety of colour, strap, and material combos and whilst Breitling and Longines models play in the sub 5k space, position this as the coolest, retro, but obtainable dive watch sun 10k. The connoisseur’s choice. 2/ Then a year or so later, add a limited edition retro Chronograph version (think Rolex Daytona Beach era) and drop the mic. Boom!

Great discussion. Those LE Blancpains were certainly available & gettable when released. And they all sold…but you just never see them in the wild. Or maybe I run in a crowd that’s too basic…😂

I actually sold my vintage Rolex Day-Date (18038 from 1980) about two months ago and bought a brand new Blancpain Fifty-Fathoms with the blue dial and bezel in titanium. It is a stunning looking watch I just love the domed bezel and glass on it and the lume is just nuts, at 45mm it is a big watch but it sits so well on the wrist and wears a lot smaller than a 45mm watch. Since I bought it I have not worn any other watch from my collection i warmly recommend it, and the best thing with it is that you dont see them every day.

Would love to get a blancpain one day

Christian, people who are legitimately classy don't have to constantly remind people that they are classy, have money, etc... You have great taste in watches and are very knowledgeable, so I continue to watch, but the relentless comments about having money are becoming insufferable.

Blancpain is not the only one overtaking Submariner - in 1953 you could buy also the Zodiac Sea Wolf.

The regular Fifty Fathoms is too big. The smaller special releases don't look as good as the regular one. Give me the regular one in 42 or 43 mm.

I tried on a Fifty-Fathoms and loved it. It’s just too damn big for me.

I loved this analysis and couldn’t agree more. Have lusted after a fifty fathoms for years. Can’t pull the trigger because of size, can’t be bothered to play games with a limited edition. So much potential that they are just squandering. Who is in charge over there? He/she should be fired immediately.

The only brand that can beat Rolex is OMEGA. BlancPain is nothing compared to Omega brand. Omega knows how to beat Rolex and their latest offerings show their intention. Not to mention they have been tightening up the supply, like Rolex did.

Why do they limit the 40mm?

No one ever went to take a look at a Fifty Fathoms and some of the other Blancpains? Wrong. It was frankly the brand that drew me into the whole passion for watches back in the 80s and 90s.

Blancpain is a great brand, had they not been out of business for some period of time and revived by Biver and Swatch Group, they've have been the oldest watch maker.. (That honor goes to Vacheron Constantin 1755)...

It would have been great to have a more exhaustive discussion on the BP brand - not just FF. They have such amazing pieces, including the Villerets and Bathyscaphes (which you clearly need to review in more detail).

Simply untrue. The Fifty Fathoms was actually launched in 1955 not in 1953 as is often claimed by Blancpain. In old Swiss Horological Journal editions, there was no mention of a dive watch made by Blancpain, or Rayville S.A. as the company was called in 1953. The first time Rayville S.A. was listed was when they had a small corner display at the Basil Watch Fair in 1955. This was the actual launch of the Fifty Fathoms and there was nothing innovative about it. It was one of many me-too products that followed the introduction of the Rolex Submariner in 1954.

Bonus: Steely Dan reference… That Barakuda tho - Oh My!!

the Entourage ref should have used Martin Landau's character Bob...

Great video but way off on the Fifty Fathoms bracelet, way higher quality and cool factor to Rolex Oyster.

Did you guys stop uploading to your podcasts? i love listening to them at work

All these points for me are reasons to buy Blancpain! For your jacket the perfect watch would be the Blancpain bathyscaphe limited desert edition! KILLER!

came for mikey stayed to hate on christian

The watch companies to beat Rolex is Omega and Invicta

70th anniversary edition is really beautiful, 40mm and no faux patina.

Blancpain = the finest sports watches in the world. I absolutely love my 50F Grande Date. Frankly it's a slight to Blancpain to even compare them to Rolex. That's Omega territory. BP plays in a higher league.

Kind of a spontaneous mention of a Huckberry jacket with all the production details absolutely accidentally known by Michael. Doesn't look like paid advertising at all.

The only company that could beat Rolex but chooses not to. No one can afford of 20k for a limited

Zodiac Seawolf and the 50 fathoms were presented in 1953 Baselwatch fair, rolex submariner came out in 1954 a year after

Blancpain is obviously not even selling as many Fifty Fathoms as they can make. You can easily buy a brand new 45mm Fifty Fathoms for about the same price as RR for a Submariner on the secondary market (like you used to be able to do with the Submariner 7-8 years ago). So some Blancpain dealers are obviously selling well below retail. As for bracelets, the Blancpain X71 puts the Rolex Oyster to shame in terms of quality, but especially for a dive watch is let down by having a butterfly clasp, with no adjustment. But it is an excellent looking bracelet, and on the titanium Fifty Fathoms you can actually remove a link or two to adjust the size faster than you can move a Oyster from one micro adjustment to another-but they need to look at the SeaQ bracelet and make one like that for the Fifty Fathoms. They also need a 40-42mm that is just in the catalog-that one would sell like crazy. And they have the 40mm design already, and now the 42mm (which was the size of the 1953 one) just released in limited edition and sold out in about a minute. And the stupid thing is, I’m sure Blancpain is aware that all the smaller, limited edition ones sell at 50-100% premiums on the secondary market. By the way, the 38mm Bathyscaph Hodinkee is also a killer watch, though with a ceramic bezel. Another that is far better than the catalog version. limited.hodinkee.com/blancpain/

I’ve got a fifty fathoms in titanium Absolutely love it! For watch nerds only.

Great content about Blancpain! I really like the jacket Christian is wearing but have you looked at a Vintage Patagonia Aztec Blanket Lined Canvas before? They came out about the same time Yellowstone became a National Park. LOL

I know that BP is really phenomal watch, but how about Panerai Radiomir?

The BP bracelet is amazing. Forget the “oistah”.

Helson skindiver is the one if you like the original fifty fathoms aesthetic. Not haute horology but the perfect tool watch.

From all the limited edition FF's I think the Hodinkee version is the nicest. I love the cuda but that date window is a travesty against design.

Guys, they just launched a 70 year LE.

A 40-42mm non limited one on bracelet and I am a buyer, even happy to pay a premium over Rolex and then loose money 😅

No BP MILSPEC in the review? Its the only recent limited edition with added functionality of a moisture indicator. One caveat to all the recent limited editions, including all the BPs you mentioned and the MILSPEC...no hacking in the movement. Kinda disappointing for a dive / tool watch.

If by “beat” you mean timing, as in beat it to market, fair enough. However, if you include “defeat” in the definition of “beat”, like in a head-to-head competition, Omega famously beat Rolex (the Cosmograph/Daytona anyway) in the 1965 NASA procurement for a watch flight certified for all manned space missions and transformed the Speedmaster into the Moonwatch. I know you guys and all your subscribers know why the Speedmaster is called the Moonwatch. Just to go inside baseball for a minute, the extensive test criteria included temperature, pure oxygen atmosphere, shock, humidity, acceleration, decompression, high pressure, vibration and acoustic noise. During the procurement testing, the Rolex stopped running twice during the humidity test and then failed during the first high temperature test, resulting in its elimination from further testing. I’m not anti-Rolex btw - both my wife and I own Rolex and love them. As an aside, thank you Christian for saying a 60-year old is still young - you made my day!

Love the FF, especially in the 40mm limited ranges. But $20k plus? No thanks, there's plenty of other more appealing options in that price range.

I just bought a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, for real. I agree with a lot of both of your comments. Good episode.

With regards to Blancpain, Rolex also doesn't have a minute repeater within which erotic automata bang out the time...

Blancpain, Zenith and especially IWC need to slim down their cases to at least 12mm if they want to compete with Rolex and focus on 38-40mm market.

what size is Christians Rancher jacket ? How tall /heavy is he (hope this is not to inappropriate of a question 😅)

And I'm watching you guys, and I will buy a BP 50!!!

What do you think about vintage Dogma prima? I love it! And they are not expensive

You only lose money on watches if you sell them. Think about that. If it's not a business to you then maybe it doesn't really matter.

Make your point

I have a Chinese made San Martin "vintage GMT" with a sapphire bezel to look like Bakelight, and it's so beautiful. Sorry

It's hip to be square 🎧🎶

They just need to change the size that’s it. Just back 40mm regularly it’s not that hard it’s common sense

I hereby nominate Christian for head of marketing for Blancpain.

Love my FF titanium, gets more wrist time than any of my Rolex.

exactly!

The clothing plug is cringe

My yacht watch would be the ceramic seamaster 300m

The comments about the stealth nature of a WG or Plat Rolex -- dead on. And really, that weight on your wrist is a constant reminder. We do it for us, not others.

Blancpain is not Blongparn it's more Blongpan, if you don't mind me saying so.

You’re wrong, I’m watching this and I would defo by a BP ❤

I love the barracuda!!! Has anyone won the giveaway? What happened to that ??

One of these days, y’all should switch spots and sit on opposite sides just to throw people off

That domed bezel is gorgeaus. I'm so not into the Submariner look every other "diving" watch has and the fifty fathoms has a fantastic design.

I once enjoyed watching your videos, somehow that changed. Rolex, Clicks, Rolex, Clicks…..if that’s what you’re looking for, keep on going get the masses an loose those who don’t like that way 🤷🏻‍♂️

Cool watch Michael!!!!

I go down to my local dingy club with my plancbain ⌚️

No permanent 40mm diver still

You say no one watching this will buy a fifty fathoms and maybe you’re right (or maybe someone else in the comments has already made you wrong here) but I have long loved the 44mm blue titanium model and plan to upgrade my Seamaster to that down the line. Maybe when I get to that point, I’ll have other watch ideas to spend the money on. But for most of my watch journey I’ve thought that would be a rad daily wear (though, admittedly, I’ve always thought the same about the GMT Master II because I’d actually use that complication so maybe Rolex will win me as well)

Beavis & Butthead - love'm since the 90ties..

Guys, doesn’t matter that the facts are; its a better watch than a Sub. They’re still just a tool watch, and therefore too expensive . These things get to Sub prices plus 10%, all the reasons to buy one click into place.

Would have helped to see one on a wrist. I find the photo ugly, and not in a charming ugly way. Often things don't photograph well so maybe my mind's just not making the leap. As you say, the bezel is three dimensional and reminds one of bakelite. That sounds great, but I'm not feeling the vibe from a still image.

Good convo! ❤

Great episode

How come you guys never talk about Glashutte ?

I want to love Blancpain. Their history means nothing to me though, as the current day BP is just investors who bought a name and are recycling it. I do like their designs though in 40mm, but their insistence on offering them only as small run LE's is a huge turn-off to me. At retail they are a very limited value prop (no bracelet and painted dial for 50% more than a Sub???), then at aftermarket prices there is absolutely zero incentive to buy. Unfortunately I don't anticipate their business model to change, which is sad.

Always with the size already! 🙄 What’s a couple of millimetres between friends? 😆😂🤣

Agreed, I love the 50. Stealth wealth, those who know, will know.