Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa Review

For the majority of my twenty plus years of being a watch collector as well as being in the industry, when I thought about Blancpain I thought about highly complicated and classic watches. My early introductions to the brand were through dress watches housing minute repeaters, tourbillons or both. Since these watches were far too expensive for twenty something year old me to afford and weren't exactly my preferred design aesthetic I just admired them from afar. I really had no idea at the time that Blancpain had a collection in its history that would go on to become one of my favorites decades later.

My knowledge of Blancpain prior to starting Hourstriker was through my hands on experience with the brands dressy and complicated pieces. One major personal benefit of starting Hourstriker was that I started to learn about new brands I hadn't been exposed to in my previous career in the watch industry. Even the brands I thought I knew like Blancpain I started to learn much more about while setting up the site. For Blancpain I became much more aware of the Fifty Fathoms, I name I had always known, but for the most part didn't think much about.



As I started doing more research on the brand and putting out articles on new Fifty Fathoms releases I started to become obsessed with the collection and knew I had to own one. While the current Fifty Fathoms 5015 is an excellent watch and even a great size at 45 mm, I always tend to gravitate to more fringe models and focused my obsession on the limited of 500 pieces 500 Fathoms. The Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms took the 5015 and dialed it up a notch with 1,000 meters of water resistance, a 48 mm titanium case and a hand finished gold winding rotor in the shape of a propeller, bubbles and all. After a few months I was able to locate my perfect 500 Fathoms and have loved the watch since.

If there was a current model in the Fifty Fathoms catalog that interested me as much as the 500 Fathoms it would be the 70th Anniversary Act 2 Tech Gombessa (called Tech Gombessa from here forward). The Tech Gombessa is the first Fifth Fathoms model in the Tech range and was designed for a very specific dive related need. Before we get more into that watch, let's first go over the history of Blancpain as well as the Fifty Fathoms.

Blancpain actually has the distinction of being the world's oldest registered watch brand. In 1735 in the Swiss village of Villeret, Jehan-Jacques Blancpain registered himself as a watchmaker. This served as the founding of Blancpain as a brand. Not too much is known about Blancpain at that time and the next major milestone occured in 1815 when Frederic-Louis Blancpain, the great grandson of the Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, modernizes the original workshop. One of Blancpain's earliest achievements was introducing a cylinder escapement that allowed for the creation of ultra-thin timepieces. By 1830 the company was run by Frederic-Emile Blancpain and had become one of the major watch manufacturers in the region. At this time the company was renamed to "Fabrique d'horlogerie Emile Blancpain".



For nearly 200 years Blancpain was a family owned business, until 1932 when Frederic-Emile Blancpain, the 7th generation to run the brand, passed away. When his daughter did not wish to run the family business and continue with watchmaking, the company was passed to Frederic-Emile's longtime assistant Betty Fiechter. Fiechter taking over Blancpain was monumental at the time with it meaning she was the first female CEO of a major watchmaking company. Swiss law required the name of the company to be changed as well, with the company being renamed to "Rayville S.A., succ. De Blancpain". Rayville was a phonetic anagram of Villeret and a name we will see pop up again rather soon.

At this point we need to take a break from the history of Blancpain and go more into detail about the creation of the Fifty Fathoms collection of dive watches. For a complete history of the Fifty Fathoms you can read our in-depth article about the Fifty Fathoms.

In 1950, Betty's nephew, Jean-Jacques Fiechter, joined the company and ended up co-managing Blancpain with her. Jean-Jacques was also an avid and passionate diver. With the development of the Aqua-Lung by Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan in 1943, recreational diving had quickly become a huge pastime. Interest in diving exploded even more in the 1950s with the release of Cousteau's documentaries and books like The Silent World. While there were waterproof watches at this time, there were not proper dive watches like we're so accustomed to today.



The dive watch would actually be created not for the recreational diver, but rather the military. In the early 1950s, the French combat diving corps, led by Captain Bob Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud, were in need of a reliable timer for their elite underwater missions. The timepiece needed to meet a few criteria, mainly being fully water resistant, be robust enough for the most extreme conditions, have a large legible dial and also have a rotating bezel to track dive time. Fiechter immediately understood the requirements and led the development of what would turn out to be the world's first dive watch.

The watch created by Blancpain and the French Navy was released in 1953 as the Fifty Fathoms. The name came from the impressive 50 fathoms (or 91 meters / 300 feet) water resistance rating. Innovations found in the Fifty Fathoms included a double O-ring gasket for enhanced water resistance, allowing the watch to be used in the deep sea. The bezel of the Fifty Fathoms only rotated in one direction meaning that extra time could not be mistakenly added to the dive time which could turn out to be fatal for a diver. Legibility was key on the watch which featured a black dial with large radium coated markers that glowed brightly in the darkness. The automatic movement ensured that the watch never needed to be wound if worn frequently and hacking / stop seconds allowed precise synchronization of dives. Finally the integrated soft iron case shielded the movement from magnetism.

With the success of the Fifty Fathoms development and testing, the French Navy soon adopted the watch as their special issue dive watch. This caught the attention of the US Navy who were also looking for a watch that they could use for special naval missions. The US Navy had not yet found a watch that met all of its criteria and the Fifty Fathoms met all of them except one. US legislation required that all military issued devices be manufactured in America. The Fifty Fathoms was of course produced in Switzerland, but Blancpain's smart US distributor Allen V. Tornek, found a loophole where he combined his last name with Blancpain's phonetic anagram of Rayville to form American based Tornek Rayville who could now supply the Navy with Fifty Fathoms.



Since these watches were not issued to a diver, but rather issued per mission, divers had no idea of the condition of the watch prior to receiving it. To make sure the watch was water tight, a moisture sensing disk was added to the dial that would change color from light blue or white to red if the case was compromised and water had leaked in. These versions of the Fifty Fathoms were later labeled as MIL-SPEC variants and are extremely collectable today.

Besides being successful with various militaries throughout the world, the public demand for the Fifty Fathoms was also reaching fever pitch. The original Fifty Fathoms needed to be adjusted to meet the changing perceptions of the 1950s. At the time the world was starting to get very concerned with radiation, and the Fifty Fathoms depended on radioactive radium for its luminous properties. Blancpain knew it had to replace the radium and found a solution in the radioactive isotope of Hydrogen, tritium. While tritium was still radioactive, it was a fraction as dangerous to humans as radium. When the switch to tritium was made, retail versions of the Fifty Fathoms replaced the MIL-SPECs moisture detection disk with a "No Radiation" symbol telling the public that the watch was radiation free. These models would go on to be known as "No Rad" Fifty Fathoms.

The next major change to the Fifty Fathoms line came with the introduction of the co-branded Aqua Lung which came out in the late 1950s. Blancpain added the Aqua Lung logo to the dial of the Fifty Fathoms and also increased the depth rating of the watch to an amazing 1,000 feet, which was also printed on the dial. The Aqua Lung was only produced for the American market as well.



As the Fifty Fathoms evolved it grew in size to a now large for the time 41 mm. While this size was just fine for a dive watch, if not even preferred for legibility, it wore a little large to be an everyday watch. To address this concern, Blancpain developed the Bathyscaphe line of Fifty Fathoms that fell between 35 to 38 mm. These watches could casually be worn every day, but also boasted the high water resistance, rugged cases and rotating dive bezels the full Fifty Fathoms was known for.

The 1960s and 70s were still a time of innovation for the Bathyscaphe line, but as the quartz crisis started to take its grip of the Swiss watch industry, the Fifty Fathoms would become dormant. In 1961 Blancpain became part of the Societe Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogere (SSIH) with Omega, Tissot and Lemania. While Blancpain would still produce its own watches, the brand also became the main movement producer for the group.

The groundwork for the Blancpain we know today started in 1982 when Jacques Piguet and Jean-Claude Biver purchased the Blancpain name. Piguet and his family had been associated with high watchmaking since 1859. Based in the Vallee de Joux, the Piguet family was synonymous with creating extremely highly complicated movements. Biver had just finished successful stints at Audemars Piguet and Omega before returning to the Vallee de Joux to head Blancpain. The two revived the brand with the slogan "Since 1735, there has never been a quartz Blancpain watch. And there never will be."



This was a strong stance against the ever powerful quartz market and showed the commitment Blancpain had to building mechanical timepieces. The brand would focus mostly on higher end complicated watchmaking releasing complications like the perpetual calendar, split seconds chronograph, ultra-thin movement, minute repeater and tourbillon. Since quartz watches were superior to mechanical watches in pure accuracy, Blancpain decided instead to focus on the artistic beauty and skill required to produce these complications. A cornerstone of Blancpain during this era became the Villeret collection of classic and timeless watches.

Ten short years later, Blancpain was acquired by the Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watchmaking Industries (SMH) which would later be known as the Swatch Group. At the time of acquisition, SMH was headed by CEO Nicolas Hayek. In the late 1990s Blancpain took their first step into reviving the Fifty Fathoms with the release of the Trilogy series. The three watches represented Sea (Fifty Fathoms), Earth (GMT 24) and Sky (Air Command). The reference 2200 and 2250 were the first time in decades that the Fifty Fathoms name was used on the dial of a Blancpain watch. These watches were produced from 1997 until 2003 when the Fifty Fathoms 50th Anniversary ended the production of the Trilogy collection.

By this point Marc A. Hayek had become CEO of Blancpain in 2002. Five years after taking over at Blancpain, Hayek released the modern Fifty Fathoms in reference 5015 in 2007. The 5015 boasted a large 45 mm case that was wearable due to its short lugs. The watch also boasted a stunning and scratch-proof curved sapphire bezel insert. The bezel was extremely hard to produce and made the Fifty Fathoms look much different than watches with ceramic or aluminum bezel inserts. Finally the watch was fitted with the in-house Calibre 1315 automatic movement with a full 120 hours of power reserve. The 5015 has served as the basis for all modern Fifty Fathoms such as the watch we're going to be looking at today.



Before we get into that watch, let's take a look its development first. Just like in the 1950s when Jean-Jacques Fiechter was CEO of Blancpain, once again an accomplished technical diver in Marc A. Hayek was running the brand. When Fiechter was approached by the French Navy to solve the issues around safely timing dives, the solution ended being the iconic Fifty Fathoms. A lot has changed in the world of professional diving since the first SCUBA systems were invented many decades ago though.

In the decades following the Second World War militaries began experimenting with rebreathers and saturation diving. While traditional SCUBA diving has a limit of around 45 to 60 minutes per dive due to air consumption, diving with a rebreather can extend that time by multiples. Basically a rebreather collects your breath when you exhale that contains both dangerous carbon dioxide as well as a lot of usable oxygen. The rebreather then scrubs the carbon dioxide out and adds a tiny bit of fresh oxygen back to the left over "used" oxygen. You can then breathe in the perfectly breathable recycled gas. This loop is incredibly efficient and can allow divers to stay underwater for many hours at a time.

In the 1990s, AP Diving brought their "Inspiration" rebreather to the recreational dive market. This opened rebreather diving up to civilian and non-military professional divers. While divers will typically use a dive computer on serious dives, many still like to wear a watch as a trusted backup device to time their dives. With rebreather diving now allowing divers to stay underwater for hours at a time, the traditional 60 minute dive time bezel was no longer functional. Together with renowned diver, photographer and biologist Laurent Ballesta, Marc. A. Hayek set out to address the lack of functionality watches had when it came to long closed circuit dives.



The solution was to create a Fifty Fathoms that has a uni-directional rotating bezel that instead of being marked with a 60 minute scale was instead setup to time up to three hours. In addition to the new bezel, the watch was also fitted with a fourth hand that completes a full rotation of the dial once every three hours. The added hand required Blancpain to rework the 1315 movement found in the core Fifty Fathoms collection and the result was the new caliber 13P8. The 13P8 retains the same automatic winding and 120 hour of power reserve as the 1315, but now had the added complication of the three hour hand.

For the name of the watch, Blancpain decided to honor Ballesta's Gombessa Expeditions which has been studying the world's most rare and elusive marine creatures. Blancpain has been a partner with Ballesta and the Gombessa Expeditions since 2013. The release of this new Fifty Fathoms also happened to fall on the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, so the full name of the new watch was the Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 2 Tech Gombessa. Tech was added to usher in a new and more technically focused range to the Fifty Fathoms line. The Tech Gombessa was the first Tech model, followed by the limited edition Fifty Fathoms Tech BOC IV (Ocean Commitment) and recently a more straight forward catalog piece in the Fifty Fathoms Tech.

Before the final Tech Gombessa was every finalized and produced, prototypes were constantly being tested by Ballesta and his team of professional divers on the Gombessa V and VI missions. During these expeditions, divers would live in cramped saturation chambers for up to 50 days. Daily these divers would dive as deep as 120 meters the whole time wearing watches that would become the Tech Gombessa. This provided unparalleled real world testing of Blancpain's new professional dive watch. After successfully passing these grueling tests, the Tech Gombessa became the official watch of the Gombessa Expeditions. Just like Jean-Jacques Fiechter, Bob Maloubier and Claude Riffaud did over 70 years ago in developing the first dive watch, Marc A. Hayek and Laurent Ballesta created the first dive watch capable of dealing with the needs of modern closed circuit divers in the Tech Gombessa.



Initial Thoughts

Now that I've gone over the history of Blancpain and the Fifty Fathoms as well as the development of the Tech Gombessa, let's now go over my initial thoughts of the watch. When the watch arrived, the first thing I took note of was black dial. Now this would be a slightly odd thing to notice first, but Blancpain finished the dial in "Absolute Black", much like Vantablack, Absolute Black absorbs nearly 97% of ambient light making the dial of the watch seem like a void in person. The bright orange of the hands and hour markers contrast exceptionally well off of this backdrop as well.

The second thing I noticed about the Tech Gombessa during my first time with the watch was its case shape. While my 500 Fathoms and the rest of the Fifty Fathoms collection have a case that is smooth and mostly rounded, the Tech Gombessa's case is full of sharp lines. There really isn't a rounded off corner on the entire case. This design really re-enforces the thought of the Tech Gombessa being a technical and less organic watch.

The final thing that grabbed my attention when I looked over the Tech Gombessa for the first time was the strap system. Once again my 500 Fathoms and other Fifty Fathoms use traditional lugs where the strap is connected to opposing lugs by a screwed in bar. The Tech Gombessa on the other hand has one central lug that the strap fits over and then is secured to the case via two screws on the underside of the lug. This creates somewhat of a flared look to the straps as opposed to the traditional Fifty Fathoms lugs where the strap can be pulled straight down. This would also end up causing the Tech Gombessa to wear drastically different than my 500 Fathoms.



Technical Specifications

The case of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa is crafted out of grade 23 titanium, also known as grade 5 ELI (extra low interstitials). This is the purest form of titanium available and offers exceptional strength while being extremely lightweight. The case has a diameter of 47 mm and when measured from the end of one central lug to the other, a lug to lug length of 53.2 mm. On the rubber strap and titanium pin buckle, the Tech Gombessa weighed in at 124 grams. At its thickest point the watch was 14.8 mm tall.

The Tech Gombessa uses a highly domed and anti-reflective sapphire crystal. Underneath the crystal clear sapphire is the Absolute Black dial we previously mentioned. Around the outside of the dial is the minute track where each minute is represented by a small hash mark printed in orange Super-Luminova which glows green in low light. For the hour markers Blancpain uses a mixture of larger hash marks and Arabic numerals. 12, 3, 6 and 9 are done in numerals with the hour markers are bar shaped. These hour markers are applied and crafted out of a solid block of orange luminous material that glow a matching green to the minute track.

There are four centrally mounted hands on the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa being the hour, minute, seconds and three hour hands. The hour and minute hands are large sword style and filled in with matching orange lume. The seconds hand is slender and tipped with an arrow while the three hour hand has a fence post shaped tip. The tips of the seconds and three hour hands are coated with lume that appears more yellowish green in normally lighting and glow a much brighter green in low light as opposed to the other dial elements.



At 12 o'clock is the Blancpain branding with Fifty Fathoms and Tech found at 6 o'clock. Also at 6 o'clock is the "Swiss Made" designation. Being a professional dive watch, the choice was made to omit the date window from the dial which is present on most other Fifty Fathoms models. The use of an Absolute Black dial and bright orange markers provides perfect contrast and aids in perfect legibility for such a serious dive watch.

Moving on from the dial is the nicely scalloped uni-directional three hour bezel. The only difference between the bezel on the Tech Gombessa and the other Fifty Fathoms models isn't just the three hour scale. There are two other big differences found on the bezel of the Tech Gombessa. First is that Blancpain decided against using the traditional curved sapphire bezel found on modern Fifty Fathoms and instead decided to use a ceramic bezel that is more sharply turned into the dial. This was done since ceramic is seen as a bit higher tech than sapphire and fit the watch better. The other change was that the bezel of the Tech Gombessa needs 180 clicks to make a complete rotation. Typically you see 60 or 120 click bezels, but with the bezel of the Tech Gombessa representing 180 minutes, the bezel action was adjusted to include every settable minute. The bezel of the Tech Gombessa turns with a very satisfying action and produces a nice click with each turn. There is also very little to no back play with the bezel.

The bezel markings start with a diamond used for the starting point. Each 30 minute increment after is marked with Arabic numerals as follows: 30 (minutes), 1 (hour), 1:30 (an hour thirty), 2 (hours) and 2:30 (two hours thirty). Fifteen minute intervals are marked with longer hash marks and each 5 minute interval has a shorter hash mark. The bezel markers have been coated in matching lume to the seconds and three hour hands, which is important since those two hands along with the bezel are critical during dives. These elements glow much stronger than the hour markers, hour and minute hands as well as the minute track to better stand out in low light conditions such as diving. The seconds hand being easily visible is paramount to make sure the watch is actually running and the three hour hand and bezel are used to track dive time which is of utmost importance.



Being a professional dive watch, there is not one polished surface to be found on the case of the Tech Gombessa. The entirety of the case is done in brushed and satin finishes. Where modern Fifty Fathoms have rounded organic shaped cases, the Tech Gombessa has a sharp and angled case going along with its Tech name. Looking at the profile of the watch, the case actually looks lugless with the strap coming right out of the side of the case. This of course is because the watch uses central lugs.

On the left hand side of the watch there is "Blancpain" engraved into the side of the case and just above that is the manual helium relief valve. The helium relief valve is topped with an engraving of "He" for helium. With the Tech Gombessa starting life as a tool meant for saturation dives, the helium relief valve is absolutely crucial. While in the hyperbaric chamber helium can seep into the watch and during decompression the sapphire could be dislodged from the internal pressure built up inside of the watch if the helium relief valve was not present.

The right hand side of the watch features a large screw down crown that is also nicely scalloped like the bezel and offers exceptional grip. The crown is topped with the Blancpain logo and aids in the watches 300 meters of water resistance. Some might argue that 300 meters isn't that much when compared to other dive watches that offer much more water resistance. Even my 500 Fathoms comes with 1,000 meters of water resistance. You have to remember that recreational diving stops at anything below 40 meters and even 100 meters is a extremely deep dive only to be attempted by professionals. The expert divers on the Gombessa Expeditions maxed out their dives at 120 meters but also stayed at depths for hours. So 300 meters of water resistance coupled with a three hour timer is more extreme than anything any diver, recreational or professional, will ever experience.



On either side of the crown are large angled crown protectors that cover most of the crown. Once un-screwed the crown allows you to manually wind the automatic movement in the resting position. Since there are no calendar functions on the Tech Gombessa, there is only one additional crown position. Pulling the crown out to position one stops the seconds hand and lets you set the time. The three hour hand is not settable but does rotate when setting the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minutes hand either. Getting the crown to catch to screw back in takes no extra care either.

Flipping the watch over shows off the screwed down case back complete with a large sapphire display window. "Blanpain", "Fifty Fathoms", "Tech" along with the case number are engraved on the case back bezel. Topping the Caliber 13P8 is a media blasted anthracite colored skeletonized winding rotor complete with the Gombessa Expeditions logo. The 13P8 is very similar looking to the 1315 and actually features less components, more than likely due to the lack of a date complication. The movement is finished nicely with the bridges having Geneva stripes and the mainplate showing perlage. The gears and wheels are also finished with snailing and sunray brushing.

The 13P8 beats away at 28,800 vph (4Hz) and has a substantial power reserve of 120 hours. The movement features a silicon balance spring for increased antimagnetic properties, better temperature stability and improved shock resistance. Silicon balance springs are also more precise in their manufacturing providing better accuracy then their metal counterparts. On our timegrapher the 13P8 showed an accuracy of +1 second per day when averaged out over several positions. These results are very accurate and well within chronometer specifications.



As I touched upon earlier, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa uses a central lug for mounting its straps. The watch comes with a black rubber strap that is attached to a titanium pin buckle branded with Fifty Fathoms Tech. The rubber strap has an internal titanium re-enforcement that means the strap will keep its shape and last longer than a traditional rubber strap. The pin on the buckle is rather substantial at over 5 mm wide and gives great confidence than the pin will not fail. The Tech Gombessa also comes with a strap extender which allows the watch to be worn over a dive suit. The strap starts at 30 mm at the lugs and tapers down to 20 at the pin buckle.

One extremely nice bonus of the Tech Gombessa is the branded Peli case the watch comes inside of. This large black case is waterproof and includes a travel case, loupe, the dive extension strap and all documentation. The case also comes with a cutting tool that allows you to reconfigure to case to be used with your dive or camera gear. I really wish more brands would follow suit here and include interesting or useful packaging instead of a generic box.

On The Wrist

During my time with the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa I tried to wear the watch as much as possible, this included running boring everyday errands as well as going out for dinner and drinks. I also wore the watch to the home season opening football game for the Texas Longhorns. This meant that I had substantial wrist time with the watch and was able to compare it nicely with my 500 Fathoms that I am so used to wearing.



Immediately I noticed that the central lug and flared rubber strap made the Tech Gombessa wear dramatically different than the 500 Fathoms. While the 500 Fathoms and Tech Gombessa are only one millimeter different in case diameter and lug to lug length (with the 500 Fathoms being larger) and the 500 Fathoms being just a few grams heavier they wear like completely different watches. The 500 Fathoms wears like a normal watch with the lugs allowing the strap to point straight down and the sailcloth strap and deployant clasp wearing more traditional. The combination of the central lug and re-enforced rubber strap give the Tech Gombessa a strong flare out and formed shape. The way the Tech Gombessa wears reminds me much more of my Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Montoya and I'd imagine most integrated styled watches on a strap for that matter.

This really took me by surprise since in my head the Tech Gombessa and 500 Fathoms were extremely similar to each other dimensions wise. At first the flare to strap made me think that the Tech Gombessa didn't fit my wrist well. I believe this was due to how tight and close to the wrist the 500 Fathoms wears. After wearing the Tech Gombessa for an hour or so this doubt was removed from my head and I found the watch extremely comfortable. The second time I wore the watch was actually to the Longhorn football game which was an all day affair where the watch was on my wrist for over twelve hours. During that time the watch was put through rain as well as mid 90 degree temperatures with high humidity and direct sun. That entire day I never once felt like the watch was becoming a pain on the wrist or felt the need to take the watch off and re-adjust it. I was also able to use the 3 hour hand to time how long we had been at the game. The dive bezel is often used as a timer and having up to 3 hours instead of the typical 60 minutes is actually pretty useful for timing other activities besides diving.

At 47 mm in case diameter and 53.2 mm of lug to lug length the Tech Gombessa is pretty much my ideal watch size. Also being crafted out of lightweight titanium means the watch can be large while not causing wrist fatigue. An interesting thing about modern Fifty Fathoms is that they wear a lot smaller than their case size suggests. My 500 Fathoms is 48 mm just like my IWC Big Pilot Top Gun Perpetual Calendar, but the 500 Fathoms has incredibly short lugs while the Big Pilot has traditional lugs. This means that while both watches are 48 mm, the Big Pilot wears MUCH larger. When Blancpain released their 42 mm Fifty Fathoms, a lot of people were upset since they wanted a 40 mm version. In reality those 42 mm Fifty Fathoms actually wear closer to a 40 mm watch like a sports model Rolex.



This is also the case with the Tech Gombessa. While the case is indeed 47 mm, the watch is essentially lugless with just the center lug, meaning the strap comes right off of the case. If the strap wasn't re-enforced and didn't have a flare to it, the Tech Gombessa would more than likely wear very small for its case diameter. I do actually prefer the flare out of the strap since I feel like watches with less than 50 mm of lug to lug length feel a bit small on my wrist. Wearing a Fifty Fathoms takes a bit of getting used to as well, since the experience is that of wearing a watch that is almost all dial. These watches have a very strong wrist presence and are dial forward.

The look of the Tech Gombessa is all black, grey and orange. This aesthetic goes perfectly with my normal dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. The Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa is a casual wearing watch and that goes perfectly with my lifestyle. The watch served as a great everyday companion and while it never fully disappeared on my wrist, it never became a bother and was super comfortable. The wide strap and titanium case made the watch never feel top heavy either and the watch sat nice and centered on my 7.25" wrist with a 55 mm flat area.

To test the legibility of a watch, I use a simple test where I see how easy it is to tell the time while driving with just a quick glance. In this test dive watches do the best with their high contrast dials and large numerals and hands. Skeletons and complicated pieces tend to not do so well since legibility isn't high on the list of important design details. I did expect the Tech Gombessa to do well in this test and my expectations were met. The Absolute Black dial provided a perfect background to contrast with the large polished hands filled with orange lume. The block orange lume also added nice depth and stood out on the deep black background. The use of four large Arabic numerals also helped to quickly get your bearings when looking at just a glance. The Tech Gombessa really couldn't have been easier to read at a glance than it was. In the dark, the Tech Gombessa also has a ton of lumed elements making low light time telling a breeze.



I did not have a chance to take the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa in the water during my time with the watch. The closest it got to water was being rained on during a football game, which I can report it passed the rain test with flying colors. I did wear the watch out a few times to dinner and drinks and did notice that the watch seemed to get a lot of attention. I'm not sure if I don't notice people looking at my 500 Fathoms since I'm used to the watch and might not be looking out for people looking at it, but there were definitely eyes on the Tech Gombessa. I even had a few people comment on the watch and ask questions about it. That's a pretty rare occurrence, especially for a more traditional watch like a diver. Most people just loved the deep black dial combined with the bright orange hour markers and hands and also got a kick out of the exposed movement. It was fun explaining the story of the Fifty Fathoms and the Tech Gombessa to those that didn't know one or both as well.

Value and Position in the Market

We've now reached the part of the review where we have to talk about price and value of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa. The standard Fifty Fathoms is already at the highest echelon of luxury dive watches currently available. The Tech Gombessa is the pinnacle of the Fifty Fathoms collection and as such has a matching price. The Tech Gombessa retails for $31,500. For that price you're getting a stunning grade 23 titanium case and equally interesting Absolute Black dial with orange block lume hour markers. The Tech Gombessa introduces a new complication in the three hour hand that meets the needs of rebreather divers and is powered by a high horology in-house automatic movement with 120 hours of power reserve. You also get a watch from the oldest watch manufacture and a family member of the first dive watch in the Fifty Fathoms. Now would be a good time to compare the Tech Gombessa to other divers both luxury and more tool centric and see how the watch stands up value wise.

Up first we have the Seamaster Ploprof from Omega which has a 55 x 45 mm case crafted out of stainless steel. The Ploprof debuted in the 1970s and was Omegas answer to the needs of serious divers. The Ploprof features an oversized crown protector as well as a bezel lock system to ensure the diver's safety during dives. The modern Ploprof is powered by an in-house automatic movement with 60 hours of power reserve and has a water resistance rating of 1,200 meters. The Ploprof retails for a bit less than the Tech Gombessa at $15,000.



Next up we have the Deepsea Challenge from Rolex which has a 50 mm case made out of titanium. While the Tech Gombessa was created to fill the need of saturation and rebreather divers, the Deepsea Challenge was created to go to the bottom of the ocean. The Deepsea Challenge boasts an industry leading water resistance of 11,000 meters and is powered by an in-house automatic movement with 70 hours of power reserve. The Deepsea Challenge is only 3 mm larger than the Tech Gombessa when looking at case diameter, but it wears much larger due to its traditional lugs. The Deepsea Challenge comes in a bit less expensive than the Tech Gombessa at $27,600.

Moving on is the Diver Air from Ulysse Nardin which has a 44 mm case crafted out of titanium and carbon. The Diver Air became the lightest weight mechanical dive watch with at least 200 meters of water resistance when it was released. The Diver Air is powered by an in-house automatic movement with 90 hours of power reserve and has 200 meters of water resistance. The Diver Air might not be the most legible dive watch with a fully skeletonized dial, but going that route did save weight. The Diver Air is a bit more expensive than the Tech Gombessa at $38,000.

Finally we have the RM 032 Ultimate Edition from Richard Mille which has a 50 mm case crafted out of titanium and carbon TPT. The RM 032 is probably the most over the top dive watch currently available with its exotic carbon TPT construction, skeletonized dial and flyback chronograph. The watch is powered by an in-house automatic movement with 50 hours of power reserve. The RM 032 like the Tech Gombessa also has 300 meters of water resistance. The RM 032 doesn't really fill any specific need but does represent how far a dive watch can go and has a matching price tag of $250,000.



When dive watches were first created and the Fifty Fathoms and later the Rolex Submariner were introduced they were seen purely as tools to help divers and had prices to match. Over the 70 years since those watches were released, dive watches have evolved into much more. Five and even six figure dive watches are no that uncommon anymore. Blancpain started its new chapter producing highly complicated watches with exceptional finishing, so when the Fifty Fathoms was re-introduce it had to adhere to a high standard in both quality and price. While I personally would love a stripped down more affordable version of the Fifty Fathoms, I also see the value in a top tier version, hence why I own the 500 Fathoms.

Looking at the above four watches you can see how varied dive watches can be. The Ploprof carries the lowest price and is a no-nonsense approach to the diver watch. The Deepsea Challenge throws out the rule book to become the deepest rated mechanical diver while being a tough watch to pull off on the wrist. The Diver Air shows that less can be more and values its lightness over everything else. Finally the RM 032 shows just how far a dive watch can go when price isn't a concern. It's hard to really gauge the value of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa since there really aren't any directly competitors to it. There will also be both less and more expensive options when looking at such a crowded genre as dive watches. For the quality of watch you're getting from Blancpain along with the heritage of the Fifty Fathoms and the novelty of a new complication being introduced, I feel the pricing of the Tech Gombessa is more than fair. For how many dive watches are released each year, it is extremely rare to see one launch with a useful new feature that meets divers' needs. That is exactly what Blancpain was able to do with the Tech Gombessa and its three hour timer and bezel.

Closing Thoughts

So in the end is the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa for me? This is a really weird one for me. Coming into the review and before I had any hands on time with the watch I knew I was going to like it, but thought I would like it at the expensive of my 500 Fathoms. I even had the thought of "Oh I'm going to have to sell my 500 Fathoms to pick up a Tech Gombessa." After spending a good amount of time with the Tech Gombessa I can honestly say that isn't the concern I'm now having.



The 500 Fathoms and Tech Gombessa wear so differently from each other that they really seem like totally different watches on the wrist. The 500 Fathoms is more in line with the rest of the Fifty Fathoms collection, while the Tech Gombessa is its own thing. This means that I really wouldn't want to sell my 500 Fathoms since I wouldn't then have that "traditional" Fifty Fathoms in my collection. That being said I'd love to actually have both in my collection when budget allows.

In this regard I was pleasantly surprised by the Tech Gombessa and can say the watch is totally for me. The watch checks most of the boxes off I have for a personal watch. It's unique, made out of a lightweight high tech material and has an over 50 mm lug to lug length. It also doesn't wear like my 500 Fathoms and they would actually complement each other in my collection. Previously I had two Top Gun pilot's watches from IWC and ended up never wearing the Flyback Chronograph since I much preferred the Perpetual Calendar. Both watches looked and wore the same, so I ended up selling the Flyback Chronograph. Much to my shock this wouldn't be the case with the 500 Fathoms and Tech Gombessa. It's crazy that changing the lug system on the Tech Gombessa can make it feel like such a different watch from a watch I'm so used to that has similar dimensions and overall case design.

Would I then recommend the Tech Gombessa to somebody looking for a high end luxury dive watch? This is also a bit of a tricky question to answer. If somebody is just looking for a luxury diver, I'd probably just suggest they look at the standard 42 or 45 mm Fifty Fathoms. These watches are a lot less expensive than the Tech Gombessa and offer a normal lug system that can accept a wide variety of straps and wear more like a traditional watch. Even the newly introduced Fifty Fathoms Tech series offers a lot of what you'll find on the Tech Gombessa in a smaller 45 mm case with a quick change strap system at a decently lower price. You really can't go wrong with any of those watches. I'd always suggest somebody check out a Fifty Fathoms in person if they're looking at spending five figures on a dive watch. After all Blancpain created the dive watch and in my opinion the modern Fifty Fathoms in the best dive watch option on the market.



Now that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend the Tech Gombessa. Much the opposite, I believe the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa is the best purpose built dive watch currently on the market. Blancpain knew the Tech Gombessa was not going to be their best selling watch but they still produced it. The watch is meant for serious divers who can actually use the three hour dive timer. The watch is large because being large means that legibility is not sacrificed for on wrist aesthetics. I love when a watch is over engineered and torture tested like the Tech Gombessa was by the Gombessa Expedition divers. If somebody looking for a serious dive watch appreciates all that went into the creation of the Tech Gombessa and also the history of the Fifty Fathoms, I think that they would be ecstatic adding one to their collection.

I'd really like to thank the team over at Blancpain for getting a Tech Gombessa over to us to review. It took the better part of two years to coordinate getting one in. I have to say it was well worth it in the end and I'm going to sorely miss the watch when it goes back to Blancpain. I do feel that I was able to spend a great deal of time with the Tech Gombessa and for a few weeks it felt like it was part of my collection. The watch also didn't make me like my 500 Fathoms any less, if anything it made me appreciate that watch more and I really feel like it is the ultimate version of the Fifty Fathoms. The Tech Gombessa on the other hand is a completely different watch and now lives at the top of the Fifty Fathoms Tech collection. I'm really glad I was able to spend so much quality time with it and hopefully was able spread the word a bit more on this amazing timepiece.

For more information about the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa please visit : Blancpain

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: 5019 12B30 64A

Retail Price: $31,500

Case Size: 47 mm

Lug to Lug: 53.2 mm

Thickness: 14.86 mm

Weight: 124 grams

Case Material: Grade 23 Titanium

Bezel: Uni-Directional 180 Click with Ceramic Insert and 3 Hour Timer

Strap: Black Rubber Strap with Titanium Pin Buckle

Movement: Swiss Made In-House Caliber 13P8 Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds and 3 Hour Hand

Power Reserve: 120 Hours

Water Resistance: 300 Meters